When Jane Marshall was in her senior year of college, she started a new job as a cashier to make a little extra spending money. Her new employer was, at that time, the 20th of a fairly small but growing chain of retail stores open in a handful of states. A biochemistry major, she had by her own admission no intention of making the job a permanent career, and certainly had no idea that she would be celebrated 48 years later as a significant milestone in Walmart history: the first female store manager.
Jane first moved from cashier to associate in the apparel department, where she gained the attention of company leadership with an innovative idea to reorganize clothing by color and category. After a successful promotion to assistant store manager in the Clinton store, Jane was offered the position of store manager for a new Walmart opening in Warsaw. Happy in her current position, Jane hesitated at first, but accepted. Company leadership warned her the store was unlikely to be profitable on its own for the first five years: under Jane’s capable management, the store was operating in the black within only two years. She returned to her home store in Clinton as store manager after a few years, where she remained a familiar and welcome sight for the next several decades, with a reputation for fair and honest treatment of her associates and for being always busy–not hesitating to take on any task in the store, whether that was ordering more merchandise to “fill outs,” opening an additional register to shorten lines, or bringing shopping carts in from the parking lot.
In Walmart’s in-house publication Walmart World, Jane notes memorable highlights of her unplanned yet successful career as “meeting Mr. Sam [Walton], eating dinner with the Walton family and introducting Rob Walton at the 2011 Shareholders Meeting.” However, in Jane’s own words: “The best part of this career has been the associates that I have had the privilege of working with and the customers that I have been able to serve.”
Anyone who’s worked with or for Jane–and the author of this article is proud to include herself among that number–or even seen her bustling through the store, greeting customers as she “zones” merchandise next to associates, knows better than to assume she’ll use retirement to stay at home and relax all day. Jane has stated she intends to do some office work for her son’s business here in Clinton and to stay busy with her family, church, and local organizations.
Jane’s employees at Store #00020 in Clinton wished her a fond farewell in an in-store reception–in the apparel department, amid clothing still organized by color and category–on July 26th, with a slideshow of photos from her celebrated history with Walmart, as well as flowers, an engraved plaque, refreshments, and “Jane for President” t-shirts. From the first female store manager in Walmart history to first female president in US history? Jane would no doubt be more than equal to the task.
From a former associate and from all of us at Radford Media Group: Happy retirement, Jane. Congratulations on a truly impressive career, and thank you for your decades of exemplary leadership and management. We hope you enjoy your retirement and wish you all the best in your future endeavors, whatever you choose to take on.
By Adrianne Nichols, staff writer
Photo by Wesley Hitt, Hitt Photography, via Walmart Corporate: Jane introducing Rob Walton at the 2011 Walmart Shareholders Meeting
