Posted on: Saturday, June 30, 2001

Costco to close Salt Lake store when Iwilei location opens

Advertiser Staff

Costco Wholesale yesterday said it will close its Salt Lake store when a planned new store at Dole Cannery in Iwilei opens early next year.

The company bought a 12-acre site from cannery owner Castle & Cooke Properties Inc. to build a 150,000-square-foot store.

All 300 employees at the Salt Lake store will be transferred to the new store. Roughly 100 additional workers will likely be hired for the bigger operation.

Also, Costco still would like to have a gas station at the new property, but that will depend on whether city permits can be obtained.

Costco will maintain five stores in the state, including three on O'ahu. The 120,000-square-foot Salt Lake Costco in the Bougainville Industrial Park was the members-only retailer's first store in Hawai'i. It opened in 1988.