Visiting Walmart’s Super Center in Shenzhen in 2005 and meeting the company’s Asia chief Joe Hatfield remains a reporting highlight. I arrived a short time before the store’s 7 a.m. opening and found Hatfield waiting for me with two associates. 

Rail thin, chain smoking, he wore a shirt and tie but no jacket. The name tag on his shirt pocket said simply, “Joe.” We sat and talked for a few moments. He said he had arrived at the store at 4 a.m., his usual start time. Born in Maryland but with Arkansas-based Walmart for 31 years, Hatfield has been in Shenzhen for 11 years. Company founder Sam Walton hired Joe and chose him to bring Walmart to China.

We walked over towards the front doors to find a large group of red-shirted associates ready to sing the company song for a visiting journo.

Barry at Walmart in Shenzhen, 2005

On this my first reporting foray into mainland China, I was stunned, remembering the 1960s when angry red guards waved little red books and sang the praises of Chairman Mao.  Now young people were beginning their work day singing the praises of Walmart.

But that wasn’t all. When a signal announced that the store was open, multiple glass doors swung open and a flood of shoppers who had been waiting outside rushed in. Grabbing shopping baskets and carts they disappeared into the aisles.  

This panorama of consumerism was a jolting wake up call to how much China was changing. And I soon realized that more than any other person, Joe Hatfield was the guy who brought western shopping habits to China.

When I met Joe there were 47 Walmart stores in China. Today there are 334 employing 100,000 people.  Beyond that significant expansion, Walmart sales in China have soared, reaching $20 billion in 2024.  Eighty percent of sales come from Sam’s Club warehouses accessible to customers who pay a $36 annual fee. Along with India and Mexico, China is a major growth center for Walmart.

As to Joe Hatfield, he retired in 2006 and died at his home in Texas in 2023 at the age of 77. Regrettably, he was apparently unable to accomplish his retirement goal of being a greeter at a Walmart store in Shenzhen. #