Comparing inventory ratios for three companies The general merchandise retail industry has a number of segments represented by the following companies:

Company Name Merchandise Concept Costco Wholesale Corporation Membership warehouse Walmart Discount general merchandise JCPenney Department store For a recent year, the following cost of merchandise sold and beginning and ending inventories have been provided from corporate annual reports (in millions) for these three companies:

Costco Walmart JCPenney Cost of merchandise sold $86,823 $335,127 $11,042 Merchandise inventory, beginning 6,638 36,437 3,213 Merchandise inventory, ending 7,096 40,714 2,916

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

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

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