Retail Watchers

This will sell furniture and appliances in a former Toys R Us.

https://www.adn.com/business-economy/20 ... anchorage/

Alpha8472 wrote: ↑March 24th, 2024, 12:14 pm This will sell furniture and appliances in a former Toys R Us.

https://www.adn.com/business-economy/20 ... anchorage/

This seems like a natural extension of the brand, and makes sense in places like Puerto Rico and Anchorage, where they have the logistics to get products in that other retailers may not carry.

bryceleinan wrote: ↑March 24th, 2024, 1:47 pm

Alpha8472 wrote: ↑March 24th, 2024, 12:14 pm This will sell furniture and appliances in a former Toys R Us.

https://www.adn.com/business-economy/20 ... anchorage/

This seems like a natural extension of the brand, and makes sense in places like Puerto Rico and Anchorage, where they have the logistics to get products in that other retailers may not carry.

I recall reading these Alaska stores are very small formats as well, including the smallest store in the chain that still flies the Costco Wholesale banner. So it makes sense to supplement them with an appliance building. My guess is that this will be both showroom and warehouse, as many of the items currently on the Costco website are not available for delivery to Alaska or have a exceptionally long lead time. They could probably display the top hundred or so items in a small space maybe similar to the size of a Home Depot appliance department, and then the rest is the delivery facility.

Unfortunately every time Costco does so much as change the label on their potato chips, clickbait articles get posted everywhere.

This has zero indication of being a new concept that would happen anywhere else except maybe Puerto Rico or Hawaii, as it is a primarily logistics driven facility that is unnecessary elsewhere with their network of Innovel delivery hubs they own (acquired from Sears). They have stacked those facilities high with many items including patio furniture, TVs, appliances and other products which are available for delivery on the Costco website with a "bulk discount" available most days to maximize their efficiency. Many of these items like barbecues, couches etc. all have "buy 2 items save $50, 3 save $100, etc. to encourage the customer to purchase multiple items from different merchandise families so the delivery trucks are fuller and/or make less stops to save money.

I do not expect to see any more of these, just like the clickbait last year about the "largest ever" in Fresno which really will be smaller than most Costco sales floors as their newest prototype is almost uncomfortably crowded and reduced in size to cut costs.