Are Costco and Cosco the same company?

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TL;DR

• Costco and Cosco are two completely separate and unrelated companies
• Costco is a publicly owned warehouse retailer offering discounted prices on brand-name merchandise and is committed to low warehouse prices
• Cosco is a manufacturer of juvenile and home furnishing products which includes brands like Safety 1st and Bébé Confort

Costco and Cosco verbally sound almost identical. Just try using both names in a sentence to see what I mean. But is Costco the same as Cosco? No. Despite their similar spellings, Costco and Cosco are two completely different companies.

Costco Cosco, what exactly is the difference? Let’s break it down:

Costco:

The global warehouse retailer, Costco, was founded in 1983 and is a publicly traded American company. Costco pioneered the membership warehouse club model, using its bulk purchasing power to negotiate steep discounts from manufacturers and suppliers. Costco operates hundreds of membership warehouse clubs worldwide, offering members deep discounts on everything from groceries to appliances.

• Who is the typical Costco customer? Although Costco was initially positioned as a warehouse store for businesses and government groups, suburban homeowners eventually became its primary demographic. Storage space is required to store bulk Costco purchases. But suburbanites with large families were more than willing to fill of their basements and garages with their Costco purchases. Costco buyers focus on name brand merchandise across categories as diverse as food, clothing, tires, computers, and home goods.
• What is the Costco store experience? Costco doesn’t need separate stores and warehouses because their warehouses are their stores. The Costco shopping experience is no frills, with goods displayed warehouse style on pallets. Costco prides itself on this approach feeling that any expense that it puts into decorating its stores would just increase the cost of its goods. There’s also a food court in each store famous for their cheap Costco hotdogs.
• How much does Costco make in profit a year? Costco annual revenue for 2023 was $242.29 billion, making them one of the largest retailers in the world behind Walmart and Amazon.
• Who owns Costco? Costco is a publicly traded company and controlled by its largest shareholders. Craig Jelinek is the President and CEO of Costco and also its largest shareholder with over 333,000 shares of the company.
• Where is Costco’s headquarters? Costco is currently headquartered in Issaquah, Washington. But the company’s house brand, Kirkland Signature, is named after its former location in Kirkland, WA. 

Cosco:

Cosco manufactures and sells juvenile and home furnishing products under brands like Safety 1st and Bébé Confort. Cosco has been around far longer than Costco. It was founded during the Great Depression in 1935 as the Columbus Specialty Company. Cosco is just a shortened version of the name Columbus Specialty Company.

• What products does Cosco make? Originally, Cosco manufactured specialty metal products, like a reusable matchbox holder. After WW2 the company began shifting its focus into juvenile items like car seats, high chairs and play yards as well as budget-friendly home indoor and outdoor furnishings under brands including Cosco, Safety 1st, and Bébé Confort.
• Who owns Cosco? Cosco is owned by the Canadian company Dorel Industries, headquartered in Montreal, Canada.
• Are Cosco and ‘COSCO Shipping’ the same company? No. Cosco makes home and juvenile products. COSCO Shipping is a Chinese owned international shipping company. So, besides being confused with Costco, Cosco also has to deal with being confused with a Chinese shipping company called COSCO.

Costco and Cosco Are Not the Same Company

Is Costco the same as Cosco? No, and now you know the key differences between Costco and Cosco. Even though they sound exactly the same when you pronounce their names, they are completely separate companies. But just to make things extra confusing, Costco also sells Cosco products in their stores.

Are you a Costco member? Have you ever bought a Cosco product before? Did you know that Cosco and Costco were separate companies? Let us know in the comments.

Did you know that Costco and Cosco are two completely separate and unrelated companies? #Costco #Cosco Share on X