Costco the wholesaler reported earnings to the markets yesterday and beat all analyst expectations by turning in a whopping 14% increase in revenue. The general forecasts from surveys such as Thomson Reuters has predicted around 12% increase, thus they trumped the market and added a great increase in what can only be regarded as a troublesome time for the sector as a whole.
The previous day Costco had just opened a huge 150,000 square foot new store in Marlboro on Route9 and Texas road. The new opening will help the economy of Marlboro by creating 140 new jobs for people in the area and increase the ratables around 6 to 7 million dollars. The original planning of a Costco store here dates back to 2007, but through one thing and another it has only now been possible to open.
Costco’s growth in recent times has been mainly down to getting new stores slap bang into busy mainstream areas, where people are welcoming of the idea of wholesale produce. This has proven a good strategy in the current financial climate where many companies involved in this sector have been falling on hard times. Looking at the figures they seem all good, with revenue up by 9% at stores that have been operating for over a year.
Overall Costco runs 584 warehouses, with 427 of them being in the US, 81 in Canada and the rest split between Mexico, UK and Asia.
So a good set of results from a robust company, bucking the trend of recession and financial doom and gloom. Hopefully there is more of this to come from companies thinking more towards what people need now and where to place it.