Few retailers are as beloved as Costco. While the company is a no-frills warehouse, it also meticulously searches for high-quality and low-priced goods to sell to its members. So whether you love the company’s iconic $1.50 hot dogs or the “treasure hunt” of finding new items at end caps, here’s a journey into the amazing and weird facts surrounding Costco.
Many of these facts come from the exceptional book The Joy of Costco. Authors from the book were given unprecedented access to facts about Costco’s operations. You can often pick up a copy of the book in Costco’s book section. It’s a great read and one which I highly recommend!
1. The Founder of Costco’s Favorite Item They Ever Sold was a Cheap Nozzle
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In 2013 I had the opportunity to interview Costco’s founder and current CEO, and the one question I wanted to ask them was what’s the coolest “treasure hunt” item Costco has ever sold?
Over the years Costco has carried gold bars, 157-piece Le Creuset kitchen sets, and some of the world’s most expensive Wagyu. So, you’d figure Costco founder Jim Sinegal’s favorite “treasure hunt” item would be something really out there. Yet, true to his very practical brand, when asked about his favorite item ever carried at Costco Sinegal responded a $14.99 water nozzle that had four intensities.
He loved the product so much that he bought it for Costco’s then-CEO, his assistant, and his son-in-law.
2. The Smallest Costco in the World is Located in Juneau
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The Juneau Costco is 76,696 square feet. That’s about half the size of an average Costco location, which normally are in the neighborhood of 150,000 square feet. On the other end of the spectrum, the world’s largest Costco is found in Salt Lake City. It’s about 235,000 square feet, or slightly three times larger than the Juneau location.
3. Getting a Book Into Costco Can Be Big Business
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The Joy of Costco reports that books that get into Costco often see 25% of their sales just from Costco locations. With Costco carrying a limited inventory of books, it’s not surprising warehouses selling a book can be so lucrative.
4. Costco Has Business Centers That Sell 32-Pound Containers of Sour Cream
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In addition to its warehouses, Costco has business centers that cater to restaurants and small businesses. You’ll be able to tell business centers apart not just from their merchandise, but also how the warehouses look. They’re smaller than regular Costco warehouses, don’t normally have food courts, and do a much larger share of their business delivering to customers. There aren’t nearly as many business centers as warehouses. For example, while Northern California has four locations, there are none between New York and Atlanta.
Inside Costco’s business centers you’ll find 50-pound bags of onions, 56-gallon cans of maple syrup, 5-gallon buckets of pickles, and 32-pound containers of sour cream.
5. Costco Conducts Social Audits on Its Suppliers to Ensure They Treat Employees Well
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One fascinating aspect of Costco is their relationship with suppliers. While Costco wants the best possible price for its end customers, they don’t want to do so at the expense of their suppliers. The company conducts audits on suppliers to ensure Costco isn’t more than 25% of their business. These audits also score suppliers on how well they treat their employees and their environmental sustainability. Finally, Costco will perform quality audits by directly visiting supplier manufacturing facilities.
6. Costco Sells Half the World’s Cashews
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Costco is famous for its jars of cashews, but you might be surprised to learn just how many they sell. Costco’s cashews also support a great cause. Costco’s iconic cashew containers help support a staggering 2.5 million independent farmers, mostly located on small farms across Africa.
7. Costco Sells More than 100 Million Chickens in the U.S. Annually
Source: 24/7 Wall St / Eric Bleeker
While Costco’s $1.50 hot dog and soda combo is the most iconic example of the retailer finding ways to keep costs down, their rotisserie chickens are a close second when it comes to “most famous cheap item.” Costco’s chicken was introduced in 1995 and still sells for an incredibly cheap $4.99. Costco has their own poultry farm near Fremont, Nebraska that produces chickens for their stores. The farm employs 800 workers and partners with 100 local farmers who provide grain for the chicken.
8. Costco Creates the Fourth-Largest Circulation Print Magazine
Source: 24/7 Wall St / Eric Bleeker
Costco Executive Members receive a magazine named Costco Connection, which is sent to 16 million households per month. The magazine features cover stories in addition to featured Costco “treasure hunt” items. The Joy of Costco reports that full-page advertisements cost $200,000, although Costco will sometimes share the cost with advertisers.
9. Costco Sells Cars, Car Rentals, Vacations, and Many Other Items You May Not Know
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Here’s just a sample of some of the services you can buy through Costco:
- Auto and Home Insurance
- Life Insurance
- Business Health Insurance
- Bottled Water Delivery
- Budget Truck Rental
- Travel
- RVs
- Vehicle Purchase Through Approved Dealers
- Payment Processing
- Blinds, Shades & Shutters
- Generator and HVAC Installation
- Custom Closet & Storage Design
- Flooring & Carpet Installation
- Jacuzzi Bath Remodel
- Garage Door & Opener Install
- Solar Panel Installation
- Quartz & Granite Installation
- Cabinet Refacing
- Water Treatment & Softeners
And these services aren’t small in scale either. Costco Travel employs more than 900 travel agents while its auto purchasing service sold more than 800,000 cars in 2021.
