Costco 2012 Annual Report Download - page 12

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The following table indicates the approximate percentage of annual net sales accounted for by major
category of items:
2012 2011 20101
Sundries (including candy, snack foods, tobacco, alcoholic
and nonalcoholic beverages and cleaning and institutional
supplies) ........................................ 22% 22% 23%
Hardlines (including major appliances, electronics, health
and beauty aids, hardware, office supplies, cameras,
garden and patio, sporting goods, toys, seasonal items
and automotive supplies) ........................... 16% 17% 18%
Food (including dry and institutionally packaged foods) .... 21% 21% 21%
Softlines (including apparel, domestics, jewelry,
housewares, media, home furnishings and small
appliances) ...................................... 10% 10% 10%
Fresh Food (including meat, bakery, deli and produce) .... 13% 12% 12%
Ancillary and Other (including gas stations, pharmacy,
food court, optical, one-hour photo, hearing aid and
travel) ........................................... 18% 18% 16%
1Excludes Mexico
Ancillary businesses within or next to our warehouses provide expanded products and services and
encourage members to shop more frequently. The following table indicates the number of ancillary
businesses in operation at fiscal year-end:
2012 2011 20102
Food Court ........................................ 602 586 534
One-Hour Photo Centers ............................. 591 581 530
Optical Dispensing Centers ........................... 589 574 523
Pharmacies ........................................ 544 529 480
Hearing-Aid Centers ................................. 469 427 357
Gas Stations ....................................... 394 368 343
Print Shops and Copy Centers ........................ 10 10 10
Car Washes ....................................... 7 7 7
Number of warehouses .............................. 608 592 540
2Excludes the 32 warehouses operated in Mexico
Our online businesses at costco.com in the U.S. and costco.ca in Canada, provide our members
additional products generally not found in our warehouses, in addition to services such as digital photo
processing, pharmacy, travel, and membership services.
Our warehouses accept cash, checks, certain debit cards, American Express and a private label
Costco credit card. Losses associated with dishonored checks have been minimal, as members who
have issued dishonored checks are identified and prevented from making further purchases until
restitution is made.
We have direct buying relationships with many producers of national brand-name merchandise. We do
not obtain a significant portion of merchandise from any one supplier. We have not experienced any
difficulty in obtaining sufficient quantities of merchandise, and believe that if one or more of our current
sources of supply became unavailable, we would be able to obtain alternative sources without
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