First Costco Australia site identified

Costco will build its first Australian store in Melbourne.

While the company has refused to confirm the reports, today’s The Age newspaper reports Costco will build a 12,000 to 14,000 square metre bulky goods outlet on the northern edge of the ING development in the Melbourne’s Docklands project Waterfront City, close to the CBD. It will have access to Footscray Rd and CityLink.

Meanwhile Costco is evaluating other sites in Australia – it is expected to open as many as five stores in the next 12 months.

Jim Murphy, Costco’s senior vice-president of international operations, told The Age the company was still considering a variety of locations, including several in Melbourne, but refused to confirm if Waterfront City was one of the candidates.

“Australia is a very attractive market for Costco from a demographic standpoint, so we’re very eager to get started,” Murphy told the paper. “At this stage, we’re not prepared to talk about individual sites.”

Inside Retailing