Costco Says Giving Members An Extra Hour to Shop Is Paying Off — Update

By Katherine Hamilton

Costco saw a boost in sales for the fourth quarter thanks in part to its newly extended store hours for executive members.

Sales got a 1% bump after the wholesale retailer in June started offering its highest paying members exclusive shopping hours in the morning, executives said Thursday. More cardholders upgraded their membership, particularly towards the end of the quarter, and executive memberships increased 9%, Chief Financial Officer Gary Millerchip said.

"Our goal is always to demonstrate more value for the member and encourage them to keep upgrading," Millerchip said, adding that executive members tend to be more engaged and shop more frequently.

Total paid memberships increased 6% to 81 million, driving a 14% increase in membership fees. Just under half of that fee increase was fueled by an increase in membership fee rates last September, Millerchip said.

Revenue rose 8% to $86.16 billion. Analysts surveyed by FactSet forecast revenue of $86.01 billion. Total company same-store sales increased 5.7%, below the 5.9% increase Wall Street was projecting, according to FactSet.

The strong membership sales are particularly important as Costco faces pressures from tariffs and inflation, as well as consumers pulling back on discretionary spending. Executives said they are making adjustments to what kind of products end up on Costco's shelves to try to manage those challenges.

Costco is leaning more into its Kirkland Signature brand and domestically sourced products because tariffs on imported goods are driving up inflation, Millerchip said. Inflation created a $43 million last-in, first-out charge in the quarter, he said. Items where it is swapping out imported goods include health and beauty, tires and mattresses.

Heading into the holidays, Costco has also trimmed its seasonal products after management noticed shoppers were getting choosier about buying non-essentials.

"Our buyers, when we were booking for this holiday season, really had to evaluate all the discretionary items," Chief Executive Ron Vachris said. "We really thinned down that whole category and we thinned down a lot of the additional seasonal areas, as well."

Write to Katherine Hamilton at katherine.hamilton@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

September 25, 2025 18:29 ET (22:29 GMT)