Costco Wholesale

Costco Wholesale Corporation, commonly called just Costco, is a membership-only chain of warehouse clubs that offer discounted prices on bulk products. This product is based within the United States, but it is a multinational corporation and it is the second-largest retailer after Walmart in the world. In fact, in 2016, it became the largest retailer of certain goods including wine, rotisserie chicken, organic foods, and prime beef. The Costco headquarters are located in Issaquah, Washington. The company employs more than 231,000 people as of 2017; in their warehouse stores, depots, and other businesses. They hire a lot of cashiers, but most of their workforce is involved in the distribution, and supply line section of the business. That includes those positions within the store that receive the items, sort them, and place them on shelves.

Costco began on July 12, 1976, in San Diego, California, with a brand-new idea put forth by Sol Price and his son Robert Price. They decided to come up with the Price club warehouse, which was a retail warehouse club that required a membership in order to shop at. The first store was inside an old airplane hangar that had been known by Howard Hughes. That store is still in operation today. The first warehouse was opened in Seattle, Washington. Costco services include merchandise, cash and carry, and warehouse club services, with products that range from household items like toilet paper to frozen foods.

Costco is found around the world, although most of the stores are in the United States. Some of the international locations include Canada, Mexico, the United Kingdom, Japan, Taiwan, Australia, South Korea, Spain, France and Iceland. They are a public company and reported revenue of $139.46 billion for the 2017 fiscal year with revenue per share of $318.14. They also showed quarterly revenue growth of 12.1 percent.