Costco Is Opening 20+ New Stores in 2022, CFO Says

Not all news was merry for Costco fans over the past 365 days, with the retailer battling ongoing shortages and discontinuing beloved products. But as 2021 comes to a close, we have something bright to share: The popular chain is growing, and a new warehouse may pop up in your neighborhood next year.

While discussing Costco's finances in a Q1 earnings call with investors on Dec. 9, Chief Financial Officer Richard Galanti revealed that more Costco warehouses were slated to open their garage-sized doors in 2022.

If you recall, Galanti said back in September that the plan was to open at least 25 new locations in 2022—including stores in China, France, and New Zealand. Fast forward nearly three months, and two new international units have opened, as well as a handful of stateside ones. Currently, there are plans for 23 new warehouses, plus four relocations of existing stores.

"It's been a busy past seven days," Galanti said on the December call, noting that the company had "opened our second Costco in France last Saturday on Dec. 4, followed by our second building in China, which opened yesterday, as well as two buildings opening this morning—opening today, one in the U.S. in Florida and our fourth unit in Spain."

Costco saw a net sales increase of more than 16% from Q4 (which ended on Aug. 29) to Q1 (which ended on Nov. 21), and it has weathered supply chain issues well in comparison to other retailers. While almost 80% of Costco's containers on the Pacific Coast are delayed by an average of 51 days, Galanti said the warehouse chain was dealing with the issue "pretty well".

The company previously charted three ocean vessels for the next year to transport thousands of additional containers to the U.S. Buyers for Costco are also ordering earlier "given the longer lead times," according to Galanti.

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