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Kirkland Signature

Costco Wholesale Corporation
Public
Traded as
Industry Retail
Predecessor Price Club
Founded July 12, 1976; 41 years ago (1976-07-12) (as Price Club)
San Diego, California, U.S.
September 15, 1983; 33 years ago (1983-09-15) (as Costco)
Seattle, Washington, U.S.
Founders
Headquarters Issaquah, Washington, United States
Number of locations
727 warehouses (2017)
Area served
United States, Canada, Mexico, United Kingdom, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Australia, Spain, Iceland, France
Key people
Jeffrey Brotman
(Chairman)
James Sinegal
(Founder)
W. Craig Jelinek
(President and CEO)
Brands Kirkland Signature
Services
Revenue IncreaseUS$118.7 billion (2016)
IncreaseUS$3.672 billion (2016)
IncreaseUS$2.350 billion (2016)
Total assets IncreaseUS$33.16 billion (2016)
Total equity IncreaseUS$12.07 billion (2016)
Number of employees
126,000 (2016)
Website www.costco.com

Costco Wholesale Corporation is the largest American membership-only warehouse club. As of 2015, Costco was the second largest retailer in the world after Walmart, and as of 2016, Costco was the world's largest retailer of choice and prime beef, organic foods, rotisserie chicken, and wine.

Costco's worldwide headquarters are in Issaquah, Washington, but the company opened its first warehouse in nearby Seattle in 1983. Through mergers, Costco's overall corporate history dates back to 1976, when its former competitor Price Club was founded in San Diego, California. As of 9 February 2017, Costco had a total of 729 warehouses in the United States (508), Canada (94), Mexico (37), United Kingdom (28), Japan (25), South Korea (13), Taiwan (13), Australia (8), Spain (2), Iceland (1) and one in France (1).

Costco's history began with Sol Price and his son, Robert, opening the first Price Club warehouse on July 12, 1976, on Morena Boulevard in San Diego, California, thus giving birth to a new concept: a retail warehouse club. The Price family placed Price Club Warehouse #1 inside a series of old airplane hangars previously owned by Howard Hughes; that warehouse, now known as Costco Warehouse #401, is still in operation today.

Costco opened its first warehouse in Seattle, Washington, on September 15, 1983, by James (Jim) Sinegal and Jeffrey H. Brotman. Sinegal had started in wholesale distribution by working for Sol Price at FedMart and Brotman, an attorney from an old Seattle retailing family, had also been involved in retail distribution from an early age.


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