Costco Wholesale Corporation Reports July Sales Results

ISSAQUAH, WA--(Marketwire - Aug 4, 2011) - Costco Wholesale Corporation ("Costco" or the "Company") (NASDAQ: COST) today reported net sales of $6.74 billion for the month of July, the four weeks ended July 31, 2011, an increase of 15 percent from $5.86 billion during the similar period last year. This year's four-week period included 27 days in the U.S. (U.S. warehouses closed Independence Day) versus 28 days last year (Independence Day was in the June reporting period). The calendar shift negatively impacted this year's total and comparable sales by approximately three percent (three-and-a-half percent in the U.S.). Also, this year's four-week period included sales from the Company's Mexico joint venture; otherwise the net sales increase would have been 12 percent.

For the forty-eight weeks ended July 31, 2011, the Company reported net sales of $80.18 billion, an increase of 14 percent from $70.37 billion during the similar period last year; excluding Mexico sales, the increase would have been 11 percent.

Comparable sales for the four-week and forty-eight-week periods ended July 31, 2011, including Mexico operations for last year and this year, were as follows:

Inflation in gasoline prices and strengthening foreign currencies had a positive impact on comparable sales. Excluding these effects, comparable sales for the four-week and forty-eight-week periods were as follows:

Additional discussion of these sales results is available in a pre-recorded telephone message. You can access the recording by dialing 1-800-642-1687 (conference ID 25103732). This message will be available today through 5:00 p.m. (PT) on Friday, August 5, 2011.

Costco currently operates 587 warehouses, including 428 in the United States and Puerto Rico, 81 in Canada, 32 in Mexico, 22 in the United Kingdom, eight in Japan, seven in Korea, six in Taiwan and three in Australia. The Company also operates Costco Online, an electronic commerce web site, at www.costco.com and at www.costco.ca in Canada. The Company plans to open up to five additional warehouses prior to the end of its 2011 fiscal year on August 28, 2011.

Certain statements contained in this document and the pre-recorded telephone message constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. For these purposes, forward-looking statements are statements that address activities, events, conditions or developments that the Company expects or anticipates may occur in the future. Such forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties that may cause actual events, results or performance to differ materially from those indicated by such statements. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, domestic and international economic conditions, including exchange rates, the effects of competition and regulation, uncertainties in the financial markets, consumer and small business spending patterns and debt levels, conditions affecting the acquisition, development, ownership or use of real estate, actions of vendors, rising costs associated with employees (including health care costs), energy, and certain commodities, geopolitical conditions and other risks identified from time to time in the Company's public statements and reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.