Costco CEO: We hoped sales would have been a little bit better in Q4

In an interview on CNBC’s Mad Money, Craig Jelinek said the Christmas season has started off well. The Kirkland Signature brand is up in both penetration and sales year over year, he added. Theft is up slightly, about 1 basis point, but shrink is not on the upswing overall for the company, he noted. He’s seeing more younger people signing up for memberships, but purchases tend to be less than older customers. Jelinek is “bullish” on China.