Costco CEO Craig Jelinek Discusses Sales as a Market Indicator for the Restaurant Sector


Tue. March 11th, 2014 - by Jordan Okumura-Wright

<p>In a recent television interview, Costco CEO Craig Jelinek, who recently took the helm from Co-Founder Jim Sinegal, discussed the company's business with Brad Goode of KOMO in Seattle. </p><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><script height="338px" width="500px" src="http://player.ooyala.com/iframe.js#ec=RubWs0bDo7ioBV4J4n2R87N84KWlj8dl&pbid=ae2d3872589d4dd18b3338c7a64d75cf"></script><p>Craig has been with the company for years, and offered his insights on the economy generally improving. Costco's sales in certain sectors may be a market indicator for small business activity generally.<hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">"I'm starting to see the restaurant items start to improve, which I think dining out is starting to improve for the consumer. So, I wouldn't say its overwhelming, but I think the economy is improving."<hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">Jelinek also described Costco's strategy of having "treasure hunt" items, which have a very short availability and are constantly changing. This keeps things interesting for shoppers, with something new for every visit.<hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">"Once we make a huge buy...it's gone. And chances are, if it's around for any long period of time, we didn't make a good buy."<hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><a class="btn btn-sm btn-primary col-lg-12" style="white-space: normal;" href="http://www.costco.com/" target="_new"> Costco </a></p><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">