PUBLISHER Ginnie Roeglin
groeglin@costco.com
EDITOR David W. Fuller 425-313-8510 dfuller@costco.com
EDITORIAL DIRECTOR Anita Thompson 425-313-6442
athompson@costco.com
MANAGING EDITOR MANAGING EDITOR
MAGAZINES INTERNATIONAL
T. Foster Jones 425-313-6748 Tim Talevich 425-313-6759
Tod.Jones@costco.com
ttalevich@costco.com
ASSOCIATE EDITORS
Lorelle Gilpin, Ottawa 613-221-2009 Lorelle.Gilpin@costco.com
Sue Knowles, London 011-44-1923-213113 sknowles@costco.co.uk
Sungwon Pae, Seoul 82-2-2630-2700 swpae@costcokr.com
SENIOR EDITOR
Stephanie E. Ponder, Seattle sponder@costco.com
ONLINE EDITOR
David Wight David. Wight@costco.com
REPORTERS
Will Fifield wfifield@costco.com
Steve Fisher Steve.Fisher@costco.com
COPY EDITOR Miriam Bulmer
CONTRIBUTORS
Mark E. Battersby, Teri Cettina, David Chalk, Rita Colorito,
David J. Dee, Paul and Sarah Edwards, Maria Bellos Fisher,
Wendy Helfenbaum, Susan Hirshorn, David Horowitz,
Debra Kavalos-Delaney, Judi Ketteler, Shana McNally, Linda Melone,
Nancy Mills, Bryan Reesman, Matthew Robb, Marc Saltzman,
Tracy Schneider, Fran R. Schumer
ART DIRECTOR
Doris Winters dwinters@costco.com
ASSOCIA TE ART DIRECTOR
Lory Williams lwilliams@costco.com
GRAPHIC DESIGNERS
Ken Broman, Bill Carlson, Susan Detlor, Steven Lait,
Chris Rusnak, David Schneider, Brenda Shecter
PRODUCTION MANAGER
Pam Sather, Seattle psather@costco.com
ASSISTANT PRODUCTION MANAGER
Antolin Matsuda amatsuda@costco.com
COLOR SPECIALIST 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 COORDINATOR
Melanie Woods 425-313-2558 mwoods@costco.com
SENIOR ADVERTISING PROJECT COORDINATOR
Steve Trump strump@costco.com
ADVERTISING / PROMOTION COPYWRITER
Bill Urlevich
NATIONAL ADVERTISING REPRESENTATIVES
West: John McCarthy 805-870-4437
johnmccarthy1@sbcglobal.net
Texas: Nuala Berrells 214-660-9713
nuala@sbcglobal.net
Northeast: Frank Colonno 201-962-2759
fcmediapartners@optonline.net
Midwest: Cheryl Solomon 847-749-4875
csolomon@solomonspacesales.com
Southeast: Carl Mischka 252-626-8199
CarlMischka@aol.com
BUSINESS MANAGER
Janet Burgess
CIRCULATION MANAGER
Rossie Cruz 425-313-6715 rcruz@costco.com
CIRCULATION / EDITORIAL ASSISTAN T
Dorothy Strakele 425-313-6899 connection@costco.com
ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANT
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
Email:
connection@costco.com
For information on warehouse hours and more:
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The Costco Connection is published by Costco Wholesale. All
editorial 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 endorsement 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 publication
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 advertised
may not be available at all locations at the time of publication.
Publishing offices are located at 999 Lake Drive, Issaquah, WA
98027. Copyright © 2012 Costco Wholesale.
; FRONTend
from the publisher’s desk
Ginnie Roeglin
IF YOU HAVE visited different Costco locations while
traveling, you’ve probably noticed that different items are
carried in different warehouses across the country. While
Costco is a global company, with 613 warehouses in eight
countries, we like to buy locally when possible to support
our communities and match local tastes and preferences.
Local, boutique and artisan items also create excitement for
our members. And we like to test items in various markets
to gauge our members’ response before we roll them out to
an entire region or even the entire company. You can read
about some of our current, wonderful local suppliers from
each U.S. region in our cover story, beginning on page 23.
You’ll find lots of holiday gift suggestions in this issue. Starting on page 50, we offer
instant savings on a variety of electronic items such as TVs, Blu-ray players, sound systems, a streaming player, cameras and wall mounts. Costco.com also offers installation
services, including for tabletop and wall-mounted TVs. Many books and movies are suggested in our Arts & Entertainment section, beginning on page 39, including one of my
favorites, The Paris Wife. You’ll also find items available on Costco.com, starting after
page 69. Gift cards are always a great stocking stuffer or gift for hard-to-buy-for individuals.
Costco typically offers a discount of 20 percent off the face value of gift cards for tourist
attractions, restaurants, spas, movie theaters, ski resorts, golf courses and more. You can
read about the gift cards available in our warehouses and on our website on page 77.
Most notably for this month, at a time that usually brings holiday joy, our hearts turn
to the millions of Americans who suffered immeasurably from the devastation inflicted by
Hurricane Sandy last month. We thank the many Costco members and our suppliers
throughout the country who have donated their time, money and products to help storm
victims, and send wishes for a speedy recovery.
To all our members, we wish a Merry Christmas and Happy Hanukkah! C
Ginnie Roeglin is Senior Vice
President, E-Commerce and
Publishing, and Publisher of
The Costco Connection.
from the editor’s desk
NOVEMBER 2012 The Costco Connection 5
I WOULD LIKE to set the record straight.
My November column was not simply about politics,
although I certainly might have made that clearer. It was
intended to be about the difference between fact and
non-fact. The difference between truth and untruth.
And the fact that in today’s ocean of information it has
become difficult to tell fiction from nonfiction.
The necessity of making that distinction confronts
us many, many times every day. Someone comes to the
door soliciting funds for a charity. Is he or she telling the
truth? We read a review of a restaurant. Is it valid, or did
some foe of the restaurateur write it? Those advertising claims for “biggest,” “best,”
“first”—are they verifiable? And, yes, what about the claims made by politicians?
Having tools at our disposal to critically and honestly analyze what we read and hear
in print, on the airwaves and on screens large and small is a goal I hope we can all agree
upon. The article that prompted my column last month (“Won’t be fooled again”) listed
a few fact-checking organizations the writer considered to be reliable. Clearly, they are
deemed considerably less than reliable by several readers who wrote us. Fact-checking
organizations we can all trust seem to be in short supply.
So where does that leave us? In search of insight, I telephoned a friend, Tom
Rosenstiel, director of the Pew Research Center’s Project for Excellence in Journalism.
“Different people will have different sources they trust more than others,” he noted.
“The point is, we must be critical consumers of news, and while it is fine to have different opinions, we need to move forward on a foundation of facts. The growing movement
of fact-checking in journalism today is still evolving, but it is an attempt to help all of us
know what of what we encounter has been vetted, verified or debunked.
“And that,” says Rosenstiel, “is in all of our interests.” C
David W. Fuller is Assistant
Vice President, Publishing, and
Editor of The Costco Connection.
DECEMBER 2012 The Costco Connection 5
David W. Fuller