The History of Costco
Costco Wholesale Corporation began operations in 1983 in Seattle, Washington. In October 1993, Costco merged with The Price Company, which had pioneered the membership warehouse concept in 1976, to form Price/Costco, Inc., a Delaware corporation. In January 1997, non-warehouse assets were spun off to Price Enterprises, Inc., and the company changed its name to Costco Companies, Inc. On 30th August, 1999, the Corporation re-incorporated from Delaware to Washington and changed its name to Costco Wholesale Corporation, which trades on the NASDAQ under the symbol 'COST'.

What is Costco?
Costco operates a chain of cash & carry membership warehouses that sell high-quality, nationally branded and selected private-label merchandise at low prices to businesses purchasing for commercial use or resale, and also to individuals who are members of selected employment groups. The Company's business is based upon achieving high sales volumes and rapid inventory turnover by offering a limited assortment of merchandise in a wide variety of product categories at low prices. As of 23rd August 2007, the Company operated a chain of 516 warehouses in 38 states of the USA (381 locations), nine Canadian provinces (71 locations), the United Kingdom (19 locations), Korea (5 locations), Taiwan (4 locations through 55%-owned subsidiary) and Japan (6 locations), as well as 30 warehouses in Mexico through a 50%-owned joint venture.