Price Club

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Price Club

Company type	Private
Industry	Warehouse club Cash and carry
Founded	July 12, 1976 (1976-07-12)
Founder	Sol Price
Defunct	Template:End date and age
Fate	Merged with Costco
Successors	Template:Ublist
Headquarters	San Diego, California , United States
Number of locations	94 warehouses (1993)
Area served	United States, Canada, Mexico

Price Club was a prominent American warehouse membership retailer. Established in 1976, it eventually merged with its competitor, Costco Wholesale, in 1993. The initial Price Club store in San Diego, California, currently operates as Costco store number 401.

History

After departing from FedMart, a retail chain he had originally founded, Sol Price launched Price Club in 1975. Together with several associates, he invested $2.5 million to create the company. The inaugural Price Club facility opened on July 12, 1976, located in San Diego on a site formerly occupied by a manufacturing plant once owned by Howard Hughes.

File:First PriceClub.jpg

The original Price Club location is now a Costco

Following his exit from FedMart, Price observed that small businesses in San Diego typically sourced goods either directly from a handful of large wholesalers or purchased from smaller local cash-and-carry distributors.</ref> Consequently, Price Club was designed as an expanded, volume-driven iteration of the cash-and-carry wholesale model. Initially, membership required presenting resale certificates or professional licenses. Membership was first limited to business clients but later broadened to include employees of local companies, nonprofits, and government entities. Shoppers paid an annual fee of $25 to access discounted bulk merchandise within a straightforward warehouse environment. Thanks to its substantial sales volume, Price Club was able to offer its workforce higher wages and superior benefits compared to standard retailers. The company expanded to encompass 94 warehouses across the United States, Canada, and Mexico (the latter through a partnership with Controladora Comercial Mexicana). In 1992, Price Club reported revenues of $6.6 billion and net profits of $134.1 million.

File:Price Club shopping cart.jpg

A former Price Club shopping cart

In June 1993, Price Club merged with its competitor Costco; the unified enterprise was initially named PriceCostco. Both chains continued operating separately at first, allowing members from either to shop at both locations. By the following year, Price Enterprises separated from the merged company and went on to found PriceSmart, focusing on markets in Central America, South America, and the Caribbean. In 1997, the merged entity adopted the name Costco Wholesale Corporation and all remaining stores under the Price Club brand were converted to Costco locations.