MoCo Costco Members Should Prepare To Pay More: ‘Question Of When'

WHEATON, MD — Costco members in Maryland's 12 warehouse stores, including one in Wheaton and another in Gaithersburg, will almost certainly pay more for memberships at some point, the retailer’s chief financial officer said in a quarterly earnings call this week, but declined to speculate on when that might happen.

“My pat answer, of course, is it’s a question of when, not if,” CFO Richard Galanti told analysts when asked if Costco was contemplating a fee hike. “But, you’ll see it happen at some point. We can’t really tell you if it’s in our plans or not. We’ll let you know when we know.”

Costco said in an SEC filing this week it operates 861 warehouses, including 591 in the United States. Maryland's six stores are:

• Wheaton: 11160 Veirs Mill Road, Wheaton, MD 20902
• Gaithersburg: 880 Russell Ave., Gaithersburg, MD 20879
• Brandywine: 16006 Crain Highway, Brandywine, MD 20603
• Glen Burnie, 575 East Ordnance Road, Glen Burnie, MD 21060
• Frederick: 10 Monocacy Blvd., Frederick, MD 21704
• Glenarden: 2400 Five Lees Lane, Glenarden, MD 20706
• Columbia, 6675 Marie Curie Drive, Elkridge, MD 21075
• Arundel Mills, 7077 Arundel Mills Circle, Hanover, MD 21076
• Beltsville, 10925 Baltimore Ave., Beltsville, MD 20705
• Woodmore Towne Centre, 2400 Five Lees Lane, Glenarden, MD 20706
• White Marsh: 9919 Pulaski Highway, Baltimore, MD 21220
• Owings Mill: 10270 Mill Run Circle, Ownings Mills, MD 21117

Store memberships start at $60 and include a $120 executive level membership. The last time Costco raised its membership was in June 2017. The retailer typically raises membership fees every five years or so, “so we’re six months into that,” Galanti said.

Galanti didn’t speculate on how much member fees could increase. At the end of its fourth quarter, Costco had 127.9 million members.

“We feel good,” he told analysts. “And frankly, in terms of looking at the values that we provide our members, we continue to increase those. It’s certainly a greater amount than even more than if and when an increase occurs. So stay tuned. We'll keep you posted, but there’s not a whole lot I can tell you about that.”