Overview
Costco Wholesale Corporation (commonly shortened to Costco) is an American multinational corporation which operates a chain of membership-only big-box retail stores (warehouse club). As of 2023, Costco is the third largest retailer in the world and is the world's largest retailer of choice and prime beef, organic foods, rotisserie chicken, and wine . Costco is ranked #11 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, 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 Through mergers, however, Costco's corporate history dates back to 1976, when its former competitor Price Club was founded in San Diego, California. , Costco has 861 warehouses worldwide: 591 in the United States, 107 in Canada, 40 in Mexico, 33 in Japan, 29 in the United Kingdom, 18 in Korea, 15 in Australia, 14 in Taiwan, five in China, four in Spain, two in France, and one each in Iceland, New Zealand, and Sweden.
History
Price Club
From Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0).