Jelinek: I like our toilet paper, because obviously that’s the No. 1 selling item that we have. And I love our Kirkland Signature shirts. That’s the only thing that I basically wear, like this.
Austin: I assume this is one today.
Jelinek: This is it. I think that’s become a great item for us. It’s become a big volume item for us. When I really notice, when I get excited, is when I go to pick up my dry cleaning and I see all the shirts in there that look like mine. I know that that shirt is being purchased out there in the marketplace.
Austin: I’m a big fan of the Kirkland label, but I have to say I’ve got trouble with the slim fit. I haven’t been able to make it work. If you guys have anything in the pipeline, let me know because I’d buy my shirts there all day.
Jelinek: We have slim fits.
Austin: You’re a slim. What about extra slim? European slim?
Jelinek: You’re a rarity.
Austin: Yes. No plans for that?
Jelinek: No plans for that at the moment. I don’t know how many people would fall into that category.
Austin: There’s not many of us. We’re not big purchasers. You would not do well to target that niche.
What about, when Christmas time rolls around, what are you putting in the family stockings from Costco?
Jelinek: Well, you know, when I grew up, you put toothbrushes and socks and stuff like that in the Christmas sock. But TVs are becoming very big for us. We sell a lot of Bose speakers. The tablets, Samsung tablets are becoming very big.
We sell a lot of apparel during the Christmas season. We sell a lot of jewelry, we sell a lot of watches during the holiday season, so that will continue to be big for us. Our domestics business… I would say vacuum cleaners, but that’s probably not a good thing as a Christmas present or Mother’s Day present.
Austin: No, that gets you in the doghouse pretty quickly.
Jelinek: This day and age, but our jewelry business continues to grow, our apparel business, items like that.
Then again we’re very big during the holiday season, particularly with our prime rib and our fish items, our shrimp, items like that. We do a big job — hams — during the Christmas season.
Austin: You mentioned your electronics section and the strong Samsung presence you have. When I look across the consumer electronics landscape today, it’s hard to ignore the Apple presence that Apple has. But Apple seems notably absent from Costco.
How is that dynamic shaking out? Are you guys trying to target Apple? Have you thought about bringing them in?
Jelinek: I think it’s … we always continue, occasionally, to have dialogue and to see if somehow we can show a value for the Apple products. So far we haven’t been able to work out something. Time will tell if that happens, but we seem to be doing well without each other.
Apple’s doing well without being in Costco, and Costco seems to thrive with not having Apple. It’s going to work out for each one, one way or the other. If it doesn’t work where we can work with each other, it doesn’t work. That’s OK. Life goes on.
Austin: Looking at some of your operating metrics, it’s hard to miss the extreme efficiency you guys seem to be getting out of Canada, compared to your U.S. business. I think the average sales per Canadian citizen compared to a U.S. citizen are about two times, approximately. What are you guys doing up in Canada that’s working so well?
