The Zhuhai government is in talks with Costco Wholesale to set up a store in Zhuhai, Guangdong local media southcn.com reported on Thursday.
According to the report, the city’s central business zone, Xiangzhou District, has been negotiating with Costco on the construction of the Zhuhai store, while representatives from the brand have visited Zhuhai to conduct on-site research and evaluate potential locations.
The anonymous government source revealed that the project is still at an early stage and a final decision on the location has yet to be made.
In the recently released 2024 Economic Development Plan for Xiangzhou District, the Zhuhai authorities emphasised the importance of capitalising on the opportunities presented by the Macau-Hong Kong northbound traffic scheme.
They also highlighted the introduction of wholesale membership stores in Zhuhai to attract travellers from the two SARs for cross-border shopping.
Once the new Costco store opens in Zhuhai, it will be the seventh Costco store in China, following the opening of other stores in Shanghai, Suzhou, Ningbo, Hangzhou and Shenzhen.
Earlier in March, Zhuhai authorities announced their intention to bring a Costco wholesale store to the city by “taking advantage of the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge policy”.
Since the northbound travel scheme came into effect in 2023, hundreds of thousands of Macau and Hong Kong residents have flocked to Zhuhai and Shenzhen for shopping and entertainment.
Under the scheme, registered residents of Macau and Hong Kong are allowed to travel to Guangdong province via the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge.
Attracted by more affordable groceries and wholesale warehouses, Sam’s Club Zhuhai, the only American wholesale membership store currently operating in the city, has become one of the city’s major attractions for Macau and Hong Kong tourists.
Data shows that Sam’s Club Zhuhai’s sales grew significantly in 2023, reaching RMB2.5 billion (MOP2.8 billion/US$347 million), making it the seventh highest-grossing Sam’s Club store out of the 800 stores worldwide.
