Congratulations to Costco Wholesale--Business of the Month for June 2009.
Costco Wholesale Corporation is the largest membership warehouse club chain in the world based on sales volume. It is the fourth biggest general retailer in the United States, after Wal-Mart, The Home Depot and Kroger.
We operate about 555 membership warehouse stores serving more than 53 million cardholders in some 40 US states and Puerto Rico, Canada, Japan, Mexico, South Korea, Taiwan, and the UK, primarily under the Costco Wholesale name. Stores offer discount prices on an average of about 4,000 products (many in bulk packaging), ranging from alcoholic beverages and appliances to fresh food, pharmaceuticals, and tires. Certain club memberships also offer products and services such as car and home insurance, mortgage and real estate services, and travel packages.
We are committed to quality and integrity in every aspect of our business, and our operations are firmly anchored in our Mission Statement --
To continually provide our members with quality goods and services at the lowest possible prices. In order to achieve our mission we will conduct our business with the following Code of Ethics in mind:
- Obey the law.
- Take care of our members.
- Take care of our employees.
- Respect our vendors.
- Reward our shareholders.
Our solid corporate reputation – the combination of our merchandising expertise, our pricing authority, our outstanding customer service, and our unswervingly high ethical standards – stems from our people. Costco’s strong corporate culture is based on individual responsibility and initiative, and the faith we place in our employees is rewarded by a workforce that strives for personal and professional excellence. We have a number of training and leadership programs in place to help our employees meet and exceed their goals – and we are dedicated to promoting 80% of our management team from within.
We also take a leading role in the communities in which we do business, believing that it is extremely important to give back to those who contribute to our success. Costco is well known for its generosity and community service and has won many awards for its philanthropy. We encourage our employees to take an active role in volunteering and provide many corporate sponsored opportunities in which they can help others.
Each fall the company gives away thousands of backpacks filled with school supplies to underprivileged children. Our warehouses participate in Adopt-a-School and reading enrichment programs which allow our employees to mentor and tutor struggling students, often raising their reading levels significantly.
We are major contributors to United Way and Children’s Miracle Network, yearly contributing in excess of 10 million dollars to these and other worthy causes.
Costco Wholesale opened in Duluth, GA Gwinnett County in 1994 and since build a total of 7 other locations including the location at Mall of Georgia.
Since pioneering the world’s first warehouse membership club in 1976, Costco Wholesale has continued to be one of the most innovative, successful retailers on earth. And after 33 years of explosive growth, our vision and our potential are constantly expanding. It’s been an exciting ride – and the best is yet to come!
