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Costco Wholesale Corporation (trading as Costco Wholesale and also known simply as Costco) is an American multinational corporation which operates a chain of membership-only warehouse clubs. As of 2015, Costco was the second largest retailer in the world after Walmart, and the world's largest retailer of choice and prime beef, organic foods, rotisserie chicken, and wine as of 2016. In 2019, Costco was ranked #14 on the Fortune 500 rankings of the largest United States corporations by total revenue.
Costco's worldwide headquarters are in Issaquah, Washington, an eastern suburb of Seattle. The company opened its first warehouse (the chain's term for its retail outlets) in Seattle in 1983. Through mergers, however, Costco's corporate history dates back to 1976, when its former competitor Price Club was founded in San Diego, California. As of December 31, 2019, Costco has a total of 785 warehouses: 546 in the United States (including the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico), 100 in Canada, 39 in Mexico, 29 in the United Kingdom, 26 in Japan, 16 in South Korea, 13 in Taiwan, 12 in Australia, 3 in Spain, 1 in Iceland, 1 in France, and 1 in China. The company plans to open a warehouse in New Zealand in 2021 (delayed until early 2022).
A typical Costco warehouse carries only 3,700 distinct products. The company's rule is that no item may be marked up more than 14% over cost and no Kirkland Signature item may be marked up more than 15% over cost. The company runs very lean, with overhead costs at about 10% of revenue and profit margins at 2%. Costco's annual membership fees (US$60/year for Gold Star, US$120/year for Executive as of 2019) account for 80 percent of Costco's gross margin and 70 percent of its operating income.
Costco has a frequently changing inventory and is known for carrying products for a time, then discontinuing them or using them as seasonal products. Over the years, Costco has gradually expanded its range of products and services. Initially, it preferred to sell only boxed products that could be dispensed by simply tearing the stretch wrap off a pallet. It now sells many other products that are more difficult to handle, such as art, books, caskets, clothing, computer software, fine wine, furniture, home appliances, home electronics, hot tubs, jewelry, perishable items (such as dairy, fresh baked goods, flowers, fresh produce, meat, seafood), solar panels, tires, and vacuum cleaners. Many warehouses also have gas stations, pharmacies, hearing aid centers, optometrists, eye and sunglass centers, photo processors, and tire garages. The produce items that require refrigeration are kept in a walk-in refrigerator, and several locations even have a walk-in refrigerator for dairy items.
Some locations have liquor stores, often kept separate from the main warehouse in order to comply with liquor license restrictions. In some states (such as Texas), the liquor store must be owned and operated by a separate company with separate employees. In Australia, Costco has to comply with regulations set by each state they choose to trade in; their first store in the Australian state of Victoria benefits from some of the most liberal alcohol licensing laws in that country, with retailers permitted to sell alcohol on shelves within the store, in a manner similar to most European countries.
"Kirkland Signature" is Costco's private label. It is sold by Costco at their website and warehouses, and is trademarked by the company. Costco introduced Kirkland Signature as its private label in 1992, deriving the name from the location of Costco's then corporate headquarters, Kirkland, Washington (their headquarters later moved, roughly 12 miles (19 km), to Issaquah, Washington).
Warehouses outside the U.S. are similar to the company's domestic locations, featuring generally identical layout, signage, and even parking lot markings. Food court menus are tailored to international tastes, with meat pies on offer in Australia; poutine in Canada; seafood-topped pizza in Asian locations; pastor taco-topped pizzas in Mexico; clam chowder in Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan; plokkfiskur in Iceland; and jacket potatoes in the UK.
Source: Wikipedia
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