Costco Wholesale Corporation trading as Costco, is the largest American membership-only warehouse club.[4] As of 2015, Costco was the second largest retailer in the world after Walmart,[5] and as of 2016, Costco was the worlds largest retailer of choice and prime beef, organic foods, rotisserie chicken, and wine.[6]Costcos worldwide headquarters are in Issaquah, Washington, but the company opened its first warehouse in nearby Seattle in 1983. Through mergers, Costcos corporate history dates back to 1976, when its former competitor Price Club was founded in San Diego, California.[7][8][9] As of 9 February 2017, Costco had a total of 729 warehouses in the United States (508), Canada (94), Mexico (37), United Kingdom (28), Japan (25), South Korea (13), Taiwan (13), Australia (8), Spain (2), Iceland (1) and one in France

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