Recently, a number of grassroots supporters have emailed in an article from this week's TheStreet.com, a business-focused web site, about U.S. retailers. In the article, it discusses the rise of Costco's stock:

Wal-Mart (WMT:NYSE) may be the world's largest retailer, but in terms of the stock market, Costco (COST:Nasdaq) has emerged as lord of the discounters.

Shares of Costco have climbed 16.2% since the beginning of 2005. During that span, rival warehouse retailer B.J.'s Wholesale Club (BJ:NYSE) added 7%, while Target (TGT:NYSE) rose 6% and Wal-Mart dropped 12%.

Economic analysts offered interesting reasons for Costco's rise:

"Costco's stock is starting to get pricey, but I think it definitely deserves a premium over Wal-Mart since it's one of the few retailers out there that competes head-on with them and, quite frankly, beats the pants off them," says Morningstar analyst Anthony Chukumba. "They're incredible merchants. Their customer service is pretty much the best out there in all of retail. They treat their employees better. They pay them more. Their benefits are better, and the company still has room to grow both at home and abroad."

More specifics:

Chukumba says the average hourly wage at Costco is $17, compared with $10 at Wal-Mart. Also, Costco workers pay only 10% of their health premiums, on average, compared with the 33% paid by Wal-Mart's workers and the retail average of 23%. While this generosity has sparked criticism from Wall Street, Costco claims its compensation policies reduce employee turnover to less than 17%, excluding seasonal factors.