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From Small Business To Big Business: Costco Wholesale
Entrepreneurs need inspiration. Because building a business is about having a vision and the will to succeed. The businesses in this series of articles have all started small and have since become icons of the business world. In this article we feature Costco Wholesale.
If you own a small business there’s a good chance you are already shopping at a Costco store near you. Based on sales volume Costco has become the largest wholesale membership chain in the world. So you might just have a store around the corner from you. Of course this wasn’t always so. Now to say that Costco was ever really a small business wouldn’t exactly be true. But how did the Costco we know today come about?
Well the history of Costco can actually be traced back to one man. He’s known as the pioneer of the “warehouse store” retail concept. His name is Sol Price and he started the original warehouse store known as FedMart back in 1954. Eventually he would wind up selling this chain which is how we come to PriceClub. Sol’s next effort came in 1976. That is the year he started PriceClub along with his son Robert Price. Together they would build PriceClub into the largest warehouse store operation in the country.
They started the business on the outskirts of San Diego, California. Initially they had just one store that was 100,000 square feet. Sol had managed to raise a little over 2 million dollars to start the business. During that very first year they managed about 16 million dollars in sales but they lost $750,000. It almost ruined them. Then one day Sol asked a customer what they were doing wrong? That’s when he found out that they needed to open membership up to government employees. From there the business took off.
They catered primarily to small businesses and government employees. Knowing that they were less likely to bounce a check. They refused for many years to accept credit cards so that they could keep costs down. Credit card fees for retailers can really add up. They also kept their selection to a minimum but made it cheap to buy in bulk.
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Entrepreneurs need inspiration. Because building a business is about having a vision and the will to succeed. The businesses in this series of articles have all started small and have since become icons of the business world. In this article we feature Costco Wholesale.
If you own a small business there’s a good chance you are already shopping at a Costco store near you. Based on sales volume Costco has become the largest wholesale membership chain in the world. So you might just have a store around the corner from you. Of course this wasn’t always so. Now to say that Costco was ever really a small business wouldn’t exactly be true. But how did the Costco we know today come about?
Well the history of Costco can actually be traced back to one man. He’s known as the pioneer of the “warehouse store” retail concept. His name is Sol Price and he started the original warehouse store known as FedMart back in 1954. Eventually he would wind up selling this chain which is how we come to PriceClub. Sol’s next effort came in 1976. That is the year he started PriceClub along with his son Robert Price. Together they would build PriceClub into the largest warehouse store operation in the country.
They started the business on the outskirts of San Diego, California. Initially they had just one store that was 100,000 square feet. Sol had managed to raise a little over 2 million dollars to start the business. During that very first year they managed about 16 million dollars in sales but they lost $750,000. It almost ruined them. Then one day Sol asked a customer what they were doing wrong? That’s when he found out that they needed to open membership up to government employees. From there the business took off.
They catered primarily to small businesses and government employees. Knowing that they were less likely to bounce a check. They refused for many years to accept credit cards so that they could keep costs down. Credit card fees for retailers can really add up. They also kept their selection to a minimum but made it cheap to buy in bulk.
Next>
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Below you'll find links to some other useful websites that you might want to check out.
U.S. Chamber of Commerce
SCORE
Small Business Administration
Internal Revenue Service
Prosper.com Person to Person Lending
Better Business Bureau Online
USA Today Franchise Solutions
USA BizMart Business Broker Directory
Dunn and Bradstreet
Federal Trade Commission
SCORE
Small Business Administration
Internal Revenue Service
Prosper.com Person to Person Lending
Better Business Bureau Online
USA Today Franchise Solutions
USA BizMart Business Broker Directory
Dunn and Bradstreet
Federal Trade Commission
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SmallBusinessDelivered.com Special Feature
From Small Business To Big Business:
Entrepreneurs need inspiration. Because building a business is about having a vision and the will to succeed. The businesses in this series of articles have all started small and have since become icons of the business world. Have you ever thought that your business could one day become an icon too? Pick one to find out more about them.
From Small Business To Big Business:
Entrepreneurs need inspiration. Because building a business is about having a vision and the will to succeed. The businesses in this series of articles have all started small and have since become icons of the business world. Have you ever thought that your business could one day become an icon too? Pick one to find out more about them.
SmallBusinessDelivered.com would like to introduce Cash Miller's Daily Business Blog. In it he discusses the many issues that small businesses everywhere face every day. If you'd like to follow along and maybe get in on the discussion all you have to do is Visit the Blog.