Giles Bateman to Quit Price Co. Within a Year
Price Co. co-founder Giles Bateman will leave the company within a year to “pursue other personal goals.”
In an interview, Bateman, 46, who is chief financial officer and executive vice president, said his departure is amicable and is not because of health problems or disputes with other executives at Price, the San Diego-based operator of 64 Price Clubs in the United States and Canada.
Bateman, who joined Price in 1976, said he will leave only after a “transition period” during which the company can find a replacement. Bateman has not decided what sort of business he will go into after leaving Price but said he will retain his seat on Price’s board.
With former Price Club Chairman Sol Price and son Robert Price, who is now the company’s chief executive, Bateman helped Price Co. develop the discount warehouse chain concept. After Price opened its first membership-only warehouse on San Diego’s Morena Boulevard in 1976, the chain spread throughout California, spawning a host of imitators in other parts of the country. Price now operates stores in Arizona, on the East Coast and in Canada as well.
A native of Great Britain with a law degree from Oxford University and a graduate business degree from Harvard, Bateman worked for McKinsey & Co. consulting firm and for British conglomerate Norcross Ltd. before joining Price Co.
