Costco Wholesale Corp. (Issaquah, Wash.) announced that it plans to build 32 new stores over the next year, with 13 of them being located outside the U.S. Plans include opening the retailer’s first store in France and its second location in Spain. It also plans to expand its footprint in Canada by at least 25 percent, bringing its total to more than 100 stores in the country over the next several years.
This comes as the retailer released its fourth-quarter earnings, which included an increase in shoppers of 4.7 percent and a 10 percent increase in profits at $767 million. During the same time period, sales dropped 1 percent at stores open more than a year. That decline is attributed to lower gas prices and a stronger dollar, reports The Wall Street Journal. When those factors are removed, the retailer’s sales rose 6 percent in the latest quarter.