Price Club was an American

warehouse store A warehouse store or warehouse supermarket is a food and grocery retailer that operates stores geared toward offering deeper discounted prices than a traditional supermarket. These stores offer a no-frills experience and warehouse shelving stocke ...

chain. It merged with its competitor,

Costco Wholesale Costco Wholesale Corporation (doing business as Costco Wholesale and also known simply as Costco) is an American multinational corporation which operates a chain of membership-only big-box retail stores (warehouse club). As of 2022, Costco i ...

, in 1993 and adopted the Costco name in 1997. The original Price Club warehouse is still open, operating as Costco location #401.

Sol Price Sol Price (January 23, 1916December 14, 2009) was the founder of FedMart, Price Club (which ultimately merged into Costco) and PriceSmart. He is considered a pioneer of the " warehouse store" retail model. Early life and education Price was bor ...

founded Price Club, creating the concept in 1975 after being forced out of FedMart, another retail chain he founded. He and several friends invested $2.5 million. The first Price Club on July 12, 1976, in

San Diego, California San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the eighth most populous city in the United States ...

, the former site of a manufacturing building previously owned by

Howard Hughes Howard Robard Hughes Jr. (December 24, 1905 – April 5, 1976) was an American business magnate, record-setting pilot, engineer, film producer, and philanthropist, known during his lifetime as one of the most influential and richest people in th ...

Club membership was initially only available to business customers, but was later opened to certain groups, such as employees of local businesses, nonprofits, and government. The company charged shoppers a $25 annual membership fee to purchase bulk products at discount prices in a no-frills warehouse setting. Price Club's high sales volume enabled Sol Price to give his employees more benefits and higher wages than typical retailers. The company expanded to 94 locations throughout the United States, Canada, and Mexico (joint venture with

Controladora Comercial Mexicana Comercial City Fresko, S. de R.L. de C.V. is a Mexican holding company of hypermarkets headquartered in Mexico City, Mexico. It operates the hypermarkets La Comer, City Market, Fresko and Sumesa, which have a strong presence in Mexico City and ...

). In 1992, Price Club generated $6.6 billion in revenue and $134.1 million in profit. Price Club merged with rival Costco in 1993 and the combined company was known as PriceCostco. Price Club and Costco continued to operate as separate stores with members of either chain being able to shop at both stores with their membership cards. In 1997, PriceCostco became Costco Wholesale Corporation and the remaining Price Clubs were rebranded as Costco.

References

Defunct retail companies of the United States Companies based in San Diego Defunct companies based in California Retail companies based in California 1976 establishments in California 1997 disestablishments in California Costco 1993 mergers and acquisitions Retail companies disestablished in 1997 {{retail-company-stub