Costco (NASDAQ: COST) will again sell Coca-Cola (NYSE: KO) products after settling a pricing dispute, according to Associated Press.
Spokesman Scott Williamson said Thursday that new Coke products should be sent to Costco stores soon, though he declined to be more specific.
MicroCap Insider is a web-based financial portal that publishes a free penny stock newsletter providing stock alerts on companies positioned to deliver high-yield gains to investors. Sign Up for our Free Stock Newsletter
Coke will be back on shelves around Monday, Costco CFO Richard Galanti told investors during the company's earnings conference call Thursday. He did not want to comment further on the matter.
Last month, Costco decided not to order any more products made by the Atlanta-based company until the squabble was resolved. The retailer made the dispute unusually public, posting messages in stores nationwide and online telling shoppers its reasons. However, now it has been resolved, Galanti said.
"Our signs basically said it all -- until we can provide our members with these products at competitive prices and provide our members with value, we are not prepared to sell it and we are now going to sell it," he said.
The public squabble between the wholesale-club operator and Coca-Cola revealed real tensions as retailers and product makers square off on prices.
As shoppers continue to look to save money in the recession, retailers want to keep them shopping by giving them low prices.
However, product makers like Coca-Cola want to maintain their profits, so they don't want to cut prices.
These types of disputes happen regularly between retailers and product makers, but they're not typically known to the public, said John Sicher, editor of trade publication Beverage Digest.
"Certainly what was unusual was Costco making it as visible as they did on their Web site," he said.
Costco, which is based in Issaquah, Wash., did not remove Coca-Cola products from its shelves, but it did not reorder them during the three-week dispute. Sicher said it was likely that given how quickly soft drink products move off shelves, it's likely that some were out of stock for at least a short time.
Investors interested in receiving small cap stock alerts through the penny stock newsletter published by MicroCap Insider can sign up for free by visiting our website
About Us
MicroCap Insider is a leading penny stock web site with extensive experience in the OTC market, providing top stock picks, investing tips and exclusive research on small cap stocks on the verge of producing large financial gains.
Please click here to read the full disclaimer
