Club & Warehouse

Issaquah, Wash. – Costco Wholesale Corp. reported 3% year-over-year net income growth in its third quarter, to $473 million from $459 million in the year-ago period, as sales and membership fees improved. However, it came in short of the roughly $482 million in profit analysts had expected.

Net sales for the quarter increased 7% to $25.23 billion, from $23.55 last year.

A new cash rewards program rolling out nationwide at Sam’s Club June 12 is the latest enticement to encourage members to opt for the retailer’s $100 Plus membership level.

Plus members will automatically be enrolled in the program on June 12 and receive $10 in cash rewards for every $500 spent with the potential to receive an annual maximum payout of $500. The rewards load automatically onto membership cards and are restricted to use at Sam’s Club 635 locations or online.

New York -- Google and Costco Wholesale Corp. came out on top in a survey of large companies with the best compensation and benefits for workers by jobs site Glassdoor. Rounding out the top five were Facebook, Adobe and Epic.

The ranking was based on an online anonymous survey that asked employees to rate how satisfied they were with their pay and benefits on a scale of 1 to 5. Costco and Google both received a score of 4.4 out of 5. Google ranked higher than Costco only by fractions of a point.

Amazon.com took second place overall and was the highest-ranked retailer in the 2014 Temkin Customer Service Ratings, which rates 233 companies across 19 industries with 10,000 U.S. consumers. Other retailers in the top 12 include Chick-fil-A, Publix, H-E-B, Starbucks, Costco, QVC, and Trader Joe's.

Retailers with the most improvement over last year's ratings are Apple Store, KFC, and Food Lion. Ace Hardware and Staples saw their Temkin Customer Service Ratings fall by 15 points or more between 2013 and 2014: No retailers placed at the bottom of the rankings.

Waban, Mass. – Amazon.com took second place overall and was the highest-ranked retailer in the 2014 Temkin Customer Service Ratings, which rates 233 companies across 19 industries with 10,000 U.S. consumers. Other retailers in the top 12 include Chick-fil-A, Publix, H-E-B, Starbucks, Costco, QVC, and Trader Joe's.

Boulder, Colo. - Trader Joe’s is North America’s favorite grocery retailer based on satisfaction. A study of more than 6,200 consumers by Market Force Information, also found that Publix and Aldi were ranked second and third.

New York -- Costco Wholesale Corp. has opened its first store in continental Europe, a 140,000-sq.-ft. location in Seville, Spain.

Costco will follow it up with a store in Madrid, according to media reports.

Same store sales and operating profits declined at Sam’s Club during the first quarter prompting president and CEO Rosalind Brewer to call the reporting period, “one of our more difficult quarters.”