When the going gets tough, the tough restructure their retail operations in an attempt to better facilitate change.
Well, they do if they’re Walmart anyway.
Consolidation is coming to Walmart starting today, when six retail business units will be contracted down to four, according to a recent news release.
“Our last field restructure was several years ago, and our business has changed over that time,” the company said in a statement. “The structure we are putting in place will help improve communication and execution, streamline decision-making and help us accelerate our pace of change.”
As of now, Walmart structures divisions regionally: West, Southeast, South Central, Midwest and Mid-Atlantic.
The new retail business divisions will take on a “different look,” though what exactly that means is something of a mystery.
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It does, however, require less staff, as Walmart will be dropping from 44 regional managers to 36 by the end of October.
“We had a similar structure in place three years ago, and we are going back to that,” the source told Reuters.
The newest restructuring move comes as one of several as Walmart attempts a multi-front war against Amazon’s seemingly unending encroachments on its retail territory across the board and from various grocers that might like to take Walmart’s top spot in the market.
Earlier this year, in July, Walmart reorganized its food leadership teams in an effort to compete better with grocery rivals. It also announced its plans in February to consolidate buying operations.
