Costco Grand Opening Approaching

The club franchise Costco next week will open a new store at the Philadelphia Premium Outlets in Sanatoga.

The new store will include roughly 200 employees -- about half of them come from Costco's in areas such as Montgomeryville and King of Prussia. The other half are new hires, said general manager Scott Riekers, who has been with the company for 25 years.

Riekers began his job at Costco in Baltimore, later worked as general manager of stores in Lancaster and Gaithersburg, Md. and has held that title at the company's King Of Prussia store for the last eight years. 

The Sanatoga Costco will mark his first time to open a new store.

"I’m very excited," Riekers said. "I am thrilled to death with the way it looks. I think the location right off (U.S. Route 422) is fantastic."

The Sanatoga store will be the first Costco in the Philadelphia area to have a gas station.

The grand opening will incude limited edition items such as a $200,000 diamond ring.

Riekers is confident the new 148,000-square-foot store will be successful.

"I can’t remember the last time we closed a Costco," Riekers said. "We’ve opened several hundred buildings in the last 20 years."

Riekers said the store is ready to open pending completion of the local inspection and permit process.

Memberships may be obtained in the new store's parking lot or online.

"We’re looking forward to creating a family environment here for these employees and to hit the ground running as we open up next week," Riekers said.