Costco Wholesale Corp. history, profile and history video
Costco Wholesale Corp. operates membership warehouses based on the concept that offering members low prices on a limited selection of nationally branded and select private-label products in a wide range of merchandise categories. It operates warehouses in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Japan and Australia and through majority-owned subsidiaries in Taiwan and Korea, and its Costco Mexico joint venture. The warehouses are designed to help small-to-medium-sized businesses to reduce costs in purchasing for resale and for everyday business use. Costco’s warehouses present exclusive product category selections to be found under a single roof, which include groceries, candy, appliances, television and media, automotive supplies, toys, hardware, sporting goods, jewelry, watches, cameras, books, apparel, health and beauty aids, tobacco, furniture, office supplies and office equipment. It also offers private label Kirkland Signature products, which include juices, cookies, coffee, tires, housewares, luggage, appliances, clothing and detergent. The company also operates self-service gasoline stations at a number of its U.S. and Canadian locations and offers three types of membership: Business, Gold Star and the Executive membership. It changed its name form Costco Cos., Inc. to Costco Wholesale Corp. on August 30, 1999. The company was founded in 1983 by James D. Sinegal and Jeffrey H. Brotman and is headquartered in Issaquah, WA.“
“The History of Costco
The company’s first location, opened in 1976 under the Price Club name, was in a converted airplane hangar on Morena Boulevard in San Diego. Originally serving only small businesses, the company found it could achieve far greater buying clout by also serving a selected audience of non-business members. With that change, the growth of the warehouse club industry was off and running. In 1983, the first Costco warehouse location was opened in Seattle. Costco became the first company ever to grow from zero to $3 billion in sales in less than six years. When Costco and Price Club merged in 1993, the combined company, operating under the name PriceCostco, had 206 locations generating $16 billion in annual sales.
Our operating philosophy has been simple. Keep costs down and pass the savings on to our members. Our large membership base and tremendous buying power, combined with our never-ending quest for efficiency, result in the best possible prices for our members. Since resuming the Costco name in 1997, the company has grown worldwide with total sales in recent fiscal years exceeding $64 billion.”.
*Information from Forbes.com and Costco.com
**Video published on YouTube by “Business Insider“