Being a Walmart Store Manager is one of the coolest jobs in retail. You’re at the heart of the action—leading a team often of hundreds, making real-time decisions, and shaping the customer experience every single day. It’s a role that blends leadership, strategy, and community impact, all under one roof. From driving innovation in-store to mentoring future leaders, Store Managers get to do it all.
The path to becoming a Walmart Store Manager isn’t always straightforward. It can be long, challenging, deeply rewarding, and sometimes unintentionally and unexpectedly life changing.
When Deepen Patni and his wife Geeta moved to Canada from Gujarat, India in 2006, they arrived with two bags and their newborn son, Rishi, ready for a fresh start. Deepen left behind a career in pharmaceutical sales and was looking for his next move.
To bridge the gap, he joined Walmart Canada at the Rexdale store in Toronto, Ontario as a part-time hourly associate, using his sales skills while he looked for his next career move. But as it turns out, it can be pretty hard to job hunt when you keep getting promoted and your temporary part-time job turns into a permanent full-time career.
“When I saw Walmart’s investment in someone like me – a part-time associate – I thought, ‘You know what? This could be my new career in Canada,’” said Deepen. “Afterall, I came to Canada to create my own destiny.”
Over the next 15 years, Deepen worked in eight stores across the GTA, from Richmond Hill to Mississauga. During this time, he took on roles in nearly every department from Infants to Electronics, to Grocery, and climbed the ranks through several Assistant Manager positions before becoming a Co-Manager in 2019.
In 2022, the opportunity he’d been waiting for arrived: a Store Manager role. It meant relocating his family from Brampton, Ontario to Summerside, Prince Edward Island. It was a big change, but one they embraced – Deepen, his wife and two boys were no strangers to a new beginning.
Today, Deepen is the Store Manager of the Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island Walmart, which recently celebrated a grand reopening. “In this job, you have to take advantage of the opportunities,” said Deepen. “You also need to be open to change. In the GTA, it was hard to spend quality time together. Moving to Atlantic Canada was the best decision for our family.”
At Walmart, work-life balance matters. Leaders support associates through transitions, helping them to stay connected to their families while continuing to grow their careers.
“I’m very grateful to Walmart. I still call my parents in India every morning to tell them about the meaningful work we do. They know my team by name and always ask how they’re doing,” said Deepen. “They know everything about Walmart and our people. They’re really proud of the career I’ve built and so am I!”
