US-based discount retailer Costco has secured a site in Australia for the launch of a large-format store as it looks to gain a foothold in the country's retail market.
The location of the store, which is expected to launch in 2009, is in the Docklands area of inner city Melbourne, according to Reuters.
'We just got the planning approval, it will be a 13,800 square metre store, similar in size to a North American-style Costco store,' Patrick Noone, manager of the retailer's Australian operations, told Reuters. 'We'll be stocking everything from fresh food, groceries, cut meat, electronics, hardware, clothing and jewellery.'
The group is aiming to break the dominance of Woolworths and Wesfarmer-owned Coles, who currently hold an 80 per cent share of the Australian retail market. Analysts in the country have indicated that Costco's low costs and slim margins could lend them an advantage on price.
