A Collection of Resources To Tell The Story of Costco
This post contains articles that tell the complete story of Costco, but first, a few brief interesting points to look at.
The concept of a membership warehouse club was drawn on a napkin by Sol Price. You know it’s a good idea if you’ve gone shopping at Costco on a Saturday. It’s like shopping Aramagendea. I think to myself what’s happening? Is there a hurricane coming I’m not aware of? The amount of people shopping there is mind blogging.
It all began in Seattle Washington in the year 1983 when Costco was established. Ten years later Costco and Price Club, which pioneered the idea of Big-box retail, joined forces and formed a Delaware Corporation named Price/Costco, Inc. Later to change the name to Costco Companies Inc. and again to Costco Wholesale Corporation, which is now a public company and its common stock traded on the NASDAQ.
Costco is a retail environment mixed with a warehouse layout of skids loaded with products, strategically placed for shoppers to purchase more products than they intended.
The company is focused on price without sacrificing quality. Products are purchased and sold in bulk and the savings are passed on to the customers.
There are a lot of interesting facts about Costco, here are just a few:
- Costco sells around $4.5 billion worth of meat every year, close to $4 billion worth of produce, and around 37 million chickens a year.
- The way Costco displays their inventory is having frequently purchased items near the back of the store. This is a good strategy that exposes shoppers to more product and as you’re going to the end of the store there is always a few extra items you’ll pick up. The layout is called “The Race Track”
- There are 82 locations in nine Canadian provinces
- Costco has 62.6 million cardholders. Multiply that by at least $60 and the yearly income is in the billions.
- The number of employees worldwide is close to 155,000 between full and part-time positions.
- Warehouse Sizes vary from 73,000 to 205,000 square feet.
- You’ll find a lot more facts in the facts section to follow.
- For the complete story of Costco, including its history, company facts, financial information, employee relations, and it’s main success and failures have a look at the resources I have selected for this post, organized in sections for your convenience.
- For the complete story, successes, and failures, of Costco, have a look at the resources I have included in this post to give you an overview of what this company is all about.
Sections Included in this Post:
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The History of Costco
A company’s history offers valuable lessons and it’s interesting to find out about a company’s original operations, how it has changed, and the challenges during the startup phase.
Have a look at the selection below to understand more about the history of Costco.
Costco | History & Facts | Britannica.com
The History of Costco – A Timeline – Costco – Business Report
What Costco looked like when it first opened in 1983: photos – Business Insider
Costco Founders
This section focuses on the people that started the company. You can gain insights into their goals, ideas, foresight, and how they started the company. Many founders have interesting stories and experiences related to starting their business and the challenges they faced, as well as what they did to overcome those challenges.
Have a look at the following resources included in this post related to the founders.
Quotes from Costco Founder James Sinegal
Jeff Brotman, Co-Founder Of Costco, Passes Away Unexpectedly At 74
Costco Executives
In the executive section, you’ll find information related to the management of a company. Management decisions are an important role in a company’s success. It’s not luck that makes a company successful, but planning, strategy, and leadership.
Have a look at the selection below for information related to the executives of Costco.
EXECUTIVE OFFICERS | Costco Wholesale Corporation
COSTCO WHOLESALE CORP Executive Salaries & Other Compensation | Salary.com
The Costco Mission Statement
A mission statement helps a company stay on track and focus on its goals, culture, and ensures everyone is on the same page.
A mission statement is for company employees as well as the public. It’s usually a broad description of the company’s focus and activities.
A company’s mission statement is the company’s public face, and it is commonly used in marketing materials.
Below are the resources I have included related to the mission statement of Costco.
The Costco Mission Statement is the Heart of its Culture
Costco Divisions And Subsidiaries
The division of a company is a part of a business entity. In other words, even if a division operates under a different name it’s still part of the entity.
A subsidiary is an entirely different company, usually owned by a larger company.
Have a look at the resources for Costco subsidiaries and Divisions.
Costco Wholesale’s Organizational Structure Analysis – Panmore Institute
Costco Ownership And Investors
In this section, you’ll find resources related to ownership, investors, and shares, of Costco. Below you’ll find the resources I have included for this post.
The Top 5 Costco Shareholders (COST)
COST – Costco Wholesale Corp Shareholders – CNNMoney.com
Facts About Costco
In this section, you’ll find facts about the company. I like going through the facts because in a page or two you can learn a lot about the company and if you find something that’s really interesting you can dig deeper.
Have a look at the resources below included in this post related to Costco facts.
11 Things You Didn’t Know About Costco | HuffPost Canada
10 Fascinating Facts About Costco – Neatorama
11 Things You Didn’t Know About Costco | HuffPost Canada
14 Things You Might Not Know About Costco | Mental Floss
20 Costco Facts That Shoppers May Not Know | Cheapism.com
11 little-known facts about Costco – Business Insider
Interesting Facts About Costco – Trivia Facts About Costco
16 Things You Don’t Know About Costco | Eat This Not That
Costco Reports And Financial Statements
In this section, you can find out information such as the company’s profits, losses, net worth, liabilities, shares, owner’s equity, etc. that is available to the general public.
Have a look at the resources included below.
INVESTOR RELATIONS OVERVIEW | Costco Wholesale Corporation
COST.O – Costco Wholesale Corporation Profile | Reuters
FISCAL YEAR ENDED SEPTEMBER 2, 2018
Business Strategies Used By Costco
In this section, can get a glimpse of the strategist used by the company. The strategy a company uses can be the difference between success, failure, a mediocre business, or a huge success story.
