Costco Connection - October 2009

coverstory

It’s in
labelthe

Kirkland Signature is

a brand apart

What if you could create from scratch the perfect product— say, a men’s dress shirt? It would have features found in the top-selling shirts: unbreakable buttons, cross-stitching for longevity, single-
needle tailoring and a split-back yoke with a pleat, which is a way
of making the shirt more comfortable at the shoulders. It would be wrin-
kle resistant so that it keeps that crisp, fresh-pressed look throughout
the day, and stain resistant for those little mistakes. Finally, it would
cost a lot less than other comparable shirts on the market.
That’s what Kirkland Signature™ products at Costco are all about. In
cases where the right product isn’t available—either because it hasn’t
been created yet or because it doesn’t represent a value to members—
Costco creates its own. It’s happened with everything from men’s dress
shirts (available in the warehouses now, incidentally, for $16.99, com-
pared to a similar shirt in a national retail store for $79.50) to pet food to
facial tissue.
About 10 percent of the products you see now in the warehouses carry
the Kirkland Signature label, and that percentage is gradually increasing.