Costco

Outdoor equipment and clothing retailer REI and warehouse club operator Costco are among five companies that are using new voluntary recycling labels on some of their products beginning next summer. They've committed to participate in the pilot of the Package Recovery Label System developed by the Sustainable Packaging Coalition.

A new research report, 2011 Temkin Trust Ratings, examines the level of trust that consumers have in 143 large U.S. companies. The research is based on a survey of 6,000 U.S. consumers, who rated their recent customer service interactions with companies across 12 industries. Only eight companies earned "very strong" ratings while 26 earned "very weak" ratings.

Issaquah, Wash. -- Costco Wholesale Corp. reported Wednesday that net income for the fourth quarter rose 11% to $478 million, compared with $432 million in the year-ago period. The warehouse club operator also said it is hiking its membership fees 10% as it tries to keep its prices on products low to drive sales and traffic. Revenue rose 17% for the quarter to $28.18 billion. The company opened 20 new warehouse clubs during the year. It plans to open 20 stores in the coming year, about half in the United States.

In an economy in which consumers will do almost anything to save a buck and retailers will do almost anything to make a buck, it's common for stores to roll out holiday goods this month.

Retail same-store sales held steady in August with a 4.9 percent gain as retailers reported mostly solid back-to-school results coupled with decreased sales due to Hurricane Irene.

After strong performance in June, retail same-store sales slowed to 4.8 percent growth in July. Consumer spending plans, including back-to-school shopping, showed signs of stress, Kantar Retail reported. Growth in July was softer than the 7.1 percent same-store sales gain last month, but better than the 2.9 percent gain in July last year. Saks posted the biggest increase in retail sales at 15.6 percent, followed by Tandy Leather Factory at 15 percent, Costco at 10 percent and Neiman Marcus and BJ's Wholesale Club at 9.2 percent. The biggest decliner was Destiny Maternity with a decrease of 6.3 percent, according

New York City -- Warehouse club operators Costco and BJ’s Wholesale Club continue to benefit from high fuel prices and bargain-seeking consumers, with both chain reporting solid results. Costco reported a 10% rise in same-store sales In July, beating Wall Street's expectations for an 8.6% increase. The company’s strongest performance was overseas, with international same-stores sales jumping 22%. Its U.S. sales increased 6%. Removing gas price inflation and stronger foreign currencies, same-store sales gained 5% for the month. Costco said that total revenue for the four weeks ended July 31 rose 15% to $6.74 billion. The warehouse club

Deep discounts and the warmest July weather in decades brought U.S. shoppers to malls, helping many retail chains report healthy monthly sales increases at established stores. July figures provide an early read on consumer demand in the U.S. economy at the start of the back-to-school season, the second-biggest selling period of the year after Christmas. Warehouse club Costco and teen apparel chain Hot Topic posted some of the biggest gains so far. Costco Wholesale Corp reported a 10 percent rise in total July sales at stores open at least a year, beating the analysts' average estimate of an

VANCOUVER, British Columbia — PNI Digital Media on Monday announced an agreement with Walgreens to provide and operate an online stationery service for the Chicago-based pharmacy. The service will allow Walgreens customers to create and customize unique cards, invitations and other printed material, including personalized photo books and photo calendars, wedding invitations and business cards. According to reports, the PNI Digital Media Platform reaches more than 14,000 retail locations around the world, 9,000 of which offer a one-hour pick up service. PNI also is partnered with Costco, Sam’s Club, CVS/pharmacy, Walmart Canada, Tesco and Fred Meyer, among others.

Target, Kohl's and J.C. Penney ranked highest among discounters in consumer perception in the first half of 2011, according to YouGov BrandIndex. The company interviews 5,000 people each weekday from a representative U.S. population sample, more than 1.2 million interviews per year. Here's YouGov’s Retail Buzz scores for discounters in the first half of 2011: Target (33.9), Kohl's (29.5), J.C. Penney (23.9), Costco (23.3), Dollar Tree (16.2), Wal-Mart (15.7), Sam's Club (15.4), Big Lots (15.4) and Dollar General (13.8).