UPDATE: Duluth officials are denying this report.
A commercial development blog in Duluth reports that the city is on the retail giant Costco’s list for potential new markets in 2016.
CDinDuluth says:
Unfamiliar with Costco? We don’t blame you as there are no locations in Northern Minnesota and they’re relatively new to the Minnesota market. So then, you’re probably wondering…what IS Costco like? Two words. Sam’s Club. Literally… almost to T. Except (like the Walmart / Target color scheme) you’ll find a red theme spread throughout Costco stores, polar opposite of the blue seen in Sam’s Club locations. You’ll also find a whole new “house brand” by Costco called “Kirkland’s Signature Brand.” While Sam’s Club is still the largest warehouse retailer in the U.S. store count wise, Costco has the largest total sales volume out of any warehouse retailer in the U.S. We’re talking total annual sales near $97…billion.
The membership-only retail chain will be investigating potential sites this year. Living on the Range, we’ve long flirted with the idea of doing major shopping at Sam’s Club, but the cost of gas always negated any potential savings (plus warehouse buys often aren’t as good as you think). We’d have to recalculate the equation for Costco. It’s all a little bit like the returnable bottle conundrum facing Kramer in “Seinfeld.”
CDinDuluth should wake up. We had a Costco open in Brainerd last year. Great savings for large families who need to buy bulk.
I don’t think CDinDuluth was opposed to Costco. Costco actually gets pretty good ratings by labor groups, so it tends to be less controversial.
That is good, I was thinking maybe they should realize that there is already a Costco in northern Minnesota. 🙂