Chinese New Year boosts Costco sales in January

ISSAQUAH, Wash. — Costco Wholesale Corp. reported net sales of $10.71 billion for the retail month of January, an increase of 8% from $9.92 billion last year. For the 22 weeks ended February 3, 2019, the company reported net sales of $63.7 billion, an increase of 9.3% from $58.30 billion during the similar period last year. The earlier occurrence of the Lunar New Year this year boosted sales outside the U.S. and Canada by about 4.5% and total sales by about 0.5%, with a commensurate negative impact expected the same time next year.