Dive Brief:
- BJ’s Wholesale Club has named Stephanie Reibling as executive vice president and chief merchandising officer, the club retailer announced Wednesday.
- Reibling brings over a decade of experience at Walmart and nearly five years of experience at Sam’s Club to the role.
- BJ’s said that Reibling will play a key role in the company’s merchandising transformation and category growth efforts.
Dive Insight:
Reibling has nearly 25 years of experience in merchandising, product and brand development, and sourcing, which includes roles overseeing both in-store and e-commerce operations.
Most recently, Reibling worked for her own strategy consulting firm for about a year, according to her LinkedIn profile. Prior to that, she served as senior vice president and general merchandise manager of home, apparel, tires and seasonal goods at Sam’s Club. Reibling was at the BJ’s rival for nearly five years.
Earlier in her career, Reibling held divisional merchandising roles and several vice president positions at Walmart, where she worked for over 10 years. She also held leadership roles at clothing retailer Gap.
At BJ’s, Reibling will report to Chief Commercial Officer Paul Cichocki.
“Her experience in retail and merchandising will be invaluable as we evolve our assortment, build BJ’s own brands and advance our omnichannel capabilities,” Cichocki said in the announcement.
For its fourth quarter, BJ’s reported comparable-store sales growth, excluding gas, of 2.6% year over year and digital comp sales growth of 31%. The company also announced posted its 16th consecutive quarter of traffic growth.
BJ’s currently operates 263 clubs and 201 BJ’s Gas locations in 21 states.
