Costco Wholesale

Costco Wholesale Corporation (NYSE: COST) is an American MNC operating a chain of membership-exclusive warehouse clubs worldwide. The company traces its roots to the 1993 merger of Costco and Price Club, both of which were leading names in the US retail market. The combined entity was named PriceCosto, which later became Costco Wholesale Corporation in 1997. The company trades as Costco. In 2013, Costco Wholesale expanded its global operations by starting 150 warehouse clubs internationally. Costco opened its first online store in China in a deal with the Alibaba Group in 2014 and made a debut in its burgeoning e-commerce industry. As of 2019, Costco had 785 warehouses across 12 countries, namely Canada, Mexico, Japan, Australia, Spain, France, China, Iceland, Taiwan, the UK and US. It continued to grow and sold $152.7 billion worth of merchandise amidst the dwindling global economy of 2019. In 2020, it made a notable acquisition when it bought-off Innoval Solutions in a $1 billion deal. This merger further bolstered Costco’s logistics, distribution and delivery capabilities. Costco Wholesale Corporation is headquartered in Washington, United States. Costco stocks trade on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol COST. COST shares are components in several stock market indices such as the NASDAQ 100, S&P 100 and S&P 500. A multi-billion dollar company, Costco stood amongst the largest retailers of the world in 2020. It ranked 14th on the list of Fortune 500 companies. Forbes ranked Costco 142nd in its list of Global 2000 companies. Forbes also included the company in its list of World’s Best Employers, World’s Most Valuable Brands, America’s Best Employer by State as well as Canada’s Best Employers in 2020.