2010 Edition

This white paper reviews 2009 calendar year merchandise sales. Since the clubs end their fiscal years at different times, using calendar year sales information provides a timely comparison. The information is compiled using the sales reports released by the warehouse clubs each month and quarter. The sales figures represent merchandise sales and do not include membership revenue.

Each club reports its merchandise sales figures differently. BJ’s and PriceSmart report company wide sales. Costco reports company wide sales, with the exception of its Mexican locations. Beginning June, 2009, Sam's Club stopped reporting monthly sales for its United States locations and began reporting that information quarterly. Cost-U-Less, a division of The North West Company, stopped reporting monthly sales data in 2008.

To be able to easily compare and contrast the club operators using national and international sales data, estimates are calculated for Costco’s Mexican clubs, Sam’s international locations and Cost-U-Less. This white paper is divided into the following five sections: overall sales, club operator sales, U.S. retail sales, item sales and U.S. market share.