10. Costco is About to Expand Fresh Sushi to its Stores Nationwide
Source: Courtesy of Sushi Neko via Facebook
While it wouldn’t shock you to learn that Costco offers sushi in its deli sections in Japan, Costco-made sushi has expanded to the United States. To date, the only continental U.S. Costco location that has sold fresh sushi is the company’s Issaquah, Washington location. That’s an important location because it’s located right next to Costco’s corporate headquarters. However, on its second-quarter earnings call with investors, Costco announced that it would be adding sushi counters to select locations nationwide.
11. Costco Sells 4 Billion Eggs Per Year
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And here’s what’s incredible: even at this volume, they’re the first U.S. retailer committed to selling only cage-free eggs worldwide.
12. Costco Food Courts Have Novel Items Across the World
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After Covid, Costco Food Courts across the U.S. cut items. There is no longer Supreme Pizza, items like the BBQ Beef Sandwich and Cheeseburger disappeared, and hot dogs are no longer available as ‘Polish Dogs.’ Costco also continues to refine items at its food court, with the Churro recently replaced by a $2.49 Chocolate Chip Cookie.
Yet, across the world, you’ll find some surprising items. Many Asian markets have Bulgogi Beef Pizza along with other favorites like Mango Smoothies with Boba. In Canada, Costco Food Courts have long offered Poutine. One item that might surprise you is different chowders across Asian warehouses, with Corn Chowder in Japan and Clam Chowder in markets like Taiwan and Australia.
13. Costco Gas Sells for $.21 Cheaper than the Competition
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The Joy of Costco reports their gas is $.21 cheaper than the competition and Costco sells $14.7 billion worth of gas per year. This cheap gas often leads to extremely long lines on the weekends! In some areas like Arizona, California, Tennessee, and Washington, select Costco’s even incorporate discount car washes as well.
14. Costco’s Top-Selling Store is in Hawaii
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The crown may change from year to year, but in 2022 Costco’s Iwilei store became its first to exceed $500 million in sales. Iwilea is located beyond Honolulu’s airport and the city’s downtown. Incredibly, it’s not any larger than other Costco stores, it’s just extremely busy!
15. 75% of Iceland Households are Costco Members
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Costco locating stores in Iceland might be surprising, the country has a population of just 372,000 residents. The Joy of Costco relays a story why Costco decided to open stores in the country. The company observed that a group from Iceland was renting out planes to ship palates of Costco items to the country and marking them up at a 100% premium. Seeing this demand, Costco decided to make Iceland a test study in whether a market that small made sense for Costco to enter.
16. Costco Members Have Purchased $600,000 Jewelry From the Store
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Costco’s Jewelry section sells about 212 pounds of diamonds each year, and some are very high-quality. In fact, a 10-carat engagement ring was once sold through Costco for $600,000. Costco also sells high-end watches that can cost north of $25,000.
17. There’s a Costco Location in Manhattan
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You wouldn’t figure Costco’s large warehouse format would translate to Manhattan, but they do have a store there! The store is located at 517 E 117th St, in East Harlem. There is also a Costco inside New York City on Staten Island, one in Long Island City, and a location in Brooklyn and Queens.
18. About One-Quarter of Costco’s Sales are Kirkland Signature Products
Source: Courtesy of the Food and Drug Administration
Kirkland Signature is Costco’s “private label,” offering discounted prices for high-quality products. It’s known that major brands like Duracell, Starbucks, and Bumble Bee Tuna are all suppliers. The Joy of Costco quotes 2022 sales at $58 billion, which is impressive considering there are only about 1,000 items with the Kirkland Signature brand name. The top-selling Kirkland Signature items are all essentials like bath tissue, paper towels, and bottled water
19. Only Four States Don’t Have a Costco
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If you’re driving across the United States, you’ll find a Costco in 46 out of 50 states. The four states that lack a Costco aren’t necessarily the least populated, either. Maine ranks 42nd in population but doesn’t have a Costco. Nearby state Rhode Island is also Costco-free. The two other states without a Costco are West Virginia (39th in population) and Wyoming.
Incredibly, Hawaii has a lower population than West Virginia but has 7 different Costco locations, including the first warehouse to break $500 million in sales during a year!
20. Costco Didn’t Open its First Location in Mainland Europe Until 2014
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Costco has long been in markets like Japan, the United Kingdom, South Korea, Canada, and Mexico. However, it didn’t open a location in mainland Europe until 2014, when it opened a location in Seville, Spain. If you’re wondering where Costco stores are located at the start of 2024, here’s a breakdown:
- United States: 602 locations
- Canada: 108
- Mexico: 40
- Japan: 33
- United Kingdom: 29
- South Korea: 18
- Australia: 15
- Taiwan: 14
- China: 6
- Spain: 4
- France: 2
- Iceland: 1
- New Zealand: 1
- Sweden: 1
Clearly, there are plenty more regions that Costco can expand to!
21. Costco Sells Seven Times More Hot Dogs Than All MLB Stadiums Combined
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We have to end our list with a $1.50 Hot Dog fact. You’ve probably read that Costco built their own manufacturing to keep hot dog costs down. What you probably don’t know is that the market that loves Costco Hot Dogs the most isn’t the United States, it’s Japan! According to The Joy of Costco, the record for hot dog sales in a month belongs to Shin Misato, Japan, where 64,512 hot dog combos were sold in a four-week period.
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