Costco will finally open its much-anticipated St. John’s store on June 27.
The location, said to be the biggest in the entire country — 185,000 square feet — will only help to enhance the membership base that is located here in Newfoundland and Labrador, according to a company spokesman.
“This is a loyal base. We want to make sure we can respond to members’ needs here,’’ Ron Damiani, vice-president, marketing, membership, services and travel for Costco Wholesale Canada, located in Ottawa.
“Since we first opened in St. John’s in August 1995, the loyalty shown by customers has caused us to outgrow the original location by a lot,’’ he added.
As an example, he said there are going to be nearly double the amount of parking spaces on the lot as expansion will allow for more than 1,000 cars.
In addition, the gas bar will have 24-pumps on site, allowing for more access to gas at Costco.
“We will have the ability to bring in items aimed at small-business owners. The location will be a hybrid in that sense and lets us go back to our roots,’’ Damiani said. “In fact, we will have greater product availability here in Galway, things like a hearing aid section, that is not being offered in our Stavanger location,’’ he said noting that produce section will be larger, a walk-in cooler section will also be larger for dairy products and other areas of the warehouse will have more stock.
The new location will open its doors on Thursday, June 27 at 8 a.m., after the Stavanger location closes its doors to the public on Wednesday, June 26 at 5 p.m. More details will become available in the weeks leading up to the grand opening.
samuel.mcneish@thetelegram.com
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