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Costco Wholesale history
Costco Wholesale company history timeline
Costco traces its history back to 1976, when Sol Price, a pioneer in warehouse club retailing, opened the first Price Club in San Diego.
Dubbed "buyers' clubs" and begun in 1976, these warehouses were wholesalers that required shoppers to become members and pay an annual membership fee.
By 1978 Price Club had rebounded from its rocky start and was able to expand its operations by opening a second store in Phoenix, Arizona.
By 1980 Price Club was operating four stores in California and Arizona and was generating $150 million in annual sales.
By 1985 profits had grown to $45 million on sales of $1.9 billion.
In 1986 Price Club purchased A.M. Lewis, a grocery distributor serving Southern California and Arizona.
In 1986 Sol Price was sued by his son, Laurence, for attempting to buy out the tire-service business, then valued at $5 million.
Other companies pursued less costly and more aggressive expansion programs and, by 1987, Price Club had been passed by both Costco and Sam's.
The company was initially headquartered at its first warehouse in Seattle, but moved its headquarters to Kirkland in 1987.
In 1988 it opened two Price Club Furnishings outlets, which served as home and office furnishings stores based on the Price Club warehouse concept.
Although both sales and earnings had grown steadily each year, in 1988 Sol Price resigned as head of the company, and was replaced by Robert Price.
In 1990, Price bought out Steinberg's share of the Montreal store and expansion continued in numerous markets including California, Colorado, and British Columbia.
In the fall of 1990 Costco opened its first two units in the Northeast, both in Massachusetts.
In March 1991 the company completed a public offering of 3.45 million shares of common stocks.
In the fiscal year ending September 1, 1991, Costco’s net income rose 72%. At this time, 60% to 65% of industry-wide club members were small-business owners, for whom cost-cutting was imperative.
In 1991 a third Massachusetts location opened.
During the 1992 fiscal year, Costco planned to open 18 new warehouses.
The Price Company (corporate parent of Price Club) and Costco merged in 1993 to become Price/Costco.
Although the merged PriceCostco made tremendous annual revenue than the individual parent companies, Price founder Sol left the company and established Price Enterprises as an independent unit in 1994.
PriceCostco was initially led by executives from both companies, but in 1994, the Price brothers left the company to form PriceSmart, a warehouse club chain in Central America and the Caribbean unrelated to the current Costco.
In 1996, Costco moved its headquarters from Kirkland to its current location in Issaquah.
In 1997, Costco changed its name to Costco Wholesale Corporation, and all remaining Price Club locations were rebranded as Costco.
1998: The Costco.com Web site is launched.
In 1999, Costco's individual warehouses were pulling in an average of $91 million per year.
In 1999, roughly 12 percent of Costco's products were released marked with the Kirkland name.
Fortune magazine, profiling the "cult of Costco" in 1999, highlighted the "diamond guarantee," where Costco promised to pay a member $100 if a stone was appraised for less than double the Costco price.
1999: Costco reincorporates and changes its name to Costco Wholesale Corporation.
Despite the increase in net sales, net income dropped from $631 million in 2000 to $602 million, due primarily to increased operating expenses.
Costco enters Puerto Rico with two units opened in November 2001.
With a bull run of over six years straight of profit-earning increases, Costco experienced an unexpected decline in earnings in the first half of 2001.
Although Costco's value decreased slightly during 2001, the company grew significantly in the last 10 years.
In 2001 the Kirkland Signature brand of olive oil accounted for 15 percent of sales in the United States.
desjardins, doug. "costco charts growth plan for fy 2002." dsn retailing today, 11 february 2002.
Stocks traded at the beginning of March 2002 for $39 a share, nearly in the middle of the 52-week high of $46 and low of $29.
Costco Home opened in Kirkland, WA in December 2002.
In 2002 Costco announced the introduction of a new cash card program.
Costco opened second Home store in Tempe, AZ in October 2004.
Costco.ca (equivalent of Costco.com in the United States) is launched for Canadian members in February 2005.
Rapid expansion plans called for Costco to nearly double in size by 2005.
In 2005, Costco replaced its first Seattle warehouse with a new warehouse on an adjacent lot.
Costco opened it's first car wash facility at Seattle, WA on April 26, 2006.
In 2010, considering the Animal Welfare policy and to comply with the law, the company adopted the policy to avoid buying veal from retailers using crate-and-chain production method.
Costco Australia expands nationally with the opening of two warehouses:Costco Auburn, in Sydney's West, opened 21 July, 2011.Costco Canberra, opened 22 July, 2011.
For the fiscal year ending on August 31, 2012, the company's sales totaled $97.062 billion, with $1.709 billion net profit.
From December 2013, Costco's board of directors was chaired by co-founder Jeffrey H. Brotman and included James Sinegal, co-founder and director, and two officers of the company: president/CEO W. Craig Jelinek and CFO Richard A. Galanti.
With less than 2 million employees on its roll, Costco made it to the list of Fortune - 2014 list of Top Revenue Generating Companies.
In 2014, Costco was the third largest retailer in the United States.
In 2016, Costco had 86.7 million members.
As of August 2017, James Sinegal and W. Craig Jelinek remained on the board.
On August 1, 2017, Jeffrey Brotman died.
Jim Sinegal stepped down in 2018.
On August 27, 2019, Costco opened its first Chinese location, in Shanghai.
In 2019, Costco had 98.5 million members.
As of 2019, Costco is ranked #14 on the Fortune 500 rankings of the largest United States corporations by total revenue.
"Costco Wholesale Corporation ." International Directory of Company Histories. . Encyclopedia.com. (April 15, 2021). https://www.encyclopedia.com/books/politics-and-business-magazines/costco-wholesale-corporation-0
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Costco Wholesale competitors
| Company name | Founded date | Revenue | Employee size | Job openings |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Walmart | 1962 | $681.0B | 2,300,000 | 37,569 |
| BJ's Wholesale Club | 1984 | $20.5B | 25,001 | 707 |
| Target | 1902 | $106.6B | 409,000 | 13,556 |
| Staples | 1986 | $18.2B | 75,000 | 1,690 |
| Best Buy | 1966 | $41.5B | 102,000 | 1,128 |
| Office Depot | 1986 | $7.0B | 38,000 | 791 |
| Sam's Club | 1983 | $59.0B | 25 | - |
| Whole Foods Market | 1978 | $16.0B | 91,000 | 1,595 |
| Albertsons Companies | 1939 | $79.2B | 325,000 | 4,594 |
| Toys"R"Us | 1948 | $11.5B | 64,000 | - |
Costco Wholesale history FAQs
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Costco Wholesale may also be known as or be related to Costco Wholesale, Costco Wholesale Corporation, costco and costco warehouse.