Costco

Costco is a membership warehouse shopping club chain. People buy memberships entitling them to shop in the warehouse market and buy goods at discount prices, often in larger quantities than typically available at regular retail markets.

History
According to its Web site, the company opened its first location in 1976 in a converted airplane hangar on Morena Boulevard in San Diego, under the name Price Club. Price Club originally served only small business owners, but found it could increase its business markedly by also serving non-business members, thus the company started opening warehouse markets serving a broader range of customers. The first warehouse market under the name Costco opened in Seattle in 1983. Costco and Price Club merged in 1993 and began operating under the name PriceCostco. It started operating solely under the Costco name in 1997. |502|503&N=4001215&Mo=8&cm_re=1_en-_-Top_Right_Nav2-_-Top_membership&No=8&Nr=P_CatalogName:BC&cat=503&Ns=P_Price|1||P_SignDesc1&lang=en-US&Sp=C

Directors
Accessed December 2007:
 * Jeffrey H. Brotman - Chairman of the Board
 * Benjamin S. Carson, Sr. - Director
 * Susan Decker - Director
 * Richard D. DiCerchio - Senior Executive Vice President, COO
 * Daniel J. Evans - Director
 * Richard A. Galanti - Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer and Director
 * William H. Gates, Sr. - Director
 * Hamilton E. James - Lead Independent Director
 * Richard M. Libenson - Director
 * John W. Meisenbach - Director
 * Charles T. Munger - Director
 * Jill S. Ruckelshaus - Director
 * James D. Sinegal - President, Chief Executive Officer and Director

Contact

 * Web:

Related Sourcewatch articles

 * Jeff Raikes