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Food stamps go wholesale

The Associated Press

Costco officials said they had doubted many customers would use food stamps, but it turned out new members said they were joining precisely because the company accepted the assistance program.

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The Associated Press

Published: October 29, 2009

PORTLAND, Ore. - Costco Wholesale Corp. said Wednesday that it is making plans to start accepting food stamps at its warehouse clubs nationwide. It has tested them at stores in New York state.

It's a big about-face for a retailer that has catered to bargain-hunting but affluent shoppers, and it's a sign of the grim reality facing retailers and their customers. The number of Americans relying on government food subsidies to eat recently hit a record 36 million.

Costco, which is based in Issaquah, Wash., began accepting food stamps at two stores, in Brooklyn and Queens, in May under political pressure from officials who worked with the company on opening a club in a redevelopment area in Manhattan.

The company quickly expanded to all six of its stores in New York state.

Company officials said they had doubted many customers would use food stamps, but it turned out new members said they were joining precisely because the company accepted the assistance program.

"We recognize these are tough times and more people are food-stamp-eligible," Costco Chief Financial Officer Richard Galanti said Wednesday.

While the New York locations are the only active food stamp sites, Costco said it hopes to accept them at half of its 407 stores in the United States and Puerto Rico by Thanksgiving and at the remainder as soon as it wins regulatory approval in each state.

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