Costco

Costco Wholesale Corporation
	Logo since 1997
	Headquarters in Issaquah, Washington
Company type	Public
Traded as	Nasdaq: COST; Nasdaq-100 component; S&P 100 component; S&P 500 component;
Industry	Retail
Founded	September 15, 1983 (as Costco); Seattle, Washington, U.S.
Founders	James Sinegal; Jeffrey Brotman;
Headquarters	Issaquah, Washington, US
Number of locations	876 (2024)
Area served	Australia; Canada; China; France; Iceland; Japan; Mexico; New Zealand; Puerto Rico; South Korea; Spain; Sweden; Taiwan; United Kingdom; United States;
Key people	Hamilton E. James; (chairman); Ron Vachris; (president and CEO);
Brands	Kirkland Signature
Services	Merchandise; Cash & carry; Warehouse club; Gas stations;
Revenue	US$242.3 billion (2023)
Operating income	US$8.114 billion (2023)
Net income	US$6.292 billion (2023)
Total assets	US$68.99 billion (2023)
Total equity	US$25.06 billion (2023)
Members	132.0 million (2024)
Number of employees	316,000 (2023)
Website	costco.com

Original logo (used until 1993, but carried by stores until 1997)

Costco Wholesale Corporation (commonly shortened to Costco) is an American multinational corporation which operates a chain of membership-only big-box warehouse club retail stores.^[4] As of 2021, Costco is the third-largest retailer in the world^[5] and is the world's largest retailer of choice and prime beef, organic foods, rotisserie chicken, and wine as of 2016^[update].^[6] Costco is ranked #11 on the Fortune 500 rankings of the largest United States corporations by total revenue.^[7] Costco uses a club warehouse wholesale retailer channel of distribution while also selling their private label brand directly to consumers.^[8]

Costco's worldwide headquarters are in Issaquah, Washington, an eastern suburb of Seattle, although its Kirkland Signature house label bears the name of its former location in Kirkland. The company opened its first warehouse (the chain's term for its retail outlets) in Seattle in 1983.^[9]^[10] Through mergers, however, Costco's corporate history dates back to 1976, when its former competitor Price Club was founded in San Diego, California.^[11]^[12]^[13] As of April 2024^[update], Costco has 876 warehouses worldwide: 600 in the United States, 108 in Canada, 40 in Mexico, 4 in Puerto Rico, 33 in Japan, 29 in the United Kingdom, 18 in South Korea, 15 in Australia, 14 in Taiwan, 6 in China, 4 in Spain, 2 in France, 1 in Iceland, 1 in New Zealand, and 1 in Sweden.^[1]^[2]

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Cite error: The named reference Corporate profile was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^ ^a ^b "Costco Wholesale Corporation Reports March Sales Results and Announces an Increase in Its Quarterly Cash Dividend". Costco Wholesale Corporation (Press release). April 10, 2024. Retrieved May 6, 2024.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f Cite error: The named reference Costco AR 20230903 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^ "Costco Wholesale Corporation Company Profile". Hoover's. Archived from the original on April 17, 2019. Retrieved April 17, 2019.
^ "Leading retailers worldwide in 2021, by retail revenue". Statista. Archived from the original on October 10, 2023. Retrieved October 10, 2023.
^ Gabler, Neal (December 15, 2016). "The Magic in the Warehouse". Fortune. pp. 184–189. Archived from the original on February 5, 2017. Retrieved February 5, 2017.
^ "Costco Wholesale". Fortune. Archived from the original on January 7, 2023. Retrieved January 7, 2023.
^ "What is Costco?". Costco.
^ Bartel, Frank (December 18, 1983). "Costco: The new 'wholesale' club". Spokesman-Review. Spokane, Washington. p. B1. Archived from the original on April 7, 2022. Retrieved December 18, 2020.
^ "Death of Costco co-founder Jeff Brotman, 74, 'a complete shock'". The Seattle Times. August 1, 2017. Archived from the original on August 15, 2018. Retrieved November 29, 2017.
^ and the Canadian head office is situated in Ottawa, Ontario."Costco Wholesale shareholder info". Costco Wholesale. Archived from the original on March 22, 2015. Retrieved May 11, 2007.
^ "About Costco". Costco Wholesale. Archived from the original on December 31, 2021. Retrieved April 25, 2021.
^ "Costco Wholesale Historical Highlights" (PDF). Costco Wholesale. February 12, 2009. Archived (PDF) from the original on January 21, 2012. Retrieved November 27, 2009.

[Corporate_profile-1] Cite error: The named reference Corporate profile was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

[Costco_PR_20240410-2] "Costco Wholesale Corporation Reports March Sales Results and Announces an Increase in Its Quarterly Cash Dividend". Costco Wholesale Corporation (Press release). April 10, 2024. Retrieved May 6, 2024.

[Costco_AR_20230903-3] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f Cite error: The named reference Costco AR 20230903 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

[4] "Costco Wholesale Corporation Company Profile". Hoover's. Archived from the original on April 17, 2019. Retrieved April 17, 2019.

[5] "Leading retailers worldwide in 2021, by retail revenue". Statista. Archived from the original on October 10, 2023. Retrieved October 10, 2023.

[Gabler-6] Gabler, Neal (December 15, 2016). "The Magic in the Warehouse". Fortune. pp. 184–189. Archived from the original on February 5, 2017. Retrieved February 5, 2017.

[7] "Costco Wholesale". Fortune. Archived from the original on January 7, 2023. Retrieved January 7, 2023.

[8] "What is Costco?". Costco.

[spoketh-9] Bartel, Frank (December 18, 1983). "Costco: The new 'wholesale' club". Spokesman-Review. Spokane, Washington. p. B1. Archived from the original on April 7, 2022. Retrieved December 18, 2020.

[10] "Death of Costco co-founder Jeff Brotman, 74, 'a complete shock'". The Seattle Times. August 1, 2017. Archived from the original on August 15, 2018. Retrieved November 29, 2017.

[11] the Canadian head office is situated in Ottawa, Ontario."Costco Wholesale shareholder info". Costco Wholesale. Archived from the original on March 22, 2015. Retrieved May 11, 2007.

[12] "About Costco". Costco Wholesale. Archived from the original on December 31, 2021. Retrieved April 25, 2021.

[highlights-13] "Costco Wholesale Historical Highlights" (PDF). Costco Wholesale. February 12, 2009. Archived (PDF) from the original on January 21, 2012. Retrieved November 27, 2009.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

[7]

[8]

[9]

[10]

[11]

[12]

[13]