In April, Costco Wholesale Corp. sales gained across its division led by food and consumables.
Comparable store sales excluding the effects of fuel and foreign exchange rate volatility increased 2.9% in the United States, 8.3% in Canada and 7.5% in Other International markets for a company total of 4.3%. E-commerce comps slipped 4.9%, Costco reported
In the U.S., comparable store traffic increased by 4%, a Costco spokesperson said in a conference call. The strongest U.S. regions were the Northeast, the Midwest and the Southeast. As for merchandising categories, Food & Sundries gained in the high single digits and Fresh Food advanced in the mid-single digits while Non-Foods slipped in the low single digits, with tires, automotive and health and beauty the strongest performing categories.
Costco currently operates 851 warehouses, including 585 in the U.S. and Puerto Rico, 107 in Canada, 40 in Mexico, 32 in Japan, 29 in the United Kingdom, 18 in Korea, 14 in Taiwan, 14 in Australia, four in Spain, three in China, two in France, and one each in Iceland, New Zealand and Sweden. The company also operates e-commerce websites in the U.S., Canada, the U.K., Mexico, Korea, Taiwan, Japan and Australia.
