For the first forty-eight weeks of its reporting period ended August 2, 2009, the Company reported net sales of $64.43 billion, a decrease of two percent from $65.54 billion during the similar forty-eight-week period last year.

Comparable sales for the four-week retail-reporting month of July and the forty-eight-week retail-reporting period of September through July, both ended August 2, 2009, were as follows:

                         4 Weeks         48 Weeks
                         -------         --------
U.S.                       -8%             -2%
International              -5%             -9%
Total                      -7%             -4%
                         =======         ========

Comparable sales for the four-week and forty-eight-week periods, excluding the negative impacts from gasoline deflation and foreign exchange (primarily in Canada, the United Kingdom and Korea), were as follows:

                         4 Weeks         48 Weeks
                         -------         --------
U.S. (w/o gas deflation)   -2%             +1%
International (w/o Fx)     +6%             +8%
Total                      -1%             +3%
                         =======         ========

Additional discussion of these sales results is available on a pre-recorded telephone message. You can access the recording by dialing 1-800-642-1687 (conference ID 75874359). This recorded message will be available today through 5:00 p.m. (PT) on Friday, August 7, 2009.

Costco currently operates 557 warehouses, including 406 in the United States and Puerto Rico, 77 in Canada, 21 in the United Kingdom, seven in Korea, six in Taiwan, nine in Japan and 31 in Mexico. 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 an additional two new warehouses prior to the end of its 2009 fiscal year, on August 30, 2009.

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 and workers' compensation costs), rising costs associated with the acquisition of merchandise (including the direct and indirect effects of the rising cost of petroleum-based products and fuel and energy costs), 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.

CONTACTS:
Costco Wholesale Corporation
Richard Galanti, 425/313-8203
Bob Nelson, 425/313-8255
Jeff Elliott, 425/313-8264

SOURCE: Costco