<P> From December 2013, Costco's board of directors was chaired by co-founder Jeffrey H. Brotman and included James Sinegal, co-founder and director, and two officers of the company: president / CEO W. Craig Jelinek and CFO Richard A. Galanti . On August 1, 2017, Jeffrey Brotman died . As of August 2017, James Sinegal and W. Craig Jelinek remain on the board . </P> <P> Costco focuses on selling products at low prices, often at very high volume . These goods are usually bulk - packaged and marketed primarily to large families and businesses . Furthermore, Costco does not carry multiple brands or varieties where the item is essentially the same except when it has a house brand to sell, generally under the Kirkland Signature label . This results in a high volume of sales for the brand in question, allowing further reductions in price and marketing costs . A typical Costco warehouse carries only 4,000 distinct products, while a typical Walmart Supercenter carries approximately 140,000 products . </P> <P> If Costco feels the wholesale price of a product is too high, they will refuse to stock the product . For example, in November 2009, Costco announced that it would stop selling Coca - Cola products because the soft - drink maker refused to lower its wholesale prices . Costco resumed selling Coca - Cola products the following month . Costco also saves money by not stocking extra bags or packing materials; to carry out their goods, customers must use a shopping cart, bring their own bags, or use empty merchandise shipping boxes from the company's vendors . </P> <P> Lighting costs are reduced on sunny days, as most Costco locations have several skylights . During the day, electronic light meters measure how much light is coming in the skylights and turn off an appropriate percentage of the interior lights . During an average sunny day, it is normal for the center section of the warehouse not to have interior lights in use . </P>

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