Sam’s Club president and CEO is now a Black woman: Latriece Watkins. Recently, Watkins, who served on Walmart’s C-suite for years, was promoted to oversee the membership club retailer.
“What I love about Walmart is simple—it’s a place where people matter and opportunity lives. It’s a company built on serving others and creating impact in communities every single day,” she said in a LinkedIn post. “What’s special about Sam’s Club is the pride the associates take in serving members, the focus on value and quality, and the way teams show up for each other. There’s undeniable momentum here, and I’m honored to lead the next chapter by protecting and amplifying our culture, fully leveraging the power of our company, and winning omnichannel retail together and with intention. I look forward to what we’ll accomplish together.”
The Spelman College alumna’s career at Walmart reportedly began in 1997 when she worked as an intern in the brand’s real estate division. From there, she climbed the corporate ladder, ultimately becoming executive vice president and chief merchandising officer for Walmart U.S., where she worked to bring higher-income shoppers into stores through her team’s intentional product curations.
“My team and I get to choose all the items that customers experience at Walmart. We consider ourselves their personal shoppers. We love to curate an assortment,” Watkins explained on Fast Company’s innovative companies podcast. “We are focused on the customer. We start our conversations with the customer… with what’s important to them. What are they thinking about? How can we serve them? We do that across a number of things.”
Now, as she steps into leading Sam’s Club, experts predict that Watkins will be tasked with increasing the brand’s market share compared to Costco, which is currently dominating the wholesale club market.
“We’re an ‘and’ company. We are execution and innovation. We are people-led and tech-powered. We are really focused on quality and value,” she said of her approach as a leader. “We want to make sure the access we give is available to anyone who wants to purchase the products that we have. So we think that value extends to everyone.”
Watkins will reportedly step into her role on Feb 1.
