COST - Costco Wholesale Corporation

Costco Wholesale Corporation (Costco) operates membership warehouses that offer its members low prices on a limited selection of branded and selected private-label products in a range of merchandise categories. It buys the majority of its merchandise directly from manufacturers and route it to a cross-docking consolidation point (depot) or directly to its warehouses. Its depots receive container-based shipments from manufacturers and reallocate these goods for shipment to its individual warehouses, generally in less than 24 hours. Its warehouse format averages approximately 143,000 square feet. Its warehouses operate on a seven-day, 69-hour week. It carries an average of approximately 3,900 active stock keeping units (SKUs) per warehouse in its core warehouse business. Many consumable products are offered for sale only in case, carton, or multiple-pack quantities only. Costco Mexico, its 50%-owned joint venture, operated 32 warehouses as of August 29, 2010.