economie

Photos show what Costco looked like when it first opened in 1983

July 24, 20240
Customers at the membership desk of an early Costco warehouse.

Courtesy of Costco Wholesale

  • Costco opened its first location in Seattle in 1983, building off Price Club’s warehouse format.
  • Today’s company is the product of a 1993 merger between Costco and Price Club, which opened in 1976.
  • Costco provided Business Insider with historical photos of the chain’s inaugural warehouse. 
Sinegal was a retail executive who’d previously worked under the businessman Sol Price at a warehouse club called FedMart.
A Price Club shopper walks the aisles in 1992.

Keith Beaty/Toronto Star via Getty Images

Located in an old airplane hangar, Price Club exclusively offered memberships to small business owners.

A key piece of the business model’s strategy was to keep costs low by sharply limiting the number of unique items, or SKUs, that are kept in stock.
Inside an early Costco warehouse.

Courtesy of Costco Wholesale

Sinegal served as Costco’s CEO from 1983 until his retirement in 2011.

The growth of Sam’s Club – Walmart’s answer to the influx of members-only warehouse clubs – also spurred Costco’s expansion.
Shoppers flood a Costco in 1983.

Courtesy of Costco Wholesale

Membership fee revenue totaled $1.3 million in the first year, per SEC filings.

That same year, The Associated Press dubbed both Price Club and Costco as “key players” in the wholesale-retail game.
A display of Costco’s phone products.

Courtesy of Costco Wholesale

The company held its initial public offering in 1985, selling shares for $10.

Due to several stock splits, one initial Costco share would be six today.
Costco members — and cofounder Jim Sinegal — near the checkout aisles.

Courtesy of Costco Wholesale

At that point, the chain boasted “17 locations, 1.3 million members, and 3,740 employees,” according to Costco’s website.

When Sol Price was looking to retire, Price Club and Costco merged in 1993 to become the somewhat unwieldy PriceCostco.
Inside an early Costco warehouse.

Courtesy of Costco Wholesale

The first UK location opened that year, followed by the first Asian location in Seoul in 1995.

Initially after the merger, there was a slight divide between “red” Costco warehouses and “blue” Price Club warehouses.
An early Costco warehouse.

Courtesy of Costco Wholesale

At its 40th anniversary in 2023, Costco had 838 locations around the world, nearly 129 million membership cardholders, $237.7 billion in revenue.