STANFORD
GRADUATE SCHOOL OF BUSINESS

CASE: A-186A DATE: 06/19/03

CosTco WHOLESALE CORPORATION FINANCIAL STATEMENT ANALYSIS (A)

INTRODUCTION

Margarita Torres first purchased shares in Costco Wholesale Corporation in 1997 as part of her personal investment portfolio. Between 1997 and 2002, she added slightly to her holdings from time to time when the company sold stock for what she felt was a reasonable valuation, and up to that time she did not sell any of her shares. Having watched Costco grow from 265 warehouses to 365 worldwide, and from sales revenue of $21.8 billion to $34.1 billion, she wondered what factors led to such successful growth. She also wanted to determine whether those factors
These stores revolutionized retailing by offering a variety of products in one location and by developing a reputation for excellent customer service. Other innovations included free delivery of purchases and the ability for customers to make purchases using store credit.

The most dominant department store for most of the 20th century was Sears, Roebuck and Company. Founded in 1893 as a mail-order company, Sears opened its first retail store in 1925. By 1945, Sears achieved $1 billion in sales. Throughout the 1950s and 1960s, the company expanded aggressively across the country, selling everything from clothing to appliances to televisions and home repair items. Trying to find success in ventures beyond retailing, the company had owned at one point Allstate Insurance (home, life and auto insurance), Coldweli Banker (real estate broker), and Dean Witter Reynolds (stock brokerage). Sears also launched the Discover credit card. From the mid-i 970s through 2002, however, the company struggled, and all of these companies were been sold off. In 2001, Sears had sales of $41 billion and Federated Department Stores, which owns Macy’ s and Bloomingdales, had sales of $16 billion.’

Discount Stores

The 1960s witnessed a new breed of retailer, the mass discounter. These companies originally targeted lower income consumers with a broad product line similar to that of Sears and other department stores.