A retail titan passes on.

Jack Shewmaker, one of the original executives who helped Sam Walton change the world of retail forever, has died. He rose to become President of Wal-Mart and together with the founder, created one one of the largest businesses on the planet by developing the much lauded, and much copied, pricing strategy: EDLP (every day low prices).

Mr Shewmaker paid me the ultimate honour by giving me my first interview when I decided to write, 'The art of being chosen.' I knew I wanted to speak to the best of the best but little did I know just what a profound effect he would have on my views of retail, little did I know what a genuine person he was. Once I had the interview taped, I always knew it would be the first case study in my book - he was surely a major part of the biggest success story in the history of retail. As I wrote in my book, he was a charming gentleman from the American deep south. Polite, courteous and considered - facts and figures slipped from his tongue with a slow surgical precision. my thoughts are with his family and I shall miss him even though I only met him briefly, such was the impact he made on me.

Remembering Jack Shewmaker