In the 1950's a young Sinegal found his vocation in retailing when he started as a bagger at FedMart, a discount retail membership store. Over the years, He climbed up the FedMart ladder becoming the executive vice president, overlooking the merchandising and operations. Sinegal went from strength to strength. In the 1970's he became the vice president (merchandising) for Builder Emporium and later took the position as the vice president for the Price Company. In 1983, Sinegal co-founded Costco with Seattle retailer Jeff Brotman. Sinegal turned Costco into one of the most popular discount warehouse in the U.S. Costco offers a wide range of services which spans from selling fresh fruits to offering eye care, clinics and pharmacies. Costco services also expand to gas stations, offering low-priced gas across the United States.
A decade later, Costco merged with the pioneer of the warehouse discount concept, the Price Company. Since then, Costco has become one of the top ten retailers in the world – although there are less than 600 stores. Furthermore, Sinegal is considered one of the most prominent retail figures in American modern history. From the start, Sinegal has been the President and CEO of Costco – until now. On January 2012 (his 76th birthday), Sinegal will step down from the empire he build over 28 years. Costco's president and chief operating officer, Craig Jelinek will continue Sinegal's legacy. Jelinek joined Costco in 1984 as a warehouse manager and (years before) he was tipped to be the next CEO. Although he has plans to step down from Costco, Sinegal shows no signs of retiring, as he will be with the retail giant for another year. Sinegal will be involved with the company's transition.
