Lorelle Gilpin, Ottawa 613-221-2009 Lorelle. Gilpin@costco.com
Sue Knowles, London 011-44-1923-213113 sknowles@costco. co.uk
Sung-won Hwang, Seoul 82-2-2630-2606swhwang@costcokr.com
SENIOR EDITOR T. Foster Jones Tod. Jones@costco.com
ONLINE EDITOR David Wight David. Wight@costco.com
REPORTERS
Will Fifieldwfifield@costco.com
Stephanie E. Ponder sponder@costco.com
Mark E. Stroder mstroder@costco.com
EDITORIAL ASSISTANT
Dorothy Strakele 425-313-6899 connection@costco.com
COPY EDITOR Miriam Bulmer
CONTRIBUTORS
Brian Basset, Gloria Blakely, Paul & Sarah Edwards,
Robyn A. Friedman, David Horowitz, Valerie Ryan,
Howard Scott, Heidi Visser, Pat Volchok
ART DIRECTOR Doris Wintersdwinters@costco.com
ASSOCIATE ART DIRECTOR
Lory Williamslwilliams@costco.com
GRAPHIC DESIGNERS
Ken Broman, Bill Carlson, Susan Detlor, Chris Rusnak,
David Schneider, Dawna Tessier
PRODUCTION MANAGER Pam Sather psather@costco.com
ASSISTAN T PRODUCTION MANAGER
Antolin Matsuda amatsuda@costco.com
PRODUCTION SUPERVISOR, OTTAWA
Elaine Emond Elaine. Emond@costco.com
COLOR TECHNICIAN MaryAnne Robbersmrobbers@costco.com
ADVERTISING MANAGER
Jane Klein Shucklin 425-313-8277 jshucklin@costco.com
ASSISTANT ADVERTISING MANAGER
Kathi Tipper-Holgersen 425-313-6581 ktipper@costco.com
ADVERTISING COORDINATORS
Deborah Lipman, London 011-44-1923-830481
dlipman@costco.co.uk
Isabel Levasseur, Ottawa 613-221-2394
Isabel. Levasseur@costco.com
Steve Trump, Seattle 425-313-6969 strump@costco.com
ADVERTISING / PROMOTION COPYWRITER
Bill Urlevich
BUSINESS MANAGER Janet Burgess
CIRCULATION MANAGER Rossie Cruz 425-313-6715
rcruz@costco.com
ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTAN T
D. Ted Harris 425-313-2937 dtharris@costco.com
COSTCO WHOLESALE
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999 Lake Drive, Issaquah, Washington 98027
Fax: 425-313-6718
E-mail:connection@costco.com
For information on warehouse hours and more:
1-800-774-2678 costco.com
The Costco Connection is published by Costco Wholesale. All
facts, opinions and statements appearing within this publication
are those of the writers and editors themselves, and are in no
way to be construed as statements, positions or endorsements
by Costco Wholesale or its officers. Publishing offices are located
at 999 Lake Drive, Issaquah, WA 98027. Information in The
Costco Connection is gathered from sources considered to be
reliable, but the accuracy of all information cannot be guaranteed. Copyright © 2006 Costco Wholesale. Products advertised
may not be available at all locations at time of publication.
WITH THE HECTIC HOLIDAY season behind us and
another month or two of winter to go, February is the
perfect month to curl up in front of the fire and read a
good book. In this issue, you’ll find a wide selection of
books, including the latest fiction and nonfiction titles,
travel and educational books, fitness guides and cookbooks Ginnie Roeglin is Senior Vice
to help you escape the winter doldrums. You can read sev- President, E-Commerce and
eral of our previews and “Book Beat” starting on page 28. Publishing, and Publisher of
Is your book club like mine and always in need of The Costco Connection.
recommendations? Former librarian Nancy Pearl shares
thousands of her personal favorites in her popular Book Lust books. And animal
lovers everywhere will love our book buyer pick this month, Marley & Me.
from the publisher’s desk
Ginnie Roeglin
Remember your valentine this month! We’ve included a special section in this issue
to help you find the perfect gift on costco.com. If your valentine has a sweet tooth, we
have beautiful gifts of chocolate such as the classic heart box by Ethel M., or Jer’s Valentine
Tower of handmade chocolates. You can read about these award-winning confections
and Jerry Swain’s sweet success story on page 27. On costco.com, you’ll find one-of-a-kind jewelry items as well as the latest high-tech gadgets. You can even send gorgeous
long-stemmed red roses or luscious chocolate-covered strawberries directly to your
valentine’s door.
Finally, don’t leave home without your Wallet coupon book. We’ll help you save on
a variety of items and services this month, including furniture, a fashion watch for your
valentine, Sonicare Elite toothbrush, contact lenses, Dell and HP computers, an RCA
50-inch DLP TV, portable speakers for your iPod and more. In the back of the Wallet, you’ll
also find savings on several services, including online investing, check printing, money market accounts, Web hosting, real estate and home equity financing, and telephone service.
Happy Valentine’s Day from all of us at Costco! C
RECENTLY, AND MORE for fun than anything else, a
few of the people at Costco headquarters pulled
together some of the axioms that we have heard from
top management over the years. These were done up in
the form of faux posters, along the lines of what you
from the editor’s desk
David W. Fuller
David W. Fuller is Assistant might see at a card and gift shop, and then presented
Vice President, Publishing, and back to top management. The idea was to simultane-
Editor of The Costco Connection. ously honor and satirize the downhome wisdom that
has become a hallmark of the workaday culture here.
I’d like to share a few of these maxims with you since they say a lot about Costco’s
approach to business. Their very pithiness, in fact, is emblematic of the company’s focus
on basics.
On staying sharp: “Competition makes you
stronger. If our top competitor didn’t exist, we would have to make them up.”
For managers: “If you don’t understand that
teaching is your main job, you just don’t get it.”
Concerning focus: “We don’t do cute and we
don’t do fancy.”
Focus, again: “It makes no sense to do inexpensively what we shouldn’t be doing at all.”
On the daily grind: “If you’re a big-picture
guy, you’re not in the picture. Retail is detail.”
On life in general: “Just about the time you teach a horse to eat hay, the horse dies.”
One more on focus: “We only have one bullet in our gun: the right product at the
right price.”
And, of course, the abiding commandment of our food courts: “The hot dogs will
always be $1.50 as long as current management is around.” C
