You have to go online if you want to buy a casket from Costco, but store shelves at the warehouse store giant’s new area location are full of everything from cereal to vacuum cleaners to beach towels to diamonds.
Costco Wholesale Corp. opens its first Summit County store Wednesday in Boston Heights, just off state Route 8, and a sneak peak late last week revealed a place lined with shipping pallets of goods — many on 15-foot-high shelves.
“We like to say we carry everything you need from birth to death,” that’s what the Boston Heights store’s assistant manager Gustavo Clark said, as he gave a tour of the new store, the fourth in Northeast Ohio and the 11th in Ohio for the retailer based in Issaquah, Wash.
As customers enter the store, they’ll be greeted by a Samsung 65-inch flat-screen TV — priced at about $1,350, with the manufacturer’s rebate — and other “highest-ticket” items, as Clark called them.
Some retailers, Clark said, tuck such pricey items in the back. At Costco, he said, the idea is for those items to be “front and center” so members see right away what discounted prices — even on expensive electronics — they can get for their membership fees.
Costco members pay at least $55 a year to take advantage of deals offered by the retailer known for its wide-range of goods.
There are more than 81 million members nationwide, and membership revenue — which accounts for the majority of the company’s net income — allows the company to offer items at a discount, analysts note. Markups don’t exceed 15 percent.
Mind the fence
As at other Costcos, one of the first displays customers will see at the store off Hines Hill Road is what Costco employees call “the fence.” It’s a metal fence fronted with pallets displaying an array of featured items, many of them seasonal. For the store opening, a cooler, a stadium seat and a duffel bag join about 20 other products stocked along the fence.
Clark, on the tour, motioned to the North Face duffel bags priced at $89.99 each. He then quickly checked his smartphone for competing prices.
“So I checked, and this bag is $135 anywhere else,” Clark said.
The Costco business model means the store doesn’t have much signage telling customers what items are where. That way, customers have to search for items, possibly finding other things to buy, from national brands to Costco’s Kirkland Signature brand.
Customers looking for produce, for example, will walk past seasonal items — now featuring patio and garden furniture — the jewelry area (where glass display cases sit on top of metal shelves), appliances, clothing, wine — including fine wine and Costco’s Kirkland Signature wine — and more.
Choosing for you
What customers won’t find is a lot of choice. Ketchup? Costco carries Heinz and no other brand.
Costco does the shopping for customers, Clark and store marketing manager Dija Ismael said, lessening customer confusion. Limited choice also allows Costco to strike deals with vendors for lower prices. A Costco store generally has about 4,500 SKUs — or different items for sale. That compares with 30,000 found at most supermarkets, Costco says on its website.
Among the items customers will find: automotive items; movie tickets, school supplies and men’s, women’s and children’s casual clothing — national brands and Kirkland. There are no dressing rooms.
There’s also a pharmacy, a bakery (where items are prepared from scratch), the popular 3-pound rotisserie chicken ($4.99) and the jumbo hot dog and drink combo, which has been priced at $1.50 since the 1980s.
Costco has been offering cash cards to those who buy memberships before the store opens Wednesday.
Ruth Ann Resparc of Brecksville bought a membership last week at a temporary site in Macedonia. She’s been looking forward to Costco opening closer to her home. The other Northeast Ohio stores are in Avon, Mayfield Heights and Strongsville.
“I’ve been to a lot of parties, and the hors d’oeuvres are all from Costco,” she said.
Gene Bergey of Stow bought a membership in the store vestibule last week. He said he’s heard that Costco’s starting pay is $13 an hour.
“I think it makes the people I’ll have to deal with happier,” he said.
The store employs about 200 full- and part-time employees. Many are new to Costco and others, such as Gustavo, are veteran employees. The company is known for promoting from within.
The Costco anchors a development called the Marketplace, built off Hines Hill Road at the former site of the Boston Heights Country Club. Construction on a Bass Pro Shop proposed for the Marketplace has yet to begin, though Costco and BassPro revealed their plans at roughly the same time more than a year ago. The address of the Costco store is 6720 Bass Pro Drive.
Boston Heights Mayor Bill Goncy said in an interview that Bass Pro still wants a store there. Goncy said a Bass Pro representative told him a month or so ago that the company plans to begin building this year or next year.
Katie Byard can be reached at 330-996-3781 or kbyard@thebeaconjournal.com. You can follow her @KatieByardABJ on Twitter or become a fan on Facebook at www.facebook.com.