Longtime Costco COO Dick DiCerchio to retire

Costco Wholesale said longtime executive Dick DiCerchio will retire as chief operating officer on June 4. He will remain on the board of directors.

No replacement has been named.

"We're going to miss him greatly, and he's going to be a difficult person to replace," said CEO Jim Sinegal, who has known DiCerchio for almost 50 years. "We wouldn't be the company we are without his contributions."

DiCerchio, 66, and Sinegal met at FedMart in San Diego in the early '60s and later worked together at Price Club, another warehouse club founded by Sol Price.

When Sinegal and Jeff Brotman got ready to open Costco in 1983, they hired DiCerchio as vice president of operations before the first warehouse even opened.

For almost 20 years, he ran merchandising and oversaw Costco's membership and marketing functions. He also served in other roles, including as chief diversity officer since 2004, according to a memo Sinegal sent to employees Wednesday.

Although other executives earned more in stock, options and bonuses, DiCerchio had the highest salary among Costco executives in 2009, bringing in $605,002. His total compensation was $2.4 million.

DiCerchio's decision to retire comes three months after he and other top executives formed a new "office of the president" with Costco's new president, Craig Jelinek, who is thought to be in grooming for the CEO spot, should Sinegal retire.

Costco announced DiCerchio's retirement before seeking a replacement, Sinegal said, because it did not want the retirement plans of such a high-ranking executive leaking out.

Thanks to DiCerchio, he said, finding people to take over his functions should be a straightforward process.

"A major job of any good executive is to be continually bringing in people and going through the succession planning process, and he's done as much with the development of people as anybody in our company," Sinegal said.

Melissa Allison: 206-464-3312 or mallison@seattletimes.com