What PriceSmart, Inc. told the SEC could break it.

PriceSmart's import supply chain funnels through a small number of distribution centers — principally its Miami distribution center, plus a regional DC and several smaller local DCs — to supply all of its warehouse clubs. Any interruption at these facilities (fire, severe weather, catastrophe, or logistics/port disruption) could cut off adequate merchandise supply to its clubs. This is not hypothetical: in October 2024 a U.S. dockworkers strike caused a brief disruption to the flow of imported merchandise into its Miami distribution center operations.

“We rely on our Miami distribution center, our regional distribution center and several smaller local distribution centers to supply merchandise to our warehouse clubs.”

PriceSmart's entire retail operation sits outside the continental U.S.: as of August 31, 2025 it ran 56 warehouse clubs in 12 foreign countries and one U.S. territory across Central America, the Caribbean and Colombia, and ~96% of its employees work outside the U.S. This concentrates its revenue in emerging-market economies and exposes it to foreign-currency volatility and limits on converting local currencies into U.S. dollars — it faced U.S.-dollar liquidity challenges in Honduras from fiscal 2023 through much of fiscal 2025 (where the central bank still imposes strict USD-availability controls), and saw currency devaluation in the Dominican Republic, Jamaica and Colombia weigh on comparable sales in fiscal 2025.

“We are subject to volatility in foreign currency exchange rates and limits on our ability to convert foreign currencies into U.S. dollars.”

PriceSmart imports a large share of its merchandise — approximately 49% of sales come from goods sourced in the U.S., Asia and Europe — much of it flowing through its U.S. (Miami) distribution operations before being shipped to clubs across Latin America. It explicitly flags that the U.S. government has implemented significant tariff measures, including a baseline 10% tariff on products from all countries and higher rates targeting China, Vietnam and the European Union, and that new or adjusted quotas/duties/tariffs could raise its import costs, force price increases to Members to protect margins, or limit its ability to source sufficient merchandise.

“The U.S. government has implemented significant tariff measures, including a baseline tariff of 10% on products from all countries and higher rates targeting specific countries such as China, Vietnam, and the European Union.”