Costco Is Opening 30 New Clubs in 2024 -- But None As Small As Its Club in Juneau

At roughly half the size of its average warehouse club, the Costco in Alaska's capital city is the chain's smallest - and most geographically isolated - club

On its quarterly earnings call yesterday, Costco affirmed plans to open 30 new warehouse clubs during 2024.

The average Costco warehouse club is approximately 160,000 square feet.

Some new Costco clubs will be larger — like the 240,000 square foot club under construction in Fresno, California that is expected to open next year.

But other clubs are much smaller.

Like the Costco in Juneau, Alaska.

At just 78,000 square feet it is the smallest Costco Warehouse Club in the U.S.

Despite its small relative size, the Juneau club still stocks ~80% of the ~3,800 product varieties found at a typical Costco.

But it does not sell some of Costco’s most popular items — like rotisserie chicken — and the Juneau club does not have a bakery, a food court or an on-site gas station.

When the Juneau club was built in 1993, it was part of a test by Costco of smaller club sizes.

In fact similarly sized “small” clubs were also built in Sequim, Washington and Warrenton, Oregon.

But Costco later relocated its other small clubs into larger sites and sold the buildings which have since been repurposed into other uses.

For instance, the 78,000 square foot former Sequim, Washington club is now a warehouse for the Public Utility District of Clallam, County, Washington.

And the former Costco in Warrenton, Oregon was demised into a multi-tenant shopping center that is now home to Joann Fabrics and Big 5 Sporting Goods.

But the Juneau location remains as Costco’s smallest club.

Costco has considered plans to expand the Juneau club.

But it may choose to keep it intentionally small due to Juneau’s small local population and the logistical challenges to reach the Alaskan state capital since there are no "roads" into or out of town to send products via truck.

In fact Juneau — which has ~30,000 residents — is the largest community in North America that is not connected to a highway system.

So any all products shipped to Juneau must arrive by plane or via the Alaska Marine Highway ferry system.