Question-and-Answer Session
Operator
(Operator Instructions) Your first question comes from Deborah Weinswig – Citigroup.
Deborah Weinswig - Citigroup
You obviously went into a lot of details in terms of the U.S. performance. Can you provide some more color on performance outside the U.S.?
Richard A. Galanti
Sure. In the fourth quarter our international, of course without FX, was up 7, and that up 7 was pretty constant May, June, July and August. I mean, ranging from 6 to 8. And in September our comps, which again, international was a plus 9, based on local currency. When I look at the plus 9, in local currency, Canada, which is the biggest piece of international—of course, Canada is about 10% to 12% of our total company, and all international is about 18% or 20%—Canada was in the mid- to high-single digits in local currency. All three Asian countries were in the mid-teens. So that's where you get to that number that I just mentioned. So continue to do quite well over there.
Deborah Weinswig - Citigroup
And executive membership growth obviously continues to be impressive. What percent of your sales do these customers represent and what do you think continues to drive growth there?
Richard A. Galanti
It's around 60. Now, recognizing just under 50% is rewardable because we don't include in the 10% reward gas, tobacco, and alcohol. They, of course, are all low margin businesses and different states have different rules on discounting of alcohol anyway. So those have always been excluded.
And in terms of reasons, we asked ourselves the question as we entered the crappy economy a year ago, would people spend more to be able to spend more, and the answer is yes. I think they see it as a savings. We are thrilled about it because they have, within that roughly 87.5% renewal rate, executive members are a little over 90. They spend more, when they first convert they grow at a much higher rate of purchase and once they get to a higher level they are still spending comparable to the non-converted, if you will.
And I think part of it, also, is we are doing a better job of converting new sign-ups. If you go back to a year and a half ago, two years ago, for every hundred new sign-ups in a warehouse, whether existing or new markets, in the U.S. and Canada were we had the program, we had, I think, about ten or twelve that started as an executive member. We talked them into that. Today that's in the low- to mid-twenties. And our marketing people here would argue that we're doing a better job explaining it at the warehouse. As you know, we don't have commissioned people doing anything at Costco and it's really a matter of training the employees how to sell it, if you will.
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