Costco CEO Craig Jelinek to resign

Costco CEO Craig Jelinek, who led the warehouse retailer through the COVID-19 pandemic, will be stepping down at the end of the year.

Jelinek was first named CEO back in 2012 and will continue to serve in an advisory role through April 2024. Stepping in to replace him on Jan. 1 will be Ron Vachris. Vachris started out as a forklift operator at Costco 40 years ago and currently serves as the company’s chief operating officer.

Jelinek and Vachris have been working together the past two years, and Costco is calling the move “the culmination of a long-standing succession plan.”

The COVID-19 pandemic and inflation gave historic boosts to Costco sales over the last few years, but shopper activity has settled down somewhat in 2023. In the third quarter sales were up 2% year-over-year, but big-ticket item sales were down 20% online and 17% in store. Average daily transactions also were down 3.5% in the U.S.