®
from the publisher’s desk
PUBLISHER Ginnie Roeglin
Ginnie Roeglin
EDITOR David W. Fuller 425-313-8510 dfuller@costco.com
MANAGING EDITOR Anita Thompson 425-313-6442
athompson@costco.com
ASSOCIATE EDITORS
Tim Talevich, Seattle 425-313-6759 ttalevich@costco.com
Lorelle Gilpin, Ottawa 613-221-2009 Lorelle.Gilpin@costco.com
YOU ALREADY KNOW that you save money on such
things as family-size jars of mayonnaise, large flat-screen
TVs, cookware, cleaning supplies, men’s shirts, fresh meat
and produce, and even fine wine at Costco. But did you
Sue Knowles, London 011-44-1923-213113 sknowles@costco.co.uk
know that you can also save money on new cars, auto insur-
Raymond Kyunghwan Kim, Seoul 82-2-2630-2703 khkim@costcokr.com ance, office supplies, wedding flowers, window coverings,
SENIOR EDITOR T. Foster Jones Tod. Jones@costco.com
custom wine cellars and even caskets (see page 21)?
Ginnie Roeglin is Senior Vice
ONLINE EDITOR David Wight David. Wight@costco.com
ASSISTAN T EDITOR Jessica Jihye Han, Seoul jhhan@costcokr.com
In addition to all of the great products, Costco has a
President, E-Commerce and
REPORTERS
variety of ancillary businesses that surround the warehouse Publishing, and Publisher of
Will Fifield wfifield@costco.com
floor, including Pharmacy, Optical and Hearing Aid Centers The Costco Connection.
Steve Fisher Steve.Fisher@costco.com
and the 1-Hour Photo Center, and the Tire Center and
Stephanie E. Ponder sponder@costco.com
Food Court, generally located outside. We also provide
EDITORIAL ASSISTANT
Dorothy Strakele 425-313-6899 connection@costco.com
many other services that are beyond the warehouse walls, such as costco.com, which offers
COPY EDITOR Miriam Bulmer
thousands of additional items not available in the warehouses, and Costco Travel, which
CONTRIBUTORS
features great values on family and luxury vacation packages and cruises.
Rhonda Abrams, Alan Horowitz,
Then there are the host of business and personal services that we offer through carefully
David Horowitz, Valerie Ryan, Marc Saltzman,
Dorman T. Shindler, Pat Volchok
ART DIRECTOR Doris Winters dwinters@costco.com
ASSOCIATE ART DIRECTOR
Lory Williams lwilliams@costco.com
GRAPHIC DESIGNERS
Ken Broman, Bill Carlson, Susan Detlor, Chris Rusnak,
David Schneider, Dawna Tessier
PRODUCTION MANAGER Pam Sather psather@costco.com
ASSISTANT PRODUCTION MANAGER
Antolin Matsuda amatsuda@costco.com
PRODUCTION SUPERVISOR
Elaine Emond, Ottawa elaine.emond@costco.com
COLOR TECHNICIAN MaryAnne Robbers
mrobbers@costco.com
selected partners, such as auto and home insurance, auto buying, check printing, credit-card
processing, real estate and mortgage services, roadside assistance, our newest online hiring
service for businesses (see page 58) and more. You can learn about these and other ways to
maximize your Costco membership in our “Costco 411” cover story, beginning on page 38.
A favorite stop for many Costco members on each visit is the book table, which features
the latest bestselling novels, self-help books, cookbooks and educational books. Behind the
scenes of our book business is our buying team, led by Pennie Clark Ianniciello. Pennie has
been successfully selecting books for Costco for more than 18 years. And for the past 10
years, book clubs everywhere have eagerly awaited her monthly “Pennie’s Pick” recommen-
dation. You’ll find this month’s pick on page 27 and the story behind her picks on page 29.
Last but not least, don’t leave home without your Passport! August wraps up our
annual Summer Passport to Savings coupon book program. This month, you’ll save hun-
dreds on products such as flat-screen TVs, back-to-school computers, Baby Einstein DVDs,
ADVERTISING MANAGER
Jane Klein Shucklin 425-313-8277 jshucklin@costco.com
ASSISTAN T ADVERTISING MANAGER
Kathi Tipper-Holgersen 425-313-6581 ktipper@costco.com
office furniture, bedroom sets, leather furniture collections and more in our warehouses
and on costco.com. Enjoy the savings this August at Costco! C
ADVERTISING COORDINATORS
Isabel Levasseur, Ottawa 613-221-2394 Isabel. Levasseur@costco.com
Deborah Lipman, London 011-44-1923-830481 dlipman@costco.co.uk
Steve Trump, Seattle 425-313-6969 strump@costco.com
ADVERTISING / PROMOTION COPYWRITER
Bill Urlevich
ADVERTISING SPECIAL PROJECTS COORDINATOR
Melanie Woods mwoods@costco.com
BUSINESS MANAGER Janet Burgess
CIRCULATION MANAGER Rossie Cruz 425-313-6715
rcruz@costco.com
ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANT
D. Ted Harris 425-313-2937 dtharris@costco.com
COSTCO WHOLESALE
P.O. Box 34088, Seattle, WA 98124-1088
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 edito-
rial material, including editorial comments, opinion and statements
of fact appearing in this publication, represents the views of the
respective authors and does not necessarily carry the endorse-
ment of Costco Wholesale or its officers. Information in The Costco
Connection is gathered from sources considered to be reliable, but
the accuracy of all information cannot be guaranteed. The publica-
tion of any advertisements is not to be construed as an endorsement
of the product or service offered unless it is specifically stated in
the ad that there is such approval or endorsement. Products adver-
tised may not be available at all locations at the time of publication.
Publishing offices are located at 999 Lake Drive, Issaquah, WA 98027.
Copyright © 2007 Costco Wholesale.
from the editor’s desk
David W. Fuller
WE LIVE IN AN ERA when corporate governance has
come under close scrutiny because of well-publicized
abuses by more than a few large companies. Much of
this scrutiny has focused on boards of directors who
were part of the abuses or were asleep at the wheel as
management plundered the shareholders’ equity. The
David W. Fuller is Assistant
resulting stigma that seems to have attached to corporate
Vice President, Publishing, and boards is a shame because the vast majority of large
Editor of The Costco Connection. companies in America seek out respected people from
the business, academic, professional and cultural arenas
to serve as board members.
I know I will be accused of myopic bias and I can already hear my thoughts being
discounted by some readers (“Sure, what’s he going to do … slam the board of directors
of the company he works for in the company’s own publication?”), but I have always been
impressed with the caliber of the individuals who serve on Costco’s board (see page 42).
What do I mean? I mean that, to a person, these board members have a characteristic we
don’t hear much about anymore, but it is an important one: stature. The dictionary I use
notes that people of stature are “worthy of esteem.”
Each of Costco’s board members has achieved financial and worldly success, to be
sure. Beyond that, each has become a model of integrity in his or her own field, whether it
is business, medicine or government. These are people who, while attaining such success,
have never lost sight of the responsibilities that come with serving much broader interests,
whether those of employees, patients, voters or shareholders.
Yes, I am what the pundits might call a paid apologist for Costco. The good news is
that I have nothing to apologize for when it comes to the way that Costco is governed,
starting at the top. C
