New Member Joins Costco Board
Costco Wholesale, on track to open 23 new locations this fiscal year, is bringing in another retail expert to help guide its growth. The company announced that Helena Buonanno Foulkes has been elected to its board of directors.
Foulkes previously served as CEO of Hudson’s Bay Co., a Toronto-based holding company with majority ownership in e-commerce companies including Saks, Saks Off 5th and Hudson’s Bay, among others. That organization, founded in 1670, is North America’s longest continually operating company.
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Before leading Hudson’s Bay Co., Foulkes spent 25 years at CVS Health, where she held roles including president of CVS Pharmacy and EVP of CVS Health. She is also board member at Follett Higher Education, PM Pediatrics, Harry’s, Inc. and Skillsoft. She recently completed a tenure as president of the board of overseers at Harvard University.
“We are very pleased to welcome Helena as a member of our board. She is widely recognized as a leading retail executive and advocate for education. She also brings substantial experience in health care and as a board member of prominent companies. We look forward to her contributions,” said Hamilton (Tony) James, Costco’s board chair.
Other board members include Susan Decker, CEO and founder of Raftr, Inc.; Kenneth D. Denman, general partner at Sway Ventures; Sally Jewell, former Secretary of the Interior under President Barack Obama; Charles T. Munger, vice chairman of the board of directors at Berkshire Hathaway, Inc.; Jeff Raikes, co-founder of the Raikes Foundation; John W. Stanton, chairman of Trilogy International Partners, Inc.and chairman of First Avenue Entertainment, LLLP; and Sally Wilderotter, CEO and chair of the Grand Reserve Inn. Costco’s president and COO Ron Vachris, CEO Craig Jelinek and EVP/CFO Richard A. Galanti also serve on the board.
Costco will share its fourth quarter earnings on Sept. 26. Earlier this month, the merchant released its sales results for July, which showed a 4.5% gain in net sales. Net sales hit $17.6 billion last month and topped $214.5 billion for the 48 weeks ending July 30. Sales comps in the United States also rose last month, up 1.3%.
Issaquah, Wash.-based Costco currently operates more than 850 warehouses, including 590 in the United States and Puerto Rico and 107 in Canada. The company is No. 3 on The PG 100, Progressive Grocer’s 2023 list of the top food and consumables retailers in North America. PG has also named Costco one of its Retailers of the Century.
