Costco Wholesale Corp

Costco operates a chain of roughly 910 membership warehouse clubs across the US, Canada, and internationally. It sells groceries (~55% of revenue), general merchandise (~25%), and other goods in bulk at low markups. Customers pay an annual membership fee to shop there — that fee income is essentially what generates most of Costco's profit, since merchandise is priced near cost. Members are primarily households and small businesses. The model depends on high membership renewal rates (currently ~93% in North America) to sustain the fee revenue base.