“To the extent that we can generate greater than industry average comps. I think - and there - they don't have to be in the low-to-mid teens, they could still be in the mid-to-high singles that we could -- should continue to improve.”

In context

“our question? Michael Lasser: Yeah. The question was, we've seen an improvement in profitability across retail and that tends to influence the profitability or profit margins of Costco. Do you view this improvement to your profit margin as sustainable from here? Richard Galanti: Okay. Well look, I think the anomaly over the last year-and-a-half has been that when a lot of big boxes or big retailers were enjoying comps pre-COVID in the -- I'll call it the two to 4% range of the two to 5% range, and we're enjoying 5, 6s, 7s, now we've been enjoying mid-teens or effectively low-to-mid teens over, and we've taken some market share from others. We think that some of that will stick, and we hope it will stick, and we feel pretty good right now about what we've done and what we've accomplished. To the extent that we can generate greater than industry average comps. I think - and there - they don't have to be in the low-to-mid teens, they could still be in the mid-to-high singles that we could -- should continue to improve. But I guess I get back to the comment that has been reinforced internally from the beginning of time, we are a top-line Company and everything else will take care of itself. Michael Lasser: Got it. My second questions on your gross margin. There's a lot of moving pieces, as there are a lot of moving pieces with everything that's happening with Costco right now, but specifically, you're giving back some of the core-on-core gross margin gains that you experienced some really strong price sales last year. But on the other hand, your ancillary businesses are doing really well. So, is that dynamic where you're making up for the pressure on the fresh with strong ancillary, is that sustainable? And as part of that, the perception is that Costco tends to raise prices at a slower rate than others”