The general merchandise retail industry has a number of segments represented by the following companies:

For a recent year, the following cost of goods sold and beginning and ending inventories are provided from corporate annual reports (in millions) for these three companies:

a. Determine the inventory turnover ratio for all three companies. Round all calculations to one decimal place.

b. Determine the number of days’ sales in inventory for all three companies. Use 365 days and round all calculations to one decimal place.

c. Interpret these results based on each company’s merchandising concept.

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Merchandise Concept Company Name Membership warehouse Discount general merchandise Fashion department store Costco Wholesale Corporation (COST) Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (WMT) Nordstrom, Inc. (JWN) Costco Wal-Mart Nordstrom Cost of goods sold Inventories: Beginning of year End of year $102,901 $360,984 $9,168 8,908 8,969 45,141 44,469 1,733 1,945 Costco Wal-Mart Nordstrom Cost of goods sold Inventories: Beginning of year End of year $102,901 $360,984 $9,168 8,908 8,969 45,141 44,469 1,733 1,945