Craig Jelinek, Costco’s Chief Executive for over 11 years, will step down from the role at the end of this year. He will be succeeded by its Chief Operating Officer, Ron Vachris, who has worked for the warehouse club retailer for over 40 years.
Vachris started as a forklift driver at Costco, working his way up to serve in every major role related to the firm’s business operations and merchandising activities, before becoming COO in 2022. He will take on the CEO role from 1 January 2024.
Jelinek will remain at Costco until April, serving in an advisory capacity during the transition. He will also continue to serve on the company’s Board and will stand for reelection at its annual meeting at the beginning of next year.
Jelinek’s departure follows years of strong sales growth at Costco, especially through the pandemic, as shoppers turned to the retailer for food and everyday essentials. He has also driven the expansion of its network of warehouses at home and overseas, with Costco now operating 591 sites in the US and Puerto Rico, 107 in Canada, 40 in Mexico, 33 in Japan, 29 in the UK, 18 in Korea, 15 in Australia, 14 in Taiwan, five in China, four in Spain, two in France, and one each in Iceland, New Zealand and Sweden.
In August, it was revealed that Costco is planning to open as many as 14 more warehouses across the UK over the next two years.
“Costco has a very strong culture and a deep bench of management talent,” said Jelinek. “I have total confidence in Ron and feel that we are fortunate as a company to have an executive of his calibre to succeed me.”
