A Costco US executive is set to take the reins of their Australian operation after current boss Patrick Noone who pioneered the setting up in Australia of the giant US business that is now generating A$4 billion dollars in revenues, deciding it’s time to retire.
Noone an Australian, opened the first warehouse store in Australia in 2009 after arriving from working in the US store operation.
Globally Costco revenues are massive, for the twelve months ending May 31, 2023, revenues were US$235.442B, an 8.23% increase year-over-year.
Costco annual revenue for 2022 was US$226.954B, a 15.83% increase from 2021.
Costco annual revenue for 2021 was US$195.929B, a 17.49% increase from 2020.
Costco that operates a membership buying program has 100,000 paid-up members, to give it more than 1.5 million members in Australia who pay $65 for a membership,
The retailer sells gold and diamonds as well as food and groceries along with coffins to fit any size.
You can also buy Penfolds Grange wine, as well as TV’s appliances and CE products.
Speaking to The Australian on his decision to retire, Noone said “Because I was Australian, I never had any doubt that we would be able to offer the value and the imported goods and the different merchandise that we have at Costco,” he says.
“The year before we opened the first store in 2009, I got the project signed off by Costco founder Jim Sinegal, and I came back to announce we were opening, and we had every sales rep from the big companies say it wouldn’t work here.
“All the retail experts said no, no, it wouldn’t work here, Australians wouldn’t pay for memberships, they like to shop more often and wouldn’t go to a Costco.
“I did have some thoughts at the back of my mind, maybe they are all right. In the end, opening day at Docklands we had a massive event, it dispelled all doubts straight away and I thought how many more Costco stores we can build in Australia and how quickly can we build them.”
“Diamond rings remain popular. Last week we sold five diamond rings between $7000 and $12,000. There is so much value in that business. We sell a lot of diamonds, and we also sell a lot of gold bars now, from $3000 to $20,000.
“We sell a couple of coffins a month, and there is huge value there.”
Noone got his start in retail as a clerk at Woolworths and remembers becoming a trainee manager at the supermarket, earning an extra $5 a week.
He later ran a Woolworths in the Victorian regional town of Shepparton.
“What we have found at Costco is that we have established this technique of selling branded goods, great quality at great prices, and it translates right around the world.”
