Costco reported solid gains in September with minimal impacts from Hurricane Ian.
In a conference call, the company stated traffic was up 2.6% year over year in the U.S. Best performing U.S. regions were Midwest, Northwest and San Diego. As for merchandising categories, Non-Foods comps increased in the mid single digits versus September 2021 with strongest segments including toys, seasonal, tires, home furnishings and health and beauty aids. Food and Sundries comps were up in the low double digits, while Fresh Food comps were up in the middle to high single digits versus the month a year prior. The passage of Hurricane Ian up the U.S. East Coast and Appalachian mountain region had a minimal affect on September results, Costco officials noted in the conference call.
Net sales were $21.46 billion versus $19.5 billion in September 2021.
Costco operates 839 warehouses, including 578 in the United States and Puerto Rico, 107 in Canada, 40 in Mexico, 31 in Japan, 29 in the United Kingdom, 17 in Korea, 14 in Taiwan, 13 in Australia, four in Spain, two each in France and China, and one each in Iceland and New Zealand. Costco also operates e-commerce websites in the U.S., Canada, the U.K., Mexico, Korea, Taiwan, Japan and Australia.
