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
Raymond Kyunghwan Kim, Seoul 82-2-2630-2703
khkim@costcokr.com
SENIOR EDITOR T. Foster Jones
Tod.Jones@costco.com
ONLINE EDITOR David Wight David. Wight@costco.com
ASSISTAN T EDITOR Jacqueline Jin, Seoul
jjin@costcokr.com
REPORTERS
Will Fifield
wfifield@costco.com
Stephanie E. Ponder
sponder@costco.com
EDITORIAL ASSISTANT
Dorothy Strakele 425-313-6899
connection@costco.com
COPY EDITOR Miriam Bulmer
CONTRIBUTORS
Wally Amos, Annette Alvarez-Peters, Brian Basset,
Frank Bordoni, Hope Katz Gibbs, Jennifer Heyns, David Horowitz,
Dr. Joyce Tellier Johnson, Diana Jordan, Peter Malcolm,
Suze Orman, 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
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
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
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
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.
from the publisher’s desk
Ginnie Roeglin
AFTER YOU REST UP and enjoy a lazy day off this
Labor Day, it’s time to put away the barbecue, get the kids
settled back in school and … get back to work!
Our new expanded business-products program on
costco.com is designed to make your job a little easier.
Whether you work for a large company as I do or own
your own small business, Costco will help you save time
and money on all of the supplies that you need.
Costco has several Business Center locations in
Seattle, California and Arizona that are exclusively dedicated to business products. Now we are pleased to offer
the same selection of business products nationwide on costco.com. As in the big office-supply stores, you’ll find a full selection of paper, Post-its, pens and basic office supplies,
office furniture and filing cabinets, computers, phones, business machines, and ink and
toner cartridges—all at low Costco prices.
But you’ll also find an expanded selection of specialty business items, such as break-room supplies and snacks, vending machines, janitorial products, restaurant and catering
supplies, bulk flowers, education and daycare products, beauty salon items (including
barber chairs), hotel and motel supplies, health and medical supplies, and corporate gifts
and gift baskets, all just a few clicks away on costco.com. About 95 percent of our business
products will be delivered to your door—including home-based businesses—the next day.
You can pick up the full product catalog in your local warehouse, or simply go to
costco.com and request a catalog via mail. You can also learn more about our expanded
business products in the article on page 59, and in our costco.com section on page 42.
In addition to business supplies, did you know that Costco can also save you money on
a variety of services for your business? One of our most popular services for businesses is our
credit-card-processing service through NOVA. As the article on page 61 explains, with rates as
low as 1. 64 percent plus 20 cents per transaction, accepting credit cards is a more affordable
option for your business. Just go to costco.com and click on “Services” for more information.
Happy Labor Day from all of us at Costco! C
Ginnie Roeglin is Senior Vice
President, E-Commerce and
Publishing, and Publisher of
The Costco Connection.
STONYFIELD FARM President and CEO Gary Hirshberg
has a word for Costco: relentless.
Fortunately, that’s “relentless” in the good sense.
As he mentions in this month’s cover story (page 16),
he sees Costco as a company that will not compromise its
goals of providing quality and value in everything it does.
David W. Fuller is Assistant He proudly believes his own company, an important Costco
Vice President, Publishing, and supplier, is similar in its relentless pursuit of excellence.
Editor of The Costco Connection. His kind words are appreciated. But I mention this
because comments such as Hirshberg’s demonstrate the
importance of role modeling—not just for individuals, but for companies. The search for
companies to emulate in today’s world can be difficult; it definitely will take you beyond
reading the headlines in The Wall Street Journal. Companies with sound value systems and
a focus on quality exist in large numbers; it’s just that the noise and fury engendered by
disreputable firms tends to take center stage in the media and at the water cooler.
That’s where we like to step in with The Costco Connection. Because Costco is fortunate
to be able to work with many such model companies, we are able to tell their stories in our
pages. But beyond that, there is a wonderful universe of small companies—our members—who are “doing the right thing and doing the thing right.” Whenever possible, we
make room to tell their stories, also.
Of course, once a company—or an individual—is identified as a role model, more
scrutiny is placed on its actions and it develops perhaps even greater compunction to
maintain a relentless focus on core values. This can be daunting, but, ultimately, it merely
helps complete the circle of student respecting teacher respecting student that is at the
heart of all real learning. C
from the editor’s desk
