New Sam’s Club CEO has global experience, got an early start in retail

Chris Nicholas began working in retail at the age of 14, pricing goods and working in back rooms. The stage will get much bigger on Sept. 11 when he steps into the top job at Sam’s Club.

He will leave behind his role as chief operating officer for Walmart U.S., a position he held since October 2021. Nicholas joined Walmart in 2018 and worked for the first three years as the chief financial officer for Walmart International. Then he worked in the U.S. business before Walmart U.S. CEO John Furner tapped him for an operational role as the No. 2 executive for U.S. stores.

“I fell in love with retail very early because I felt we could always make a difference in retail. I grew up in an environment where no one had much money,” Nicholas said a year ago in an episode of “The Huddle” with Furner. “I have worked in retail in nine different countries. I have run businesses, I have been the CFO for different businesses, whether that’s in Europe, in the U.S., or over in Australia, and there is something that’s really common about retail which is that the customers will tell you what they want.”

Nicholas, 46, said it’s a retailer’s job to listen and deliver. He said customers reward that kind of service with loyalty, but they will go elsewhere if a retailer disappoints them. One trait Nicholas said has served him well over the past two decades is being curious.

“If you are curious and learn from those around you, whether traveling abroad or here at home, that will help you see new things are possible. Over the years, I have stayed curious,” he said.

He said growing up in the United Kingdom, the United States is the place everyone wanted to live because of popular culture, a strong economy and the interesting things taking place – like the space race.

Nicholas spent more than two years based in Hong Kong, where he worked as head of audits for retailer Tesco. In all, he spent 12.5 years at the global retailer. Also, while at Tesco, Nicholas was based in Hungary and Poland while serving in CFO roles.

He said China’s head-start in e-commerce is something from which to learn. They have three online businesses that are the scale of Amazon. He said Europe understood the discount market well and also was ahead of the U.S. by a decade with online grocery. Nicholas was based in Melbourne, Australia, for nearly four years when working in finance for Coles, a retail conglomerate that offers grocery, mass retail, liquor and financial services. He said in Australia, fresh product is the hero.

He said around the world, other retailers look to Walmart as a leader; at least, that was his experience when working for other retailers abroad. Nicholas said the U.S. is “astonishing,” adding that “it’s 50 different countries in one country.” He said American consumers are relentlessly positive, something that is not always part of other cultures.

“People love to consume, and a lot of that is driven by their belief in a more positive future than we see today. Good stuff comes from being positive. The U.S. is easily the strongest economy in the world, and we should not take that for granted,” he said.

He’s also a fan of Walmart’s flywheel strategy to use services such as health and wellness, loyalty, advertising and payments to boost the bottom line. Nicholas said retail is a hectic-paced life, and it’s important to find ways to wind down and decompress. For him, it’s running. Lots and lots of running. As an ultramarathoner, Nicholas said he tries to do a couple of 62-mile races a year. He runs on the local trails and said it’s a great way to clear his mind.

“It makes me happy, and it’s good for my health. There really is no better place to run than [Northwest Arkansas] trails,” he said.

Nicholas is not the first non-American to run Sam’s Club. Outgoing Sam’s Club CEO Kath Mclay grew up in Australia and came to the U.S. in 2015 after taking a financial role for Walmart. McLay will take over as CEO of Walmart International on Sept. 11, and Judith McKenna will transition out of the company by year-end. Walmart CEO Doug McMillon recently told analysts that Nicholas was well-suited to lead Sam’s Club.

“I’m thankful for Chris and the impact he has made serving Walmart U.S. His work has been critical to strengthening our culture, commitment to service and continuous improvement – and I’m proud to see him step up to a new and different challenge leading Sam’s Club U.S., McMillon said.

Nicholas will earn a base salary of $850,000 and substantial stock awards with the opportunity for a bonus based on performance. Last year, McLay earned a base salary of $973,771 as CEO of Sam’s Club. Her total compensation was $11.945 million.

McLay leaves Sam’s Club with strong operating results through the first half of this year. Revenue grew 6.3% to $36.7 billion. Comp sales averaged 6.25% for the first half results, and e-commerce sales grew an average of 18.5%.