Senior Writer
Fortune
Phil Wahba is a senior writer at Fortune primarily focused on leadership coverage. His award-winning features include profiles of CEOs at Costco and Kohl’s and an examination of how private equity transformed the retail sector. Phil joined Fortune in 2014 from Reuters, where he covered retail, corporate bankruptcies, the stock exchanges, and wrote a weekly column about IPOs. He has also worked as a trade commissioner in New York for the Canadian government. He holds a B.Comm from HEC Montréal and an MBA from the University of Ottawa. In 2007, he graduated from Columbia University with a Masters in Journalism. He is also a CFA charter holder.
Monday Jan 11
9:45am - 10:15am
Javits North, Level 5
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.
