Costco to close home stores due to slowdown

The retailer said it expected no layoffs as a result of the closings, adding that there will be no significant impact on operations or financial results.

"The current economic slowdown and resulting weakness in the home furnishings business in particular have led us to conclude that the single-format Costco Home concept does not fit into our long-term expansion plans," Costco Chief Executive Jim Sinegal said in a statement on Thursday.

Costco, the No. 1 U.S. warehouse club, said last month that its February sales at clubs open at least a year, or same-store sales, fell 3 percent, more than the 2.7 percent decline analysts had been expecting.

Costco's shares closed at $46.35 Wednesday on Nasdaq.

(Reporting by Ajay Kamalakaran in Bangalore; Editing by Hans Peters)