New Costco Facility May Be in the Works for Tempe

A former computer superstore in southern Tempe may be repurposed as a new Costco Wholesale Corporation retail site.

Located on a less than two-acre site at 2300 W. Baseline Road, the property was the home of the massive Fry’s Electronics, which ceased all its operations in the city last spring.

The San Jose, California-based Fry’s, with stores in nine states, rather abruptly announced it was closing the Tempe store as well as all its other locations due in part to the Covid 19 outbreak and subsequent national economic shutdown.

Costco has now submitted plans to the City of Tempe for the site, which include updating the 149,000 square foot structure, which was originally built in 1994.

Costco’s new Tempe presence will be added to a footprint in Arizona that already includes some two dozen retail outlets. Those Costco locations range in size from 80,000 square feet to 230,000 square feet, with the average site coming in at 146,000 square feet.

Launched in the fall of 1983, the company, specializing in everything from groceries to clothes to electronics, has more than 830 locations worldwide. Last year it saw revenues of nearly $226 billion.

An exact timetable for when the Baseline Road building will be repurposed has not been announced. But published reports have indicated that Costco would like to be operating at the new site by the end of 2023.

By Garry Boulard

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