Costco sales mostly soft in January

Same-store sales at Costco were mostly flat in January across the globe, mirroring reports from other retailers reporting soft sales.



Same-store sales, including gasoline sales and foreign exchange effects, were up 1% in the United States, down 6% in Canada and flat internationally. Globally, same-store sales were flat compared with January 2015. Excluding gasoline and currency exchange effects, U.S. sales rose 1%, Canadian sales rose 11% and international sales rose 10%. On the same basis, worldwide same-stores sales in the quarter rose 4%. Net sales for the month totaled $8.32 billion, up 2% year over year.



By region, comparable sales rose 1% in the US and fell 6% in Canada, while the Other International segment's comparable sales were flat.



For the 22-week period ending Jan. 31, total net sales rose to $49.98 billion from $49.01 billion while comparable sales were flat, or 6% higher excluding foreign exchange and gasoline price deflation.



Costco currently operates 698 warehouses, including 488 in the United States and Puerto Rico, 90 in Canada, 36 in Mexico, 27 in the United Kingdom, 24 in Japan, 12 in Korea, 11 in Taiwan, eight in Australia and two in Spain. Costco also operates electronic commerce web sites in the U.S., Canada, the United Kingdom, Mexico, Korea and Taiwan.