US shop giant Costco to land at Perth Airport

FIRST it was the Aldi juggernaut, now get set for the Costco revolution.

The American retail giant and Perth Airport have joined forces to build Perth’s first Costco warehouse in the airport precinct — a $55 million project that will generate up to 475 construction and retail jobs.

The Sunday Times can reveal that pending planning approvals, construction of the sprawling 14,000sq m building — more than triple the size of a normal supermarket — will start next year and be open to members in 2020.

The Perth Costco will also have a petrol station, optical centre, hearing aid centre and tyre centre.

Costco members pay up to $60 a year to be able to shop at the company’s warehouses, paying what it says are heavily discounted prices.

Customers can purchase anything from fresh food and day-to-day groceries, to clothing, electronics, white goods, furniture, fuel and jewellery.

Perth Airport chief corporate services officer Debra Blaskett said Costco, which would be next to the new Direct Factory Outlet development, would revolutionise shopping in Perth and that Perth Airport “ticked all the boxes” as the right location.

“Costco needed somewhere that could provide space for their warehouse with connectivity to freight routes and still be close and accessible to the shopping public from across Perth,” she said.

“Costco’s decision to invest at the Airport West Retail Park is a huge vote of confidence in Perth Airport and the WA economy.”

Patrick Noone, Costco Australia managing director, said the mega-chain had been itching to enter the WA market for some time but needed to find the right home.

“We believe West Australians are going to embrace this new way of shopping,” he said.

“We are going to change Perth’s retail habits.

“It’s not a shopping trip to Costco, it’s a shopping experience.

“Perth Airport is the obvious place for us to invest given its proximity to the CBD, the great transport links and the way it is growing into a consumer-focused retail hub.”

Perth Airport’s chief commercial officer Steven Holden was confident other major companies would soon follow Costco’s lead.

“Despite the slowdown of the WA economy, Perth

Airport has been able to attract new projects by focusing on the needs of commercial organisations and building on the obvious advantages of our location,” he said.

Last year, an analyst with Wall Street bank Morgan Stanley compared the average supermarket basket of goods at Costco with Coles and Woolworths and found Costco was 20 per cent cheaper.