History
Founded by James (Jim) Sinegal and Jeffrey H. Brotman, Costco opened its first warehouse in Seattle, Washington, on September 15, 1983. Sinegal had started in wholesale distribution by working for Sol Price at both FedMart and Price Club. Brotman, an attorney from an old Seattle retailing family, had also been involved in retail distribution from an early age.
Wal-Mart founder Sam Walton had plans to merge Sam's Club with Price Club. In 1993, however, Costco merged with Price Club (called Club Price in the Canadian province of Quebec). Costco's business model and size were similar to those of Price Club, which was founded by Sol and Robert Price in 1976 in San Diego, California. Thus, the combined company, PriceCostco, was effectively double the size of each of its parents. Just after the merger, PriceCostco had 206 locations generating $16 billion in annual sales. PriceCostco was initially led by executives from both companies, but then Sol and his son Robert Price founded Price Enterprises and left Costco in December 1994.
In 1993, when growing competition threatened both Price Club and Costco Wholesale, they entered into a partial merger just after Price’s earnings dropped to 40%. The new company, named PriceCostco, Inc., focused heavily on international expansion, opening stores in Mexico, South Korea, and England. Despite best efforts to recover losses, sales continued to drop. Disagreement between the two leaders, Robert Price and Jim Sinegal, regarding company direction and recovery policies soon left the merger in tatters.
In 1994, the breakup was formally announced. Sinegal continued to manage PriceCostco while Price’s breakaway company was named as Price Enterprises.
The first Price Club location was opened in 1976 in an old airplane hangar, previously owned by Howard Hughes, and is still in operation today (Warehouse No. 401, located on Morena Boulevard in San Diego).
In 1997, the company changed its name to Costco Wholesale and all Price Club locations were rebranded Costco.
CNBC premiered its documentary "The Costco Craze: Inside the Warehouse Giant" on April 26, 2012.
Read more about this topic: Costco
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