Bharti Retail officially appoints Craig Wimsatt as COO

Deciding to venture into the country’s multi-brand retail segment on its own, after

breaking ties with American retail giant Walmart, Bharti Enterprises has roped in Craig Wimsatt from Walmart, on board. Now Bharti has announced him as the new Chief Operation Officer (COO) of the company. Wimsatt will report to Chief Executive Raj Jain.

The 19-year Walmart veteran had worked with the joint venture as Chief Operating Officer before the companies decided to split. However, Bharti had earlier insisted that he had joined as an advisor. Post the formal split, Walmart took over Bharti’s stake in the 50:50 wholesale joint venture that was formed six years back. As a part of the joint venture, Bharti had cash-and-carry stores under the ‘Best Price Modern Wholesale’ brand. Now the retail entity has become a 100 percent subsidiary of the American retail giant.

On the other hand, Bharti acquired the Compulsory Convertible Debentures (CCDs) held by Walmart in Cedar Support Services, a company owned and controlled by Bharti that operates front-end retail stores under the brand name ‘Easy Day’.