Latriece Watkins

Latriece Watkins

President and CEO

Sam’s Club


Latriece Watkins is president and CEO of Sam’s Club, where she leads the business with a focus on delivering meaningful value for members, building strong teams, and executing with clarity and consistency. She believes great retail starts with great people and a member-centered mindset powered by clarity and discipline.

Before taking this role, Latriece spent nearly three decades at Walmart in a wide range of senior leadership positions. Most recently, she served as executive vice president and chief merchandising officer for Walmart U.S., overseeing merchandising and manufacturing teams responsible for building customer-centric assortments at everyday low prices. In that role, she helped sharpen assortment strategy, strengthen execution, and reinforce a consistent, trusted shopping experience.

Over the course of her career, Latriece has led across real estate, Sam’s Club, Walmart U.S. merchandising, people and U.S. store operations, giving her a true end-to-end view of the business. She is known for bringing clarity to complex challenges, setting high expectations and empowering teams to move decisively. Her leadership is grounded in Sam Walton’s belief that “we’re all merchants” and in the idea that disciplined execution is what turns strategy into results.

Latriece holds a bachelor’s degree in political science from Spelman College and a Juris Doctor from the University of Arkansas School of Law. She serves on the board of directors of Live Nation.

Speaking in:

Monday Jan 11

9:45am - 10:15am

Vusion Theater, Javits North, Level 5

Sam’s Club’s Next Era of Growth

Sam’s Club is staying true to its heritage as a no-frills warehouse while evolving into a modern membership platform that serves members where, when and how they want to shop. And a new generation is taking notice: more than half of new members joining Sam’s Club are Millennials and Gen Z. As the business evolves, it remains grounded in three promises to members: deliver value on the items they want and love, make shopping easy, and serve them with people who help and care. In this Main Stage conversation, Sam’s Club President and CEO Latriece Watkins will share how the company is listening to a new generation of members, where their expectations are shaping the business - and where Sam’s Club is deliberately staying the course. She’ll explore what it takes to modernize a beloved retail model without overcomplicating it, and why, in a rapidly changing retail landscape, staying grounded in the fundamentals may be more important than ever.