American giant Costco opens in Sweden
Next autumn, the US-based chain Costco will open its first Swedish store in Arninge, Täby, north of Stockholm. A contract with the property owner Trophi for premises of 13,000 square meters is ready, confirms CEO Jan Björk.
This is Costco Wholesale Corporation
Costco Wholesale Corporation is engaged in the operation of membership warehouses in the United States and Puerto Rico, Canada, the United Kingdom, Mexico, Japan, Australia, Spain, and through its subsidiaries in Taiwan and Korea.
As of August 28, 2016, the Company operated 715 warehouses across the world. The Company's average warehouse space is approximately 144,000 square feet. The Company's warehouses on average operate on a seven-day, 70-hour week.
The Company offers merchandise in various categories, which include foods (including dry foods, packaged foods, and groceries); sundries (including snack foods, candy, alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages, and cleaning supplies); hardlines (including appliances, electronics, health and beauty aids, hardware, and garden and patio); fresh foods (including meat, produce, deli and bakery); softlines (including apparel and small appliances), and others (including gas stations and pharmacy).
“We are very proud to welcome the world's third largest retail chain to their first establishment in Scandinavia,” says CEO Jan Björk from Trophi Fastigheter AB.
“Costco is very happy to be able to offer our concept with membership to Täby and the wider market in the entire Stockholm region in the near future. We will offer consumers a wide range of quality products and services at low prices,” says Costco's spokesperson.
Arninge Station is part of the shopping centre in Arninge about half an hour from Stockholm’s city centre, where a new travel centre for trains and buses will open shortly.
With a number of major and well-known brands in the retail trade as tenants, Costco's establishment is expected to further contribute to the attractiveness of the entire area.
“We are of course very pleased to be able to produce 35,000 sqm of retail within Arninge Station and get everything rented out during the difficult times we are in. It is extra fun to be able to offer a new store concept that we think will suit very well for those who lives in Täby and surrounding municipalities,” declares Björk.
270,000 employees - primarily groceries
The discount store chain, which is based on membership, has over 800 department stores in the world and just over 270.000 employees. During the most recent financial year, ending in August 2020, sales increased to $ 166.8 billion.
Costco is number two in the US market after Walmart. The chain's sales mainly consist of food but also rare goods, such as white goods, garden tools, electronics, and clothing.
Costco's business model with paid membership has been adopted in Sweden by Axfood, which now plans to open its second Snabbgross Club store, which is similarly aimed at the general public.
The largest part of Costco's 13,300 square meter store in Arninge will be groceries. The store will be slightly smaller than Costco's standard model of 15,000 square meters, but still big in Swedish terms.
Sources: Reuters, Costco, Dagens Handel, Fri Köpenskap.
More Food News