2024 Grocery Industry Icons & Innovators

Chris Nicholas is president and chief executive officer of Sam’s Club, a members-only warehouse club. A division of Walmart Inc., Sam’s Club had revenues of $84 billion for fiscal year 2023, 100,000 associates and nearly 600 clubs.

Prior to taking this role in September 2023, Chris served as executive vice president and chief operating officer for Walmart U.S. As COO, he was responsible for all aspects of Walmart’s U.S. Store Operations and Supply Chain – including strategy, innovation, automation, store operations, distribution center and fulfillment center operations, last mile delivery capability, and real estate.

Chris joined the company in 2018, serving first as deputy CFO, and then CFO, for Walmart International, and then most recently as CFO of the U.S. segment. He grew up working in retail and has more than 20 years of broad retail experience working in nine countries and serving in leadership roles with companies such as Tesco, The Salling Group and the Coles Group, where he played a key role in leading the Coles business through unprecedented change within the Australian Supermarket industry.

He graduated from the University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology with a Bachelor of Science (Hons) in Management Science and is a Chartered accountant (ACMA). Chris and his wife, Meagan, have two children and live in Northwest Arkansas.