Gallery: NRF presents top award to Sinegal

Jim Sinegal, a co-founder of Costco Wholesale Corp., received the National Retail Federation’s Gold Medal Award at this year’s NRF Annual Convention & Expo.

“Jim was an obvious choice for NRF's Gold Award, given his commitment to the industry and Costco, and dedication to creating such a well-respected culture throughout the organization he helped build,” said NRF president and CEO Matthew Shay, in a statement.

In an interview with the NRF, Sinegal said, “Anybody can sell merchandise at low prices. The trick is to be able to make money doing it, and understanding the disciplines that are necessary.”

The NRF’s Big Show attracted about 30,000 attendees to New York’s Jacob Javits Center this year.

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Technology, as always, is a major focus of the event, and this year solutions for reaching customers via mobile devices were particularly prevalent, as were solutions around data analytics.

Keynote speakers included former President George W. Bush and Jack Dorsey, CEO of Square and chairman of Twitter.

Supermarket companies that presented at the conference included Loblaw, Raley’s, Hannaford Bros., Sprouts Farmers Market, Whole Foods Market and Natural Markets Food Group.

Photos courtesy of National Retail Federation