Personal style: Spears Business Hall of Fame inductee Wade rises from sales clerk to people-oriented retail executive

Tuesday, August 26, 2025

Media Contact: Hallie Hart | Communications Coordinator | 405-744-1050 | hallie.hart@okstate.edu

Editor's note: The Spears School of Business is releasing a series of feature stories to celebrate the 2025 Spears Business Hall of Fame inductees and Outstanding Young Alumni before their Oct. 10 ceremony. Previous profiles highlighted HoF inductees Craig Boelte and Dr. Lee Manzer. Check back in September to read about the OYA.

Suzanne Allford Wade challenged herself to excel at Oklahoma State University.

Her perfectionism helped her make high grades, but it sometimes led to heightened stress. When the driven business student needed a break, she retreated to McKeown Showcase, a locally owned clothing store in downtown Stillwater.

In the 1970s, customers of all ages visited to find trendy women’s styles. For Wade, retail therapy looked a little different.

She was an employee.

“Really, work was fun for me,” Wade said. “I discovered that I loved being in contact with people. I loved selling things. I loved to help people feel better about themselves.”

This marked the formative stage of what Wade considers “the best retail career anybody could ever ask for.” After working for over 40 years in the retail industry, Wade will enter the Spears School of Business Hall of Fame on Oct. 10 at the ConocoPhillips OSU Alumni Center.

Wade, who graduated from OSU in 1977 with her Bachelor of Science in Business Administration, grew from a local sales clerk into a senior executive for major retail companies. At Walmart, she launched the Walton Institute of Retailing. She later served as president of Texas-based supermarket chain H-E-B’s largest operating division.

With hundreds of stores under her leadership, Wade could no longer greet each customer like she did in the cozy confines of McKeown Showcase. Still, she maintained the people-oriented approach that initially drew her to retail. Through every move, Wade has carried knowledge from Stillwater, blending work experience with classroom lessons.

“Retail is probably the one career where you can use literally everything you learn in business school because it’s all-encompassing,” Wade said. “You have to understand the financials. You have to understand marketing. You have to understand people and communicate well with many different audiences.

“I’ve said it many times — I’ve always felt like I really got such a good foundation for retailing because I got such a good business education at OSU.”

The business of fashion

Wade grew up in Holdenville, Oklahoma, a small town with a big claim to fame.

It’s the birthplace of the late T. Boone Pickens, the OSU graduate and mega-benefactor who left a transformative impact on the university. Wade had a few degrees of separation from “The Ultimate Cowboy,” but some of her classmates’ fathers were friends with him.

A closer connection led her to Stillwater.

Wade’s older brother, John Allford, went to OSU and loved it. With a dream of opening a clothing store, Wade chose to major in fashion merchandising.

When she realized her classes would also involve designing clothes, she thought twice.

“I was like, ‘No, I just want to sell them,’” Wade laughed. “I switched over the next semester to the business college.”

Business made sense for Wade. Her father, a business owner, often shared his wisdom at the family dinner table.

“I heard the ups and downs of business and being pretty frugal about your expenses, which is critical in retailing because you work on such thin margins,” Wade said.

In high school, Wade gained her first retail experience at a Holdenville clothing store. Then, in Stillwater, she met Rose McKeown, the enterprising, fashionable business owner who hired her at McKeown Showcase. McKeown became a lifelong mentor to Wade, staying in touch until McKeown’s death this year at 105.

Wade recalls McKeown’s charmingly blunt advice: “Don’t ever sell somebody something that they don’t look good in.”

At the same time, McKeown ensured her staff wouldn’t insult customers. If someone tried on an unflattering outfit, Wade knew to say, “We can do better than that.” The employees took responsibility for finding the best styles, and Wade loved seeing her customers’ faces glow when it happened.

With a business degree and real-world experience that included New York City trips to buy merchandise for McKeown Showcase, Wade had the credentials to start climbing in the retail industry.

‘Entrepreneurial spirit’

Wade faced a room full of businessmen as she delivered a presentation at a conference in the mid-1980s.

Representing TG&Y Stores, a variety store chain that has since closed, she didn’t realize she was proving herself for a career advancement. Holding her own among the all-male executives, Wade impressed an audience member from Walmart. In 1986, less than a decade out of college, she landed a position with the booming retailer.

