Walmart has appointed a long-time executive to oversee its Sam’s Club division, making way for the Black woman to shine as CEO.
Latriece Watkins has been a instrumental figure at the retail corporation for the past 20 years. According to Fast Company, she began her lofty career at Walmart within its real estate division.
Her business acumen and savviness led her to substantive promotions, her prior one being Chief Merchant in 2023. In the position, she oversaw what products stocked Walmart’s shelves, curating the options for customers while granting new opportunities for growing businesses.
Three years later, she has taken on her biggest role yet as CEO of Sam’s Club. The membership club is the more exclusive shopping option for Walmart loyalists, offering bulk options for families with bigger budgets and, often, more mouths to feed.
Given her experience implementing higher-end items to Walmart’s inventory, and thus enticing higher-earning shoppers, Watkins will get the chance to further prove her expertise as an official CEO. Her work now aims to make Sam Club’s a sharper competitor to the popular Costco.
With membership-based stores having similar business models, Walmart and Watkins hope to cut into Costco’s sales by driving up Sam’s Club’s own private-label brands. Its mainstay brand, Member’s Mark, still accounts for a third of Sam’s Club’s revenue. However, given the success Watkins saw with the introduction of Walmart’s Bettergoods private-label, her mission seeks to further promote Member’s Mark to shoppers.
Her appointment also serves as a boost in diverse leadership. In the retail industry, the C-suite has often shut its door to Black women professionals. According to the statistics from the Women of Color Retail Alliance, obtained by the Robin Report in 2023, Black women only accounted for 1.7% of executive roles in the retail and goods industry.
Despite the marginal figures, Watkins’ promotion adds a Black women to the executive office. As she assumes the new role, she will curate another elevated shopper experience for the retail giant, leading the way for other large chains.
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