thumb|Original logo (used until 1993, but carried by stores until 1997)|261x261px
Costco Wholesale Corporation is an American multinational corporation that operates a chain of membership-only big-box warehouse club retail stores. As of 2021, Costco is the third-largest retailer in the world, and as of August 2024, the world's largest retailer of beef, poultry, organic produce, and wine, with just under a third of American consumers regularly shopping at Costco warehouses. , Costco is ranked 12th on the Fortune 500 rankings of the largest United States corporations by total revenue, and is also ranked as the largest grocery retailer in Canada.
Costco's worldwide headquarters are in Issaquah, Washington, an eastern suburb of Seattle. Its Kirkland Signature house label is named after its former location in Kirkland. The company opened its first warehouse (the chain's term for its retail outlets) in Seattle Through mergers, Costco's corporate history dates back to 1976, when its former competitor Price Club was founded in San Diego, California.
Costco originally began with a wholesale business model aimed at enrolling businesses as members, and later began enrolling individual consumers and selling products intended for them, including its own private-label brand.
History
thumb|A Costco in [[Tlalpan in Mexico City]]
thumb|Australia's first Costco, located in Docklands, [[Victoria, Australia]]
thumb|A Costco Wholesale store in Hashima, [[Gifu, Japan]]
Price Club
Costco's earliest predecessor, Price Club, opened its first store on July 12, 1976, on Morena Boulevard in San Diego, California. It was founded three months earlier by Sol Price and his son, Robert, after a dispute with the new owners of FedMart, Price's previous membership-only discount store. Price Club was among the first retail warehouse clubs, beginning with its Morena Boulevard store inside a series of old airplane hangars once owned by Howard Hughes. The store, known as Costco Warehouse #401, is still in operation today.
Price Club's sales model targeted small business owners, selling items in bulk for a discounted price at no-frills outlets that were accessible only with an annual membership fee. The company launched an initial public offering in 1980 and expanded to 24 locations in the Southwest and 1.1 million members by early 1986. followed by a Mexico City store in 1992 as part of a joint venture with hypermarket chain Controladora Comercial Mexicana. The company also announced plans to open stores in Spain and Portugal through its Canadian subsidiary. opened the first Costco warehouse in Seattle on September 15, 1983. Sinegal had started in wholesale distribution by working for Sol Price at FedMart; Brotman, an attorney from an old Seattle retailing family, had also been involved in retail distribution from an early age. Sinegal began his retail involvement as a grocery bagger. At its launch, Costco sold goods to small businesses at a markup of only 8 or 9 percent over the wholesale price.
A second store opened in Portland, Oregon in October, and a third in Spokane in