Robert Price to
Step Down as Interim CEO; Will Become Executive Chairman of the
Board of Directors David Price Named CEO to Succeed Robert
Price
SAN
DIEGO, March 3, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- PriceSmart,
Inc. ("PriceSmart" or the "Company") (NASDAQ: PSMT) today announced
that Robert Price has notified the
Board of Directors of his intention to step down as Interim Chief
Executive Officer effective August 31,
2025. David Price, the
Company's current Executive Vice President and Chief Transformation
Officer and member of the Board of Directors, will become Chief
Executive Officer effective September 1,
2025. Robert Price will
become Executive Chairman of the Board of Directors.
Robert Price has most recently
led PriceSmart as Interim Chief Executive Officer since
February 2023 and has been Chairman
of the Board of Directors of the Company since its spin-off from
Price Enterprises, Inc. in 1997. In announcing his decision to step
down as Interim Chief Executive Officer, Robert Price said, "As I approach my 83rd
birthday in 2025, the time is right for me to transition from
day-to-day duties and become Executive Chairman of the Board of
Directors. Serving as Interim Chief Executive Officer these last
two years has been especially rewarding for me because of the
progress we have made in our business and the positive impact
PriceSmart continues to have on the lives of so many
people—employees, Members, suppliers, and our communities."
Regarding the CEO transition, Robert
Price added, "David and I have worked together on a daily
basis for the past two years and I have kept a close eye on his
progress during his almost decade with the Company. I have complete
confidence in his leadership, and I am thrilled that the PriceSmart
Board of Directors has selected him as my successor. I'm proud to
have sustained a culture of doing business the right way throughout
my years of service to PriceSmart, and I'm sure that David will
remain committed to this fundamental principle. For us, doing
business the right way means offering our Members quality
merchandise and services at affordable prices, providing our
employees with good working conditions and conducting ourselves in
a socially and environmentally responsible manner."
David Price said, "I am honored
to succeed my dad as PriceSmart's CEO. I am fortunate to continue
to work with him in my new role and am humbled by the confidence
that he, the Board of Directors, and our dedicated employees have
placed in me."
Dave Snyder, Vice Chairman of the
Company's Board and Lead Independent Director, said, "PriceSmart's
Board is responsible for ensuring the continuity of senior
management leadership. The succession plan we are announcing today
enables a smooth transition to a capable leader who has a unique
understanding of the Company and its culture while providing for
ongoing contributions from PriceSmart's founder and Chairman of the
Board. The Company's independent members of the Board of Directors
unanimously approved the appointment of David Price as CEO and has the highest degree of
confidence that he, together with the rest of the Company's
accomplished management team, will continue to expand PriceSmart's
business and enhance stockholder return."
David Price has been with the
Company since July 2017 and was
promoted to Executive Vice President and Chief Transformation
Officer in August 2023. He has served
as a member of the Board of Directors of the Company since
February 2022. He currently leads
several important areas, including Information Technology,
PriceSmart.com, and Payment Solutions and Services. Prior to his
current role, he was the Executive Vice President and Chief of
Staff to the Chairman of the Board and the Company's Interim Chief
Executive Officer, Robert Price,
from December 2022 to July 2023.
PriceSmart's President and Chief Operating Officer John Hildebrant will continue serving in that
role. Mr. Hildebrandt said, "Robert has been a guiding light for
this business and for me. He has demonstrated that a business can
be successful while operating the right way—providing our Members
with the best possible shopping experience while making sure our
employees receive excellent pay and benefits, a respectful and
welcoming work environment, and opportunities for advancement.
Moving forward, David Price is
ideally prepared to assume the duties as our next Chief Executive
Officer. He has been inculcated in PriceSmart's values by his
father Robert and his grandfather Sol
Price his whole life. The transition from Robert to David
ensures continuity for our Members, employees, and
stockholders."
About PriceSmart
PriceSmart, headquartered in San
Diego, owns and operates U.S.-style membership shopping
warehouse clubs in Latin America
and the Caribbean, selling high
quality merchandise and services at low prices to PriceSmart
Members. PriceSmart operates 54 warehouse clubs in 12 countries and
one U.S. territory (ten in Colombia; eight in Costa Rica; seven in Panama; six in Guatemala; five in Dominican Republic; four each in Trinidad and El
Salvador; three in Honduras; two each in Nicaragua and Jamaica; and one each in Aruba, Barbados and the United States Virgin Islands). In addition,
the Company plans to open one warehouse club in Cartago, Costa
Rica in April 2025 and one
warehouse club in Quetzaltenango, Guatemala in the summer of 2025. Once these
two new clubs are open, the Company will operate 56 warehouse
clubs.
This press release may contain forward-looking statements
concerning PriceSmart, Inc.'s ("PriceSmart", the "Company" or "we")
anticipated future revenues and earnings, adequacy of future cash
flows, future dividends, omni-channel initiatives, proposed
warehouse club openings, the Company's performance relative to
competitors and related matters. These forward-looking statements
include, but are not limited to, statements containing the words
"expect," "believe," "will," "may," "should," "project,"
"estimate," "anticipated," "scheduled," "intend," and like
expressions, and the negative thereof. These statements are subject
to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to
differ materially including, but not limited to: various political,
economic and compliance risks associated with our international
operations, adverse changes in economic conditions in our markets,
natural disasters, volatility in currency exchange rates and
illiquidity of certain local currencies in our markets,
competition, consumer and small business spending patterns,
political instability, increased costs associated with the
integration of online commerce with our traditional business,
whether the Company can successfully execute strategic initiatives,
our reliance on third party service providers, including those who
support transaction and payment processing, data security and other
technology services, cybersecurity breaches that could cause
disruptions in our systems or jeopardize the security of Member,
employee or business information, cost increases from product and
service providers, interruption of supply chains, novel coronavirus
(COVID-19) related factors and challenges, exposure to product
liability claims and product recalls, recoverability of moneys owed
to PriceSmart from governments, and other important factors
discussed in the Risk Factors section of the Company's most recent
Annual Report on Form 10-K, and other factors discussed from time
to time in other filings with the SEC, which are accessible on the
SEC's website at www.sec.gov, including Quarterly Reports on Form
10-Q and Current Reports on Form 8-K. Forward-looking statements
speak only as of the date that they are made, and the Company does
not undertake to update them, except as required by law. In
addition, these risks are not the only risks that the Company
faces. The Company could also be affected by additional factors
that apply to all companies operating globally and in the U.S., as
well as other risks that are not presently known to the Company or
that the Company considers to be immaterial.
For further information, please contact Michael L. McCleary, EVP, Chief Financial
Officer and Principal Accounting Officer (858) 404-8826 or send an
email to ir@pricesmart.com.
View original content to download
multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/pricesmart-announces-ceo-transition-plan-302390531.html
SOURCE PriceSmart, Inc.
