Retail History | Costco — The First Warehouse at 4401 Fourth Avenue South

People treat Costco as a Kirkland or Issaquah headquarters that arrived with a food court already built.

The first warehouse opened here, at 4401 Fourth Avenue South in Seattle's industrial district, on 15 September 1983.

Jeff Brotman and Jim Sinegal, who had run operations at Price Club in San Diego, put a 100,000-square-foot cash-and-carry hall into a building that had been an automobile plant and later a school-district warehouse. Cement floors. Open ceiling. No advertising. About 4,000 SKUs. Members paid $25 to $35 a year and were told to bring cash or a cheque.

Price Club had already proved the format for small businesses in 1976. Costco's first Seattle rooms were meant for restaurants and gas stations, then opened to households. A hot-dog cart appeared in front of this building in 1985 at $1.50 for a dog and a soda. The same address held the company's offices until they moved to Kirkland in 1987.

The original shed ran until 2005. When the neighbouring school lot came free, Costco tore that building down, built a new warehouse next door, and kept the Fourth Avenue number. The food court, pharmacy and optical desk came later. The first rooms were a warehouse with a cart outside.