Given Wade’s background, her public speaking skills at the conference shouldn’t have surprised anyone. After graduating from OSU, she taught fashion merchandising courses to Oklahoma City-area high school students.

Wade said she didn’t expect to work in education, but opportunities arose, first at Putnam City High School and then at Putnam City North High School.

“I’ve spent a lot of my non-business time supporting education from that point on,” Wade said. “I learned that being a teacher is not easy, and it’s so important; I’ve been very appreciative of teachers and public education ever since.”

In a roundabout way, this step led to a career breakthrough.

As a vocational educator, Wade led a management assessment center at Moore Norman Vocational Technical School in Norman, Oklahoma. She then secured a human resources job with an oil manufacturing company, which financially supported her while she obtained her MBA from the University of Oklahoma.

Those experiences led Wade to TG&Y Stores, opening the door to her Walmart connection at the conference. She moved to Arkansas, Walmart’s birthplace, at a pivotal time.

In 1980, Walmart operated 276 stores.

Today, Walmart has 11,523 stores across 28 countries. Wade, who worked for Walmart from 1986-97, played an active role in its rapid expansion into one of the world’s most recognizable retailers. 

“The great thing at Walmart is that there was a very entrepreneurial spirit,” Wade said. “It was almost like you can do anything you think you’re big enough to do.”

Wade met founder Sam Walton, who gave young, “green” employees chances to lead and learn on the job. As the company opened thousands of stores, Wade advanced to Senior Vice President of Human Resources and Senior Vice President of Membership, Marketing and Administration for Sam’s Club.

Although Wade’s career was thriving, she had to spend significant time away from home, boarding airplanes for weekly work trips. Eventually, she wanted a lighter travel schedule.

Thanks to a call from H-E-B, she didn’t have to leave retail to find it.

Dollars and sense (of community)

H-E-B, a 120-year-old Texas staple, has been repeatedly noted as the nation’s top grocery retailer, according to consumer research firm dunnhumby.

The supermarket chain is known for its variety of H-E-B brand products and its commitment to local communities, consistently offering a helping hand in the face of natural disasters.

With her love for retail and community service, Wade couldn’t pass up an opportunity to join. From 1997 until retirement, Wade spent 23 years in various roles at H-E-B. Her leadership positions spanned sales and advertising, H-E-B Own Brand and human resources.

For most of her H-E-B career, Wade served as President of San Antonio Food/Drug Stores, encompassing more than 200 stores.

Since completing the Harvard Business School’s Advanced Management Program, her business skills were sharper than ever before, but her job wasn’t all about profit.

“At H-E-B, I learned that business, especially retail, is a relationship,” Wade said. “A relationship with your customers, your community, your suppliers and most of all, the people you work with every day. It’s about being there when others need you most. Being the first one there, when disaster strikes, with food, water, supplies, financial support or just a word of encouragement is what counts in a relationship. There is no price tag for a deep relationship with your customers and your Partners (employees).”

In retirement, Wade’s people-centric philosophy continues to guide her. She has dedicated time to numerous community service initiatives in San Antonio, where she lives. Wade currently serves on the San Antonio Area Foundation Board and chairs The Young Women’s Leadership Academy Advisory Board for an all-girls school from which she has recruited several students to OSU.

Recently, Wade extended her philanthropy to her alma mater. When her husband, Dick Wade, established an engineering scholarship at the University of Texas, she was inspired to do something similar for OSU. To support Spears Business students, she created the Suzanne Allford Wade Endowed Scholarship.

Wade also recently joined Women for OSU, serving as a WOSU Council member.

When she returns to Stillwater, she sees tremendous growth, from new campus buildings to record-setting student enrollment. Like the campus, Wade’s perspective has changed since her arrival in the 1970s.

The retired executive now realizes she didn’t need to fret so much about grades. A perfect GPA is impressive, but it wasn’t what guided her in the long term.

The lessons and experiences — and, most of all, the people — did.

“I give OSU and Spears Business a lot of credit,” Wade said. “The education I received has allowed me to have a great career in retailing. The Spears School of Business has always been strong, and it continues to reach new heights.

“As somebody from a town of about 3,500, to think that I’ve traveled around the world now, I’ve met the people I’ve met and gotten the opportunities that I’ve had, it’s just unbelievable. Thank you, OSU."