By Zhu Jingning
One of the world's top retailers, Costco will open its first Zhejiang store in Xiaoshan Economic and Technological Development Zone on Aug 26, making Hangzhou the fourth city in the Chinese mainland to embrace the US brick-and-mortar warehouse.
On June 15, the store held an event at Youshiguang Square offering varied delicacies to visitors in anticipation of its opening for a free trial.
Costco（Hangzhou）is located in Jiangnan Innovation Polis, with a total investment of USD160 million. About 400 meters from Gengwen Road station on Metro Line 19, the store covers an area of 36,000sqm, with a single-story floor space of 18,000sqm. The first floor will be an eight-meter-tall shopping center, while the second & third floors and the rooftop will be parking lots.
The store looks like a vast warehouse, where most of the merchandises are arranged in pallets without excessive packaging in multiple zones including foods, home appliances, electronics and cosmetics. It is expected that the appointment-to-store system will be implemented before the opening, with a daily flow limit of 20,000 people.
Ranked as the world's fifth-largest retailer in 2022 with a total revenue of $219.2 billion, Costco launched its first physical location in China back in 2019, which proved successful when approximately 200,000 members signed up in the first few months. After it is officially open in Hangzhou, the store is expected to generate a revenue of over one billion yuan per year.