From good to great
This issue’s cover story is not only a great show-and-tell of Costco’s growth, but for me, as a 36-year employee, it’s also a bit of a trip down memory lane. As the story explains, Costco started off as a place that sold a limited number of items, often in bulk sizes, in a no-frills warehouse building. It’s hard to accurately convey what a novel concept it was at the time. Seeing people shop in warehouses with bare, concrete floors that they paid to get into felt almost revolutionary in the early 1980s.
And it was. As the company grew in size and in success, we began to ask if the Costco model could apply to other essentials that we all need. You know, things such as gas, home appliances, glasses and contacts, pharmacy items and more. The answer was, and is, yes. Each successive new area of the company was developed as a way to increase the value of your Costco membership.
A great example is our Kirkland Signature™ line of products. We have developed products for our private-label brand in nearly every category you’ll find in our warehouses, from clothing to household goods to pet food. The label means that Costco buyers played a key role in creating the product (sometimes completely from scratch) and that it has received our stamp of approval—our signature—that it offers a particularly excellent value to our members. This issue’s Special Section discusses new developments in our Kirkland Signature line.
I sincerely hope that you enjoy reading this issue and that Costco helps you make the most of this time of year.
Coming next month
PUBLISHER
Sandy Torrey storrey@costco.com
EDITORIAL DIRECTOR
U.S. Stephanie E. Ponder 425-427-7134 sponder@costco.com
EDITORS
U.S. Will Fifield wfifield@costco.com
Canada Christina Guerrero cguerrero2@costco.com
REPORTERS
Shelley Crenshaw screnshaw@costco.com
Dan Jones daniel.jones@costco.com
Jen Madera jjmadera@costco.com
COPY EDITOR
Cindy Hutchinson
Shana McNally
Whitney Seneker
Alexandra van Ingen
CONTRIBUTORS
Ayeshah Abuelhiga, Mary Bishop, Milly Dawson, Robert Greathouse, T. Foster Jones, Lois Alter Mark, Debbie L. Miller, Marc Saltzman, Tim Talevich, Andrea Tomkins, Russ York
ART DIRECTOR
Lory Williams lwilliams@costco.com
ASSOCIATE ART DIRECTORS
David Schneider, dschneider@costco.com
Brenda Shecter bshecter@costco.com
GRAPHIC DESIGNERS
Ken Broman, Steven Lait, Chris Rusnak
EDITORIAL PRODUCTION MANAGER
Antolin Matsuda amatsuda@costco.com
PRINT, PAPER AND PREPRESS MANAGER
MaryAnne Robbers mrobbers@costco.com
PRINT PRODUCTION SPECIALIST
Grace Clark graceclark@costco.com
PUBLISHING ADVERTISING MANAGER
Kathi Tipper-Holgersen 425-313-6581 ktipper@costco.com
ASSISTANT ADVERTISING MANAGER
Susan Detlor 425-313-6916 sdetlor@costco.com
ADVERTISING SPECIALISTS
Raven Stackhouse 425-416-1632 rlstackhouse@costco.com
ADVERTISING COORDINATOR
Aliw Moral 425-313-2558 mmoral@costco.com
ADVERTISING COPYWRITER
Bill Urlevich
ADVERTISING PRODUCTION SPECIALIST
Josh Livingston
ADVERTISING GRAPHIC DESIGNER
Christina Muñoz-Moye
NATIONAL ADVERTISING REPRESENTATIVE
Michael Colonno 973-664-7797 michael.colonno@mediapartnersgroupllc.net
BUSINESS MANAGER
Jane Johnson
CIRCULATION MANAGER
Rossie Cruz rcruz@costco.com
CIRCULATION COORDINATOR
Luke Okada
ONLINE PRODUCTION COORDINATOR
Dorothy Strakele connection@costco.com
COSTCO WHOLESALE
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