WMT Walmart Inc

By Sarah Nassauer 

Donald G. Soderquist, a longtime Wal-Mart Stores Inc. executive who was instrumental at the retailer during two decades of rapid expansion, died Thursday.

Mr. Soderquist worked closely with Wal-Mart founder Sam Walton, joining the company in 1980 and eventually becoming chief operating officer before retiring in 2000. During that time Wal-Mart's revenues expanded from $1 billion to more than $200 billion.

But even after his retirement he remained a key adviser to employees and executives, in recent months doing a presentation for employees at the retailer's Bentonville, Ark., headquarters, according to a Wal-Mart spokeswoman.

Mr. Soderquist died after complications related to heart surgery, said Wal-Mart Chief Executive Doug McMillon in an email to staff Friday. He was 82.

"Don was the 'Keeper of the Culture' after Sam passed away," said Mr. McMillon. "Even after his retirement, he invested his time and energy into many of us who still work for the company."

After retirement Mr. Soderquist helped lead the Soderquist Center for Leadership and Ethics in Siloam Springs, Ark., near Wal-Mart's Northwest Arkansas headquarters. He helped "onboard" newly hired Wal-Mart executives, Mr. McMillon wrote.

Born in Chicago in 1934, Mr. Soderquist joined Wal-Mart only after Mr. Walton pushed for years to hire him away from competitor Ben Franklin, a five-and-dime and craft chain in small U.S. towns. Mr. Soderquist spent 16 years at Ben Franklin, including more than six years as chief executive.

"My role has been to pick good people and give them the maximum authority and responsibility," Mr. Walton said of Mr. Soderquist in his 1992 autobiography. Mr. Soderquist was an avid Chicago Cubs fan and often sparred cheerfully with co-workers over baseball allegiances, say people who knew him.

Mr. Soderquist also became an internal cheerleader for Wal-Mart's embrace of technology. "I confess that there were times when some questioned the size of our technology investment, but, in retrospect, this investment has proven to be one of the more significant factors in our success," he wrote in his 2005 book "The Wal-Mart Way."

He is survived by his wife Jo Soderquist and four children and their families.

Write to Sarah Nassauer at sarah.nassauer@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

July 22, 2016 15:00 ET (19:00 GMT)

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