Costco has an extremely ambitious expansion goal: open more than two dozen new warehouses annually over the next decade. Unfortunately, Northwest Arkansas is no longer included in those expansion plans–at least for now.
Costco has canceled a contract for a new warehouse opening in the city of Lowell, Ark., local news outlets have reported. But the exact reasons behind Costco’s decision to pull the plug on the new warehouse are still unclear to the public. The chief executive of the developer representing Costco confirmed to the Northwest Arkansas Business Journal late last week that Costco terminated the contract, but didn’t say why.
The news that the Lowell location is no longer in the works came only two months after it was initially announced. Lowell Mayor Chris Moore confirmed in mid-May that the retailer planned to open a warehouse at the southwest corner of Concord Street and Pleasant Grove Road, Axios reported.
That Lowell location would have been the very first Costco in Northwest Arkansas and its second location in the state. The state’s one and only Costco is located in Little Rock, more than 200 miles away from Lowell. The Lowell Costco also would have been located less than 12 miles from the corporate headquarters of major competitor Sam’s Club, which is based in Bentonville.
Not all hope is lost for a potential Northwest Arkansas Costco. The owner of Lindsey Management, the company that owns the land where Costco was planning to build the new warehouse, told 5NEWS that Costco might revisit a Northwest Arkansas location “in a year or so.”
Costco did not immediately respond to our queries for comment on why it canceled the contract and whether it might reconsider a Northwest Arkansas warehouse in the future.
While Northwest Arkansas residents will have to make do without Costco’s bulk goods, $1.50 hotdog combos, and famous rotisserie chickens for now, Costco lovers in other parts of the country are having much better luck.
The retailer is opening five new warehouses across five states this summer alone. Two of those locations–in Buckeye, Ariz., and Georgetown, Tex.–both welcomed guests for the first time last week.
A warehouse in northeast Denver, Colo., will open on July 19 and a North Canton, Ohio, location will open on Aug. 17. A final location in Marysville, Calif., will open in September, but Costco hasn’t announced an exact opening date yet.
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Zoe Strozewski
