The U.S. State Home To The World's Smallest Costco
There's no such thing as loading up the car with a stockpile of goods from the U.S.'s smallest Costco. Not because it doesn't have the stock — if you don't live in town, the only way to access this Costco is by boat or plane. That's because there are no main roads into Juneau, Alaska.
The typical Costco is about 160,000 square feet, the size of 63 average single-family homes, more than two football fields, and almost three White Houses. The Juneau store is half that size: a mere 76,696 square feet. That's still quite big, more than double Shaq's Orlando mansion. According to Assistant Vice President Kevin Green, it's likely the smallest Costco, not just in the U.S. but in the world. He told KTOO it was built in 1993 as a prototype of a smaller-market format. Costco decided that, for the most part, it wouldn't work out, but it does in Juneau. Because of the geography, the difficulty in getting goods into the city regularly, and the size of the metropolis, this friendly neighborhood store does just fine. Green says it's profitable and employs about 100 people.
What you can, can't, and shouldn't get at Juneau's Costco
As one Juneau resident discusses on Reddit, the logistics of getting products into the city causes prices to rise above many other Costco locations, but they're still fair compared to other options in town. The bear spray is $50 for a two-pack, compared to more than $96 at REI. You can get almost a gallon of Heinz ketchup for around $11, compared to three 44-ounce bottles for $12 from the Salt Lake City mega-Costco.
There's a benefit to being such a huge company, and Costco is known for its excellent membership prices no matter where you are. Except for seafood, that is. There was outrage and disbelief online over paying a steep $38.99 per pound for king crab on the Alaskan coast, but as someone pointed out in the thread, seafood is actually Alaska's main export. If you're making crab, you either "get it yourself or buy it directly from the boats when they pull in," according to one local.
The small Costco also doesn't have a gas station or bakery, but it does have booze, tires, a pharmacy, and, technically, a small food court. There's no pizza or rotisserie chicken, but it does sell churros, chicken bakes, sundaes, triple berry smoothies, and hot dogs. And the hot dogs, of course, are still $1.50. As another resident commented, it's the best deal on a meal in Juneau.
Small but effective
The population of Juneau, Alaska, is only 31,685 as of 2022 estimates. Between late April and mid-October, though, the little city sees about a million tourists. It's a big cruise port. There's supposedly a $10 shuttle from the docks to Costco, which can come in handy if you need an extra rain layer or SD card for your camera. Although folks probably aren't stocking up at the Juneau Costco and floating out their goods on their cruises, neighboring towns certainly are. About 70 miles by boat is the 450-person city of Gustavus, where the local store — which residents have affectionately renamed ToshCo as a portmanteau of the owner's name, Toshua, and Costco — stocks quite a lot of its wares from the Juneau Costco.
Although it has a more diminutive size, Kevin Green says it's not actually missing all that much inventory, with 3,200 items compared to Costco's usual 3,800. It's a pretty standard Costco, to the disappointment of one Yelp reviewer from California who bemoans that it has "no special or unique Juneau, Alaska items." This isn't totally true; the Alaskan Costcos have reindeer sausage.