Below you’ll see the resources included related to business strategies used by Costco
Business Strategy Lessons From Costco Business Model – FourWeekMBA
Costco’s Simple Strategy – Business Insider
Hooked: How Costco turns customers into fanatics
Costco Business Strategy | Bartleby
How Costco thrives in the Amazon era – CNN
Costco’s Winning Business Model Strategy – The Talkative Man
Revenue Strategies
This section focuses on the main revenue sources the company targets. For some companies it’s one main source for others it’s multiple sources of revenue.
Have a look at the resources to follow to give you an overview of the revenue strategies used by Costco.
How Costco Wholesale Corporation Makes Most of Its Money | The Motley Fool
How Does Costco Make Money? | Nasdaq
The Main Competitors of Costco
This section focuses on direct and indirect competition for Costco. Competition is good, it drives innovation. If it wasn’t for competition businesses wouldn’t have to try so hard for your business. Competition makes managers and company owners come up with better ideas for products and services while providing the best prices they can.
Below you can browse through the resources related to the main competition for Costco.
Top 10 Costco Competitors in Retail – Costco Competition Analysis
Who Are Costco’s Main Competitors?
Target Market & Marketing Strategies
This section focuses on the target market and the marketing strategies used. Just as above targeting is an important process and without it your focus will be too broad and you won’t be able to zero in on the right marketing techniques.
The marketing strategy used by a company can make or break it. The right strategy can make millions while a poor marketing strategy can end up in bankruptcy.
Costco Wholesale’s Marketing Mix (4Ps) Analysis – Panmore Institute
Marketing: The Costco Strategy – 1218 Words | Bartleby
Costco Marketing Mix (4Ps) Strategy | MBA Skool-Study.Learn.Share.
Products & Services Offered By Costco
This section offer resources related to core products and services offered by Costco. Many large corporations have a large variety of products and services. Some companies are so large and complex that they deal in a variety of industries that operate on a global level, which is known as conglomerates.
Have a look at the resources below for products and services offered by Costco.
Costco Services for Members | Costco
8 hidden benefits to your Costco membership
Costco Employee Relations
In this section, you can find resources related to the employees of Costco such as job satisfaction, labor relations, the number of employees, etc.
COSTCO: How They View and Treat Their Employees Is a Highly Profitable Differentiator – IRIS
Costco jobs come with a number of perks, according to employees – Business Insider
Costco Employees Reveal What It’s Really Like to Work at the Big Box Store
Costco to Raises Wages for 130,000 Employees | Fortune
6 Reasons Costco Wholesale Is the Best Retailer to Work For | The Motley Fool
Costco Company Culture
Here’s where you can gain an idea about the culture of the company. A Company’s culture includes the work environment, company values, expectations, ethics, and more.
See the resources included in this post for the culture of Costco
Costco Wholesale’s Organizational Culture Characteristics – Panmore Institute
Why Culture Makes Costco America’s Best Employer
How Costco’s obsession with culture drove success | MIT Sloan
The Reputation of Costco
In the resources below, you’ll find information related to the reputation of Costco. You’ll get insights as to how Costco is viewed by the general public.
A companies reputation is important a bad reputation can result in huge losses and the loss of public trust. A company’s reputation is an asset to any company and it’s important to maintain it.
Costco Reputation | Comparably
3 Factors That Make Costco America’s Best Employer
Costco Company Complaints
In this section, you can go through the resources to view the complaints, whether the complaints lead to a lawsuit or a viral rant, have a look at the complaints people have against Costco.
Costco Must Face Membership Refunds Class Action Lawsuit | Top Class Actions
RM LAW Announces Class Action Lawsuit Against Costco Wholesale Corporation
Fox v. Costco Wholesale Corporation – CourtListener.com
Costco Settles Consumer Class Action Suit: Advertising law Blog
Costco Employee Lawsuit (2019) | Join a Costco Employee Class Action
The Latest On The Web About Costco complaints and lawsuits
Costco Failures
Companies go through many phases, some are successful and some are miserable failures. Even though a company has failures, it’s a learning experience for management as well as other people.
Below are the resources I have included for this post related to Costco’s failures.
Costco to pay millions for pharmacy failures – Times-Herald
4 Problems With Costco’s Business Model (COST)
Costco: Test Failed? – Barron’s
Costco’s Biggest Mistake in 2016 So Far | The Motley Fool
Inside The Success of Costco
Success can be the result of a small idea that was executed extremely well at other times it may be the result of a long term vision.
It’s interesting to study the success of companies and how people have dealt with managing a company that started off small and grew into a huge success story.
Have a look at the resources I have included in this post related to the success of Costco.
What Makes Costco Successful? | The Motley Fool
8 Tips for Business Success from Costco’s Jim Sinegal
Costco’s Kirkland Signature brand drives success – Business Insider
The secret weapon behind Costco’s success
The secret to Costco’s success lies in supply chain efficiency | Canadian Grocer
Books Related to Costco
Some companies are a huge success story or a miserable failure, with many lessons to learn. Have a look at books people have written for a complete overview.
Have a look at the links below to view the books available related to Costco
Books From Amazon Related To Costco
Google Book Search Related To Costco
The Latest About Costco
In this section, you’ll be able to stay up to date on the latest information related to Costco including the latest news, Google searches, videos, what people are tweeting, and more.
I recommend spending some time on the news, tweets, that can offer up-to-the-minute information about Costco.
Google Searches
Latest Search Results Related To Costco
Latest Scholar Search Results Related To Costco
Latest Image Search Results Related to Costco
