Dive Brief:

• Costco Wholesale’s corporate controller and principal accounting officer, Dan Hines, will retire at the end of the month after 35 years at the company, according to a Wednesday filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Hines will remain with the company until his retirement in January 2026.
• The Issaquah, Washington based company promoted Tiffany Barbre from her current role as vice president, assistant corporate controller to senior vice president, corporate controller and principal accounting officer to replace Hines, effective July 1. 
• The appointment comes on the heels of last year’s change at the top of the finance team: Gary Millerchip, formerly CFO for grocery giant Kroger, replaced long-time CFO Richard Galanti, who had served as the company’s finance chief for nearly four decades. 

Dive Insight:

The company’s decision to pick Hines’ successor from its ranks is in keeping with a history of developing and keeping veterans on its financial bench. 

Hines has held the company’s controller and PAO reins since 2016, after serving as vice-president - financial accounting controller for nearly two decades starting in 1999, according to an SEC filing from that time. He succeeded David Petterson, who in turn held the controller post for 22 years and worked for Costco for 27 years, according to the Puget Sound Business Journal.  

Barbre 51, joined Costco 10 years ago and was promoted to assistant vice president in 2016. She graduated from Washington State University with a bachelor’s in accounting and previously served as an auditor at the now defunct Arthur Andersen. In her new role, Barbre will receive an annual base salary of $340,000, be eligible for an annual cash incentive bonus of $100,000 and be eligible for an annual restricted stock unit grant with an estimated target value of $2 million for fiscal 2026, according to the filing.