Retail giant Costco reveals Geelong plans

A United States retail chain is on the hunt for a Geelong location as part of its ambitious growth plans.

Retail giant Costco is still searching for a Geelong location as part of an ambitious growth plan.

The warehouse-style US-based multinational operates 16 store in Australia and announced its intention to explore opportunitiesin Geelong last year.

Costco Australia boss Patrick Noone told News Corp our region was one of a plethora of locations the chain was consideringacross the nation.

“We are working on other locations around the country, and we will definitely get more in the Sydney market,” he said.

“We are still looking for one in the Geelong (regional Victoria) area as well as southeast of Melbourne in suburbs such asPakenham, Officer, which are very attractive areas for us.

“We are looking perhaps for another one in the Perth market, and in New Zealand we can see opportunity for a couple more thereas well.”

Deakin University’s Dr Michael Callaghan said with business hit particularly hard during the pandemic, a gap in the markethad been created.

“Whether it’s a positive or negative is going to depend on personal preference,” he said.”

“I would argue that for customers, it is not a bad thing at all, as the closest Costco we have to the southwest is in Docklands.”

Costco;s Patrick Noone says Geelong is still on the retail giant’s radar.

The Docklands location – Costco’s first Australian venture – opened in 2009.

Any potential Geelong expansion would be the first of its kind in regional Victoria.

Dr Callaghan pointed to other large retailers and businesses like Avalon Airport and JB Hi-Fi who had capitalised on growthand accessibility in Geelong and the greater southwest region.

“It also provides an opportunity to maximise profit for these organisations,” he said.

While Dr Callaghan acknowledged the presence of larger chains like Costco would place pressure on small-to-medium size retailers,he said smaller companies often worked hard to carve out their own niche and style of service.

“Looking at smaller and medium-sized retailers in Geelong and into the southwest, they’re the ones that develop strong relationshipswith their customers,” he said.

“And because of those relationships, they’re able to customise offerings and better fulfil the needs of those customers.”

Increased in store spending at the end of lockdowns pushed annual Costco sales to more than $3.67bn.

The retail chain last year took out a $150m loan to fund its ambitious expansion plans.

Costco is not the first international megastore to attempt to break into the Geelong market.

German supermarket chain Kaufland hoped to build in Highton before withdrawing from the Australian market two years ago.

At the time it faced opposition from Geelong’s council, which held concerns about the location and community consultation.

Originally published as Retail giant Costco reveals Geelong plans