Costco employees prepare Columbia store for opening

With 10 tractor-trailers full of merchandise arriving daily for four consecutive days, Columbia’s new Costco Warehouse store is taking shape as its Aug. 10 opening draws closer.

From electronics to tires, food, clothing and pharmaceuticals, store employees are busy this week stocking shelves, setting up displays and positioning merchandise for the long-anticipated grand opening.

Many Columbia-area Costco devotees have had to drive nearly 70 miles to Augusta to use their $55 annual membership privileges. The Issaquah, Wash.-based retailer has other S.C. outlets in Greenville, Spartanburg, Charleston and Myrtle Beach.

“We are thrilled to be bringing Costco’s low warehouse prices to the residents of Columbia,” Nash Myers, Costco’s Columbia warehouse manager, said Wednesday. “They have been asking us to open here for a long time and, really, we’re just excited about being part of the community.”

The warehouse store, located at 507 Piney Grove Road, is a 148,500-square-foot facility at Interstate 26 and Piney Grove Road near Harbison. Myers, who started at Costco helping in a bakery when he was 17, said the company already has had a local impact on the job market.

The store, which sits on a 31-acre site and includes more than 1,000 parking spaces with a fuel center out front, will hire more than 100 employees for the Columbia operation, Myers said.

“We look forward to contributing to the community in many ways,” Myers said.

For weeks, the company has been conducting a membership drive in Columbia with the goal of signing on 10,000 new members by the grand opening. The store is closing in on that goal, Myers said.

Memberships cost $55 a year with available upgrades, and the company’s mission statement says its goal is to offer quality, brand-name and private-label merchandise at low prices. The company has also been recognized for high employee satisfaction and for ethical business practices.

The store will carry between 3,800 to 4,000 different products and will feature 14 checkout stations, a food court and numerous specialty departments. The store also will include an independently operated liquor store, though it will not feature Costco’s private label Kirkland Signature brands. The store also will have an optical department and hearing aid center.

The store’s hours will be from 10 a.m.-8:30 p.m., Monday through Friday; 9:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday; and 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday. The Aug. 10 grand opening activities will begin at 8 a.m.

This story was originally published July 27, 2016 at 7:57 PM with the headline "Costco employees prepare Columbia store for opening."