Costco

The top five retailers in the U.S. recorded nearly $230 billion in revenue last year ($228.4 billion to be exact). They must be doing something right. Walmart, Amazon.com, Costco, Walgreens, and Home Depot have each built strong brand identities, and all benefit from powerful household recognition and brand equity. As I wrote previously: A brand is the sum…

Despite the fact that many Black Friday sales begin tomorrow, Thanksgiving Day, more than 75 well-known retailers will be closed for the holiday. A list of all of the retailers that will be closed on Thanksgiving Day — including leaders such as Costco, Neiman Marcus, and  T.J.Maxx — can be found on BestBlackFriday.com, a website…

Costco announced last week that it's offering customers same-day grocery delivery. On Thursday, the company announced two new delivery options: two-day delivery for dry goods, and same-day delivery for orders that include fresh foods. The same-day service will be powered by grocery delivery company Instacart. The same-day delivery option, available in “most metropolitan areas,” lets…

A New Jersey couple on Friday filed a class-action lawsuit against Costco Wholesale, claiming it has been illegally overcharging them — and potentially hundreds of  thousands of other customers — by charging sales tax on toilet tissue purchases in violation of state law. Toilet tissue sold for household use is exempt from New Jersey's 7 percent…

On Monday, Costco took the final step in severing its 17-year relationship with American Express and began exclusively accepting Visa for credit card purchases at its stores. For more than 11 million customers, the switch meant cutting up their Costco-branded American Express cards and swapping them for a new Visa card issued by Citigroup. A transition…

Costco Wholesale Corp. will lift its minimum wage for the first time in nine years, by a $1.50 an hour, as the labor market tightens and competitors start giving workers a raise. The second-largest U.S. retailer will start paying at least $13-to-$13.50 an hour, up from $11.50-to-$12 an hour, the company said Thursday in a…

Seven months after splitting with longtime partner Costco Wholesale Corp., American Express Co. said Thursday that its cards will be accepted at rival membership warehouse Sam's Club starting Oct. 1. Sam's Club, a division of Wal-Mart Stores Inc., has 653 stores in the U.S. and Puerto Rico.  

Costco willfully infringed Tiffany & Co's trademarks by selling counterfeit diamond engagement rings bearing the luxury retailer's name, and now must face a jury trial to assess damages, a U.S. judge ruled on Tuesday. U.S. District Judge Laura Taylor Swain in Manhattan rejected claims by Costco that Tiffany's trademarks were invalid because they sought to prevent…

Costco Wholesale, Sam's Club and a handful of other large retailers have disabled their online photo printing stores in recent days, on concerns about a possible data breach at PNI Digital Media, which manages and/or hosts photo services sites.

This year Costco will expand its presence in the United Kingdom, Japan and Spain. The retailer's membership format has found appeal in many foreign countries, and I see more success ahead. There are now 674 Costco warehouse clubs in operation globally, 475 in the United States and 199 units outside the U.S.