Car-Mart appoints long-time employee Leonard Walthall as COO

Bentonville-based America’s Car-Mart Inc. has promoted Leonard Walthall to chief operating officer according to a Wednesday (Sept. 5) filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

The company’s board of directors on Aug. 28 promoted Walthall to the position, which had not been filled in recent years. Walthall, 53, has served as the company’s field operations officer since March 2016. Before that, he was vice president of operations since March 2009. He was a store manager for the company between 1989 and 2009. Walthall earned a bachelor’s degree in mathematics from Arkansas Tech University.

Walthall started in the position Aug. 28 and will be based in Bentonville, said CEO Jeff Williams. Walthall’s salary will be disclosed in the next proxy. The 2019 filing was released July 17.

Eddie Hight retired in November 2013 as chief operating officer after serving in the position for 11 years. In November 2017, Hight retired from the company’s board of directors. He later co-founded a consulting and software company, Auto Finance Solutions, with former Car-Mart employee Rick Reeves.

Also on Aug. 28, Car-Mart hosted its annual shareholders meeting at its corporate office in Bentonville. Shareholders voted to reelect seven directors to the company’s board of directors and approved Grant Thornton LLP as its accounting firm for the fiscal year ending April 30, 2020. Following were the directors who were reelected: Ann Bordelon, chairman Ray Dillon, Daniel Englander, William “Hank” Henderson, Jim von Gremp, Joshua Welch and Williams.

Shares of Car-Mart (NASDAQ: CRMT) were trading Wednesday at $85.74, up 66 cents, or 0.78%. In the past 52 weeks, the stock has ranged between $104.05 and $66.26.