In a function revealed Thursday, Costco Chairman Hamilton “Tony” James advised Chief Government Journal that though he is been on Costco’s board for 36 years, he nonetheless loves attending the conferences.
“I discover it fascinating,” James mentioned within the Q&A. “The corporate is a good window on what is going on on this planet of shoppers, what they’re shopping for or not shopping for.”
And what they’re shopping for, along with the beloved $1.50 scorching canine combo, are 10-carat diamonds and gold bars. (Wells Fargo analysts present in September that the corporate sells as much as $200 million value of gold bars month-to-month.)
“A Porsche seller in Seattle put their automobiles on the ground of a Costco, they usually offered out in every week,” James mentioned.
Costco had about 137 million paying members in 2024, and most, James mentioned, are “average-income earners nationally” however the warehouse chain additionally has “prosperous members with two instances the common earnings.”
These members enable the corporate to do “exceptional issues” like promoting extra high-priced Dom Perignon Champagne than “anybody else” — and for many years. In 2001, for instance, the then-director of wine at Costco advised the Los Angeles Instances that the warehouse chain was the “nation’s largest retailer of Dom Perignon.”
Enterprise Insider experiences that, in accordance with knowledge from analytics agency Numerator, millennial and Gen X households with increased earnings most well-liked buying at Costco over the competitors.
Associated: Costco Bulks Up Most Retailer Employees’ Paychecks to Extra Than $30 an Hour.
“We have all the time identified we might transfer something in quantity if the standard was good and the value was nice — Rolex watches, Dom Perignon, 10-carat diamonds,” James mentioned.
“Prosperous individuals love a very good deal,” he added, although they are not solely shopping for luxurious objects.
The firm’s Kirkland model is “the second-largest model wherever,” James notes.
Costco reported internet gross sales of $19.51 billion for January 2025, a rise of 9.2 % from the identical interval final 12 months.