Net sales for the fiscal 2009 fourth quarter, the 16 weeks ended August 30, 2009, were $21.9 billion, a decrease of three percent from $22.6 billion in the 16-week fourth quarter of fiscal 2008 ended August 31, 2008.

Net sales for the 52-week fiscal year 2009 were $69.9 billion, a decrease of two percent from $71.0 billion in the 52-week fiscal year 2008 ended August 31, 2008.

Comparable sales for the four-week retail-reporting month of August, the 16-week fiscal fourth quarter and the 52-week fiscal year 2009 were as follows:

                          4 Weeks  16 Weeks  52 Weeks
                          -------  --------  --------
     US                        -4%       -6%       -2%
     International             +3%       -3%       -8%
     Total Company             -2%       -5%       -4%
                          =======  ========  ========

Comparable sales for the four-week, 16-week and 52-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  16 Weeks  52 Weeks
                          -------  --------  --------
     US                         0%       -1%       +1%
     International             +7%       +7%       +7%
     Total Company             +2%       +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 75874599). This recorded message will be available today through 5:00 p.m. (PT) on Friday, September 4, 2009.

The Company plans to release its operating results for the fourth quarter (16 weeks) and for the fiscal year (52 weeks) ended August 30, 2009, on October 7, 2009. The retail sales results for the month of September will also be announced on that date. A conference call to discus these results is scheduled for 8:00 a.m. (PT) that day and will be available via webcast on www.costco.com (click on Investor Relations and "webcasts").

Costco ended its 52-week fiscal year on August 30, 2009 with 559 warehouses in operation, 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, 32 in Mexico and one 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 an additional seven to eight new warehouses (including the relocation of one to two warehouses to larger and better-located facilities) in the first four months of fiscal 2010, prior to the end of calendar 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