Costco's Business Today in 3 Charts

It's not easy being a brick-and-mortar retailer today. There are just too many shops competing over a shrinking pool of customer traffic, and this imbalance is forcing many businesses to cut prices, leading to both weaker earnings and lower sales growth.

Costco's (NASDAQ: COST) low-price, membership-based operating model has helped it avoid the worst of those problems so far. But its latest operating results show that the business isn't immune from the broader industry slowdown.

Here's a look at the key trends that dominated the fiscal year that the warehouse giant just closed.

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Source: Fool.com