Mark Schmidt

Recently retired from 17 years of corporate leadership at Wal-Mart, Mark Schmidt possesses substantial expertise in systems and technology, strategic and financial planning, organizational development, mergers and acquisitions, and integration of newly-acquired companies. Throughout his career, he has tackled complex business projects and delivered outstanding solutions to difficult problems. As a highly-experienced senior executive of a multi-billion dollar corporation, Mr. Schmidt brings invaluable skills to his consulting work with Hamstreet & Associates.

During his tenure at Wal-Mart, Mr. Schmidt held several positions within the company. Most recently, as Wal-Mart International’s Vice President of Integration, he designed a new protocol for assimilating existing companies and led the smooth integration of Puerto Rico’s Supermercados Amigo and the UK’s ASDA Supermarkets into the parent corporation. He has also served as Wal-Mart’s Vice President of Development, Special Projects, and Technology, as well as its Senior Director of Information Systems and Director of Technology Development.

On repeated occasions throughout his career, Mr. Schmidt has been called upon to oversee especially complex projects. In the late 1980s he engineered the replacement of Wal-Mart’s outdated in-store computing platform. Leading the design, development and rollout of the new merchandising and operations system, with its accompanying radio-networked, handheld terminals and printers, Mr. Schmidt created a system so effective that it served as the platform for Wal-Mart’s in-store systems for 15 years. Also during the late 1980s and early 1990s, Mr. Schmidt assisted in designing the groundbreaking partnership between Wal-Mart and Proctor & Gamble, through which both companies established a new model for the retailer-supplier relationship. Subsequently he was seconded to Wal-Mart’s Mexican joint venture partner, CIFRA, where he led efforts to consolidate CIFRA’s five data centers and select a new CIO. Upon his return to Wal-Mart, Mr. Schmidt joined the emerging International Division as head of Business Development, where he played central roles in the acquisition of several international retailers. In 1999, he assumed chief responsibility for integrating the foreign retailers Wal-Mart acquired.

Mr. Schmidt began his career with IBM, where he worked in various capacities for ten years prior to joining Wal-Mart. He received a B.S. magna cum laude from the University of Arkansas, Little Rock.