Management Profiles
Mike Cockrell
Prior to joining 8th & Walton, Mike spent 20 of his 30 years at Walmart serving in executive level positions which included U.S. assignments in operations, merchandising, and marketing, as well as international assignments in merchandising and marketing.
He joined Wal-Mart in 1980 as Assistant Manager in Sullivan, Missouri. In 1982, he was promoted to Store Manager, and served in that capacity until moving to the Wal-Mart Home Office in 1984.
Mike worked as a Buyer; Senior Buyer; and Vice President Divisional Merchandise Manager responsible for the Consumer Electronics, Photography and Pet businesses.In 1993, Mike returned to operations to serve as a Regional Vice President, until 1997, during which time he was responsible for 100 Wal-Mart stores located in Texas.
In 1997, Mike moved to Marketing as Vice President. During his time there, he acted as a voice of the customer and keeper of the brand positioning for Every Day Low Prices. In 2000 Wal-Mart was recognized as the Promotion Retailer of the Decade by Promo Magazine.
In 2004, Mike joined the International Division as Vice President of Marketing. He was responsible to guide and influence the Brand Positioning, Marketing, Private Brands and advertising in the 13 International markets Wal-Mart currently operates.
In March of 2007 Mike joined the Wal-Mart India Team as Chief Merchandising Officer where he was responsible for Procurement, Private Label and Supplier Development in the Bharti Wal-Mart Joint Venture.
Jeff Clapper
Jeff has started and sold several businesses including Zapiddy, a shopper insights application, Gimme Golf, an online golf game, and Clapper Publishing, a 50 year old consumer magazine publishing business. He now leads the daily operations at 8th & Walton.
Matt Fifer
Prior to co-founding 8th & Walton, Matt spent nearly 13 years serving in a variety of leadership roles in the areas of Store & Club Operations, People Development, Marketing and in International Marketing while working both in the U.S. and abroad for Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.
Matt sits on the board of JPMC in Tokyo, Japan and was recently recognized by Northwest Arkansas Business Journal by being included among their list of 40 Under 40.
In addition to 8th & Walton, Matt has participated in launching more than 10 companies and is actively involved in incubating a number of start-ups via 101 Ventures.
