The Pants Cost $20. They Explain $86 Billion of Costco Sales.
Kirkland Signature is now bigger than some of the world’s biggest companies—and it has become essential to Costco’s business
By Ben Cohen, The Wall Street Journal, July 11, 2025
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Those pants were part of the Kirkland Signature private label, which is based on a simple but powerful idea: sell products of a high quality at a low price. With that philosophy, Kirkland has become essential to Costco’s success…
The store brand now accounts for roughly a third of Costco’s revenue—and it’s growing faster than the company as a whole. Costco’s total sales have almost doubled since 2017. Kirkland’s have almost tripled.
At this point, it’s bigger than many of the world’s biggest companies. . Kirkland alone brought in $86 billion last year—more than all of Procter & Gamble… [end quote]
The rest of the article is a paean to Kirkland Signature’s quality and affordability.
Yes, I’m a Costco member and buy Kirkland Signature products. But its stock P/E ratio is 55 and its dividend is 0.5%, so I don’t own the stock.
If you’re a fan of cognac (I am) and live in a state that allows Costco to sell liquor (I don’t), I highly recommend the Kirkland Signature XO cognac.
My last visit to California, we took our son to Costco and when I saw the cognac, I bought a bottle to give it a try. I was impressed. Not quite Tesseron level, but pretty close (and half the price!). It is made by Maison Peyrat, an award winning company that’s been around for over 100 years.
Went back to the store and bought 2 bottles to smuggle home (ok, it’s legal to carry back but it’s more fun to call it smuggling).
If you think USAians are nuts for Costco’s hot dogs, you should visit the Costco’s in Mexico — genius loss leader tactics that attracts huge loyalty.
Mexicans, like Canadians, are increasingly unhappy with the vicious craziness of current USA political discussions and policies, and shun many USAian products, but Costco they think of as exempt from their anger.