Gerald Lynch
Costco has officially turned the sod on its new Ardeer warehouse, with an opening date scheduled for late 2024.
On Thursday, February 15, the Ballarat Road site saw construction begin, and Brimbank mayor Ranka Rasic was there to mark the occasion.
“Brimbank council is delighted to see Costco come to Ardeer. They sell a huge variety of items, and it will be a welcome injection to our economy,” she said.
The construction process is set to create 120 jobs for local workers, and while Costco will relocate its 270 Docklands warehouse employees to the new location, a further 60 jobs will be available for Brimbank residents.
The warehouse will cover a larger area than the current Docklands site, with 15,000 sqm of floor space, as well as 760 car parks, an upgrade on Docklands’ 500 parking spaces.
Further, the Ardeer location will be home to the largest Costco fuel station in Australia, with 32 bowsers with two high flow diesel pumps.
Costco managing director Chris Tingman said Costco sees the Brimbank region as “rapid-growing” and found it to be the perfect location for the warehouse, after outgrowing the Docklands store.
In the middle of a cost-of-living crisis, Mr Tingman feels that the bulk-buying lower cost shopping of Costco will be perfect for locals in Melbourne’s west.
“Costco provides its members with exclusive access to quality brand-name merchandise at substantially lower prices than typically found at conventional wholesale or retail stores,” he said.
The Ardeer location will feature a variety of specialty departments including a fresh bakery, fresh meat, fresh produce, deli, an optical department, hearing aid centre, fuel station, tyre centre and food court.
Costco hopes the new store will be open for business in time for Christmas shopping.
