Costco Wholesale Corp. said its April same-store sales dropped 8%, hurt by a shift in the timing of the Easter holiday. Domestic same-store sales fell 7%, while international same-store sales slipped 12%.
Excluding lower gas prices and the stronger dollar, same-store sales were flat. U.S. same-store sales fell 2%, excluding gas deflation. International same-store sales climbed 7%, excluding the stronger dollar.
Total sales for the period ended May 3 declined 6% to $5.18 billion.
The current period included one less sales day due to Easter's shift, which Costco estimated lowered total and same-tore sales by about 2% to 3%.
Year-to-date same-store sales dropped 3%, with U.S. same-store sales off 1% and international same-store sales down 10%.
Total sales for the year-to-date dipped to $46.66 billion from $46.88 billion.
Excluding lower gas prices and the stronger dollar, year-to-date same-store sales gained 4%. Taking out lower gas prices, year-to-date U.S. same-store sales climbed 2%. International year-to-date same-store sales, excluding the stronger dollar, rose 8%.
Costco currently operates 554 warehouses, including 407 in the U.S. and Puerto Rico, 76 in Canada, 21 in the U.K., six in Korea, five in Taiwan, eight in Japan and 31 in Mexico.
