November 21, 2019 | Jim Sinegal, Founder & Former CEO of Costco Wholesale
On November 21st, 2019 Georgetown’s Retail and Luxury Association had the pleasure of welcoming founder and former CEO of - international retail chain - Costco Jim Sinegal.
Sinegal began his career as a grocery bagger at FedMart in 1955 and worked his way up to vice president of merchandising and operations in 1977. His career path then led him to create then Price Club in 1976 and now billion-dollar company Costco in 1983.
Costco holds 98 million cardholders representing 350 million households worldwide with 4000 different products sold per warehouse. Costco operates differently to other warehouse stores as it requires customers to pay for an annual membership. This upfront fee, guarantees customers much cheaper prices upon their visits and Senegal explains that if shoppers choose intelligently, they are likely to save a great amount from one trip. Sinegal explained that having a membership format creates a feeling for members that they are part of an organization, something he finds value in.
Although Sinegal retired in 2012, he continues to show his commitment and care to his store by visiting a CostCo store at least once every 2-3 days. Sinegal has often been claimed to put his employees and customers ahead of his shareholders, a wonderful quality not always found in CEOs of such large empires. When asked how he continues to keep his employee turnover rate at only 5%/year and how he keeps his employees happy, Sinegal explains that good wages, benefits, jobs and career opportunities are all part of creating a good atmosphere for one’s employees. He explained his belief that people will enjoy working well for others if their company has their best interests at heart and those of their customers as well.
Sinegal’s impressive business ventures were not the only things to win over our audience members that afternoon. His drive, care and joyfulness were explicitly shown by both what Sinegal said and how he held himself with our incredible moderator Professor Ernst. GRLA, on behalf of the students at Georgetown would like to thank Jim Sinegal for coming to speak to us as we have learnt a lot and been inspired by true and authentic character.