Costco announced yesterday their co-founder and chairman Jeff Brotman has passed away at 74 years old.
“Costco Wholesale Corporation today announced with great sadness that Jeff Brotman, co-founder and chairman of the board, died early this morning. The thoughts of Costco’s board, management and employees are with [his] wife and family,” the warehouse club said in the company statement.
According to Fortune, Brotman and business partner James Sinegal opened the well-known warehouse club retailer in 1983, carrying “Do the right thing” as its initial motto.
Upon opening, the co-founders decided that Costco won’t mark up any item more than 14 per cent, which has enticed its loyal customers until today. This important decision has propelled the business to having 736 locations worldwide.
Following the announcement of Amazon acquiring Whole Foods, Costco’s stock recently took a dive. But some analysts shrugged off the competition which gave Costco a positive outlook in the next few years, according to Fortune.
There are 511 stores in the US and it has grown to establishing more than 200 warehouses around the globe. In Australia, there are currently 8 stores where Costco members can shop for consumer goods. The business also operates e-commerce websites in the US, Canada, UK, Mexico, Korea and Taiwan.
