Costco has plans to open six new stores in the U.S. over the next nine days and six more over the next six months. The warehouse retailer will soon have more than 900 locations worldwide.
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Costco will be opening two new stores in Southern California this week and four more in other states next week, which will drive the wholesaler’s plan to have over 900 locations worldwide.
A new location opens Friday in Brentwood and another on Saturday in Highland. Stores are scheduled to open next week in Maine, Michigan and Texas (two).
The location in Sharon, Maine, scheduled to open March 12, will be the 620th to open in the U.S. and 900th globally, CEO Ron Vachris said Thursday during a call with investment analysts.
Costco expects to open six more locations in the U.S., two in Canada and four other international locations over the next six months, he said. “We have big plans for the rest of the fiscal year (which ends Aug. 31),” Vachris said.
Costco’s strategy is to attempt to open 25-30 new locations each year, typically with half of them in the U.S. and the other half in international markets, chief financial officer Gary Millerchip said Thursday. If openings go as scheduled, the company will open 25 during the current fiscal year, which ends Aug. 31.
Where are Costco stores opening in March?
Costco: Will inflation, tariffs affect prices?
Costco, with its buying power, is well-positioned to weather increased costs due to inflation or tariffs, the executives said Thursday.
“It is difficult to predict the impact of tariffs, but our team remains agile and our goal will be to minimize the impact of related cost increases to our members,” Vachris said.
The tariff situation is “very fluid,” right now, he said. But Costco buyers could look to other countries not hit with tariffs for products, such as produce, if needed. “Our buyers deal with those like they would any other cost increase,” he said.
Inflation for the 12-week period, which ended Feb. 16, was in “the low single digits,” Millerchip said, with lower prices on goods such as sugar, butter and flour helping offset higher prices for eggs, cocoa, coffee, cheese and corn.
Costco shoppers bought more items and spent more during the period. A year ago, the “basket size” would have been “flat to negative,” he said.
Costco said its net sales for the 12-week period ending Feb. 16 rose 9.1% to $62.53 billion, up from $57.33 billion last year. U.S. sales during the period rose 8.6%.
Net income of $1.79 billion rose 2.6% but fell short of the $1.82 billion expected by analysts polled by S&P Global Market Intelligence. Costco posted net income of $1.74 billion in the year-ago quarter.
Costco shares fell 2% on Thursday and dipped lower in after-hours trading.
The retailer reported 78.4 million paid memberships, an increase of 6.8%, and had membership income growth of 7.4%.
Costco’s growth has continued to be reliable, said Greg Zakowicz, senior ecommerce expert at Omnisend.
“With the rising cost of everyday goods, Costco is an appealing choice for many shoppers seeking value in terms of product quality and price,” he said. “Within the grocery category I expect its private-label brands to be a strong catalyst of growth.”
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