US retailer Costco Wholesale has announced that Hamilton E. James has been elected as chairman of the board of directors.
James is currently president and chief operating officer of investment firm The Blackstone Group, and has been a director of Costco Wholesale since August 1988. He became the company's lead independent director in 2005.
The appointment comes following the death of Costco chairman Jeffrey Brotman last week. Brotman co-founded the retail chain in 1982 with Jim Sinegal, and served as chairman for decades.
Costco currently operates 736 warehouses, including 511 in the US and Puerto Rico, 97 in Canada, 37 in Mexico, 28 in the UK, 25 in Japan, 13 in Korea, 13 in Taiwan, eight in Australia, two in Spain, one in Iceland, and a newly-opened outlet in France.
© 2017 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest retail news. Article by Sarah Harford. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: The European Supermarket Magazine.
