Costco Opens First Standalone Gas Station With 40 Fueling Positions as Fuel Sells 71 Cents Below Average
Updated
Updated · C-Store Dive · Jul 14
Costco Opens First Standalone Gas Station With 40 Fueling Positions as Fuel Sells 71 Cents Below Average
3 articles · Updated · C-Store Dive · Jul 14
Summary
Mission Viejo, California, became home to Costco’s first standalone gas station after a June 24 ribbon-cutting, with the members-only site offering 40 fueling positions under a 17,185-square-foot canopy.
Regular gasoline was priced at $4.59 a gallon, about 71 cents below the Orange County average, a gap likely to pressure nearby convenience retailers that cannot match Costco’s fuel pricing.
Circle K, ExtraMile, United Pacific, BP and Shell sites in the area could lose traffic and merchandise sales because the location operates without an attached Costco warehouse or convenience store.
Costco is leaning further into fuel as a loyalty driver: executives said in May that all three four-week fiscal periods set company volume records and the final five weeks were its five highest-volume fuel weeks ever.
A second standalone gas station is already in development, though Costco has not said how widely it plans to expand the format.