Costco Wholesale opens new store

Published 4:00 pm Monday, November 30, 2009

As throngs of excited shoppers rushed to get their first look at the new Warrenton Costco Wholesale store which opened Nov. 25, no one was more excited that the day had arrived than the store’s Assistant Manager Jeff Hazen, who was witnessing his long held vision to see the company expand the size of its operations on the North Coast finally come to fruition.

“It’s a dream come true,” said Hazen, who has spent 16 of his 20-year career with Costco at the Warrenton store.

At 137,000 sq. ft., the new store, located in the North Coast Business Park on U.S. Highway 101, is nearly double the footprint of the 70,000 sq. ft. former facility.

Hazen said that as far back as 1993 when he helped open the original Warrenton store, he began dreaming of the day when the area would grow large enough for the Issaquah, Wash.,-based membership wholesaler to increase its retail footprint in the area.

Back then, Warrenton was one of four rural communities Costco chose as “test locations” to build prototype small stores.

“We had never gone into smaller communities because of their sizes,” Hazen explained.

Warrenton is the third of the original four test markets to have acquired a new, expanded Costco. The other two are Sequim, Wash., and Kalispell, Mont. The last of the original prototype stores is located in Juneau, Alaska.

Hazen said that as the North Coast’s population has grown over the years, it became more economically feasible for the company to increase its local presence.

Following a lengthy search for a suitable location, the company purchased a parcel in the North Coast Business Park from Clatsop County in 1996.

With all of the necessary local permits in hand, Costco was ready to begin construction last year – then the recession hit.

Hazen said the economic downturn nearly caused the company to shelve the project at least temporarily. But then, the company was able to “substantially reduce” the cost of the construction, primarily as a result of a drop in the cost of building materials. Once the new bid came in, the project was again given the “green” light.

“It was an offer that couldn’t be turned down,” Hazen said.

Hazen said the community has been enthusiastic ever since they learned of Costco’s plans for a new store.

“People would drive by and see the new building,” he said. “They couldn’t believe it was actually happening.”

New store has added departments, features

With nearly double its floor space, the new store not only has expanded its popular departments and widened aisles for shoppers’ convenience, but it also has added a pharmacy department, as well as optical and hearing aid services. There also is a walk-in produce cooler and deli section including rotisserie chicken. And when hunger pains set in, shoppers will find a full food court from which to gather nourishment.

The new facility also boasts a larger tire center and the fuel service island has double the number of pumps – from eight to 16.

Hazen said the new building also is extremely energy efficient and provides more natural lighting. “It really helps reduce our carbon footprint,” he said.

To staff the enlarged store, Costco will have “at least” 50 additional employees. (A company policy requires that at least one-half of its workforce be full-time, Hazen said.)

Preparing for the new store’s opening

Hazen said operating one store while getting a new store up and running has been a challenge, but the staff is enthusiastic.

“Everyone is real excited about the project and they have been real flexible,”

While Hazen continued to manage the old store until its final day Nov. 17, store Manager Darrell Brazil has been working with another crew on preparing the new facility since Nov. 2, when the building was first available for occupancy.

“Everyone has put in extraordinarily long days, six days a week,” he said.

All the merchandise that fills the new store has been shipped directly from Costco’s warehouse. Only perishable food items were transferred from the former store at the time of its closing. All other merchandise remaining after the former store closed permanently will be shipped to other Costco stores, Hazen said.

He said it will take about two weeks to ship out all the merchandise from the former store. “It works out well,” he said. “The buyers can control the merchandise flow and plan out where it” will be shipped.