®
PUBLISHER 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
Sue Knowles, London 011-44-1923-213113 sknowles@costco. co.uk
Sung-won Hwang, Seoul 82-2-2630-2606
swhwang@costcokr.com
SENIOR EDITOR T. Foster Jones Tod. Jones@costco.com
ONLINE EDITOR David Wight David. Wight@costco.com
REPORTERS
Will Fifield
wfifield@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
Wally Amos, Brian Basset, Michael Evans,
David Horowitz, Lauren Purcell and Anne Purcell Grissinger,
Valerie Ryan, 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
ASSISTAN T PRODUCTION MANAGER
Antolin Matsuda
amatsuda@costco.com
PRODUCTION SUPERVISOR, OTTAWA
Elaine Emond Elaine. Emond@costco.com
COLOR TECHNICIAN MaryAnne Robbers
mrobbers@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
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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 © 2005 Costco Wholesale. Products advertised
may not be available at all locations at time of publication.
from the publisher’s desk
Ginnie Roeglin
’TIS THE TIME TO CELEBRATE! As our whimsical
cover says, ’tis the season for holiday parties. Caterers and
cookbook authors Lauren Purcell and Anne Purcell
Grissinger help us all simplify and enjoy our holiday parties as much as our guests will with practical party tips in
their “Ultimate Holiday Guide,” beginning on page 33. Ginnie Roeglin is Senior Vice
My personal tip is to make a couple of great dishes President, E-Commerce and
and buy everything else already prepared from Costco! Publishing, and Publisher of
On page 35 we’ve included our suggestions for beautifully The Costco Connection.
prepared platters, dips and spreads, cheeses and crackers,
snacks and appetizers, cookies and desserts. You’ll find all of these delicious items in the
gourmet deli, bakery, meat, produce and freezer areas in your warehouse.
You’ll also find creative, easy new recipes for preparing your own great dishes in our
latest cookbook, Creative Cooking The Costco Way, on costco.com. You may want to try
one of our recipes for shrimp, using our frozen Kirkland Signature shrimp. Pat Volchok
describes the unbeatable quality of our new shrimp program in her article on page 38.
You can entertain a little more this holiday season with the time you’ll save shopping
on costco.com, where gift purchases, packaging and shipping are just a few clicks away
(see our special advertising supplement from costco.com in this issue). On costco.com,
you’ll find thousands of items that are not available in the warehouses, such as pool
tables and outdoor play sets, wine cellars, guitars and pianos, furniture collections, the
latest electronic gadgets and cameras and one-of-a-kind pieces of jewelry.
You can read more about our secure site in the article on page 48. Keep an eye on the
calendar, though, and remember to allow time for shipping.
Finally, a reminder for last-minute shoppers. If you are new to Costco, you may not
know about our early-in, early-out merchandising philosophy. We bring our best goods
in at our best prices early in the season. Don’t wait too long to make that special purchase
or you may be disappointed to find that it is gone.
From all of us at Costco, our warmest wishes for an enjoyable holiday season! C
from the editor’s desk
OUR DEBATE THIS MONTH (page 14) poses an interesting question: Should people make New Year’s resolutions? My answer is yes, with a big asterisk. Let me explain.
Our natural tendency in making resolutions is to
create a to-do list: I want to lose 5 pounds, donate to a
Tim Talevich
Tim Talevich is Associate good cause, add one new word to my vocabulary each
Editor of The Costco Connection. day, cut back on caffeine, learn about perennials, etc. These
are worthy pursuits and indeed would improve our lives.
But if we focus solely on this approach, I think we miss out on the essence of the
new year: a time to pause, take a deeper look at things, do some real soul-searching.
Instead of “to do,” this list is more “to be.”
The new year offers us an opportunity to take stock of where we are in our personal
and business lives—make our own State of the Union address, so to speak. In business
terms, it’s a chance to revisit our mission statement and see if we’re on track to meet
short-term goals and longer-term aspirations.
It’s not necessarily an easy task. In asking ourselves the toughest questions, we often
get the toughest answers. But airing our shortcomings opens the door to improvement.
One last note: The new year is absolutely the best time to stop and check our bearings. We’re all living proof that we get too busy during the course of the year to examine the bigger picture.
Write your “to be” list, and the “to do” list will follow.
By the way, starting this month you can vote online on our Debate at
www.costco
connection.com. Be sure to let us know what you think about this month’s question. C
