Kelvin Buncum, executive vice president of Walmart’s Neighborhood Market grocery format, is retiring from the company, according to a LinkedIn message he posted last week.
During his more than 12 years with Walmart, Buncum served as a regional general manager for the Mid-South region, regional vice president of the Atlanta/North Georgia and the North Central regions, vice president of innovations and global business processes, and vice president of operations strategy and integration. As executive vice president of Neighborhood Market, he oversaw all aspects of Neighborhood Market operations, according to Walmart’s website.
Before Walmart, Buncum was president and CEO of International Medical Solutions, a startup he helped launch, and also held senior leadership roles at Pepsi Bottling Group, US Radio and Joyner Communications.
At around 40,000 square feet, the Neighborhood Market format is roughly one-fifth the typical supercenter size of 200,000 square feet. The first Neighborhood Market opened in Bentonville, Arkansas, in 1998. Last fall, Walmart celebrated the 25th anniversary of the concept.
This marks the latest in a string of executive departure news for Walmart. The Wall Street Journal reported last Friday the upcoming departures of Scott Eckert, a senior vice president who led Walmart’s technology and business innovation unit Store No. 8, which is closing down, and Denise Malloy, who joined Walmart in April as a senior vice president and chief belonging officer.
As of last fall, Walmart counted 675 Neighborhood Markets among its 4,616 Walmart U.S. locations, which includes more than 3,500 supercenters.
