Costco’s Australian expansion has taken its next step with confirmation the US retailer will open its next site at Brisbane Airport.

Slated for a 2029 open date, the airport site will cover a 6.7ha parcel of land incorporating 15,600 sqm of warehouse space as well as a petrol station.

It will be Costco’s first location in Brisbane and the fourth store in Queensland, with the new site to include 870 parking spaces and 250 full-time staff when complete.

The latest Costco project is part of a larger development taking place at Brisbane Airport on a 51ha space opposite the international terminal.

Costco country manager for Australia and New Zealand Chris Tingman said the new Brisbane Airport warehouse represented a $145 million investment in the area.

“It is great news for our members across Brisbane. This is a dynamic and fast-growing region, and we look forward to bringing even greater value to members through our wide range of products and services,” Mr Tingman said.

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It isn’t much to look at yet but the new Brisbane Airport Costco will be huge. Picture: Brisbane Airport

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“Costco provides its members with exclusive access to quality brand-name merchandise at lower prices than typically found at conventional wholesale or retail stores.”

Brisbane Airport boss Gert-Jan de Graaff said Costco would be a popular drawcard for the new precinct.

“Costco’s commitment marks the beginning of a new chapter for Brisbane Airport and is the first of many announcements to come as we bring to life a new mixed-use precinct for the city,” he said.

“Costco is just the beginning. Even a retailer of this scale will occupy only 12 per cent of this huge development site, leaving significant opportunities for other businesses to establish themselves alongside one of the world’s most recognised retail brands.”

The Brisbane project continues the US chain’s aggressive push into Australia which will see it expanding its wholesale supermarket footprint rapidly in coming years.

Costco currently has 15 stores operating across Australia but recently revealed its plans to open an additional 20 in the next five years.

Two new warehouses will open next year in Victoria and Western Australia, with a focused search underway for additional sites in North and South Sydney, Perth, and Adelaide.

Significantly, Costco is also planning its inaugural stores in Tasmania and Geelong, marking a strategic push into new markets.

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Brisbane Airport is getting its Costco by 2029. Picture: Annette Dew

This accelerated expansion is driven by strong financial performance, with Costco’s $0.5 billion profit last financial year surpassing Aldi’s $499.2 million.

The recently opened Ardeer store in Melbourne, which replaced the Docklands location, features Australia’s largest Costco fuel station with 38 pumps, further cementing the retailer’s focus on providing value to its members.

The new Brisbane site will go one better with a 39-pump petrol station.

Patrick Noone, Costco Warehouse Australia managing director, confirmed the retailer’s goal to expand business across multiple locations.

He identified several “hotspot” locations where the company is actively seeking suitable sites, including Hobart, North and South Sydney, North Perth, South Adelaide, and Geelong.

“Those are kind of the hotspots that we’re trawling through all the time looking for good sites,” Mr Noone told realcommercial.com.au.

Mr Noone emphasised the significant opportunity in Sydney, where only three Costcos currently serve a population of approximately six million.

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Popular giant Bunnings has swallowed two large firms whole in a mega merger – including the owner of Hard Yakka and Australia’s biggest industrial and safety supplies firm.

This after parent company Wesfarmers handed Bunnings Group control of Australia’s largest industrial and safety distributor Blackwoods as well as a national workwear empire Workwear Group which owns brands like Hard Yakka and King Gee – as well as a network of distribution centres stretching from Canningvale to Carole Park.

Bunnings will absorb WorkWear under its banner, which includes popular tradie brands Hard Yakka and King Gee. Pictured tradies Liam Austin (chainsaw), Chris Stones (grinder) and Cameron Dymock (sledge hammer). Picture: David Caird

Both companies will transition under Bunnings Group in less than a month on July 1 when the new financial year kicks off – with all brands expected to continue operating under their own names for now.

Blackwoods is not a small bolt-on, operating six national distribution centres – in Canningvale, Regency Park, Scoresby, Greystanes, Carole Park, and Mackay – as well as more than 45 branches across metropolitan, regional and remote Australia.

Its Canningvale facility alone is serious industrial real estate, running to 13,500 square metres of purpose-built distribution space.

Workwear Group brings its own warehousing, design, and distribution infrastructure to the table, covering eight brands including NNT Uniforms, Hard Yakka and King Fee plus a customer base that spans every tradie, construction crew and government department that needs a uniform and a steel-capped boot.

Bunnings is already one of Australia’s largest single-tenant occupiers, with 312 stores nationwide, controlling tens of thousands of square metres of large-format retail space.

The additional distribution and supply chain resources are set to give it unprecedented leverage across retail, industrial, logistics and last-mile fulfilment real estate.

Bunnings has become a weekend institution for many Aussies including its famous sausage sizzle. Picture: NewsWire / Andrew Henshaw

Wesfarmers chief financial officer Anthony Gianotti said the decision was made to boost shareholder value.

“Blackwoods and Workwear Group hold market-leading positions and have continued to grow share following the successful implementation of Blackwoods enterprise resource planning (ERP) system and the simplification and reset of their operating models last financial year,” he said.

“With this transition, we see a significant opportunity to leverage greater scale and capabilities to further enhance the customer experience.”

He said working more closely with Bunnings would unlock growth in the small and medium sized customer segments.

Bunnings managing director Mike Schneider said the transition would give greater access to Blackwoods’ extensive product range and national fulfilment capabilities.

“Customers will have more choice, better product availability and an enhanced customer experience.”

A WorkWear composite celebrating 100 years of King Gee. Source: WorkWear.

The man who quietly built the machine that Bunnings just inherited is walking out the door when the transition goes through. Tim Bult joined Wesfarmers in 1999 – when most of today’s tradie customers were still in primary school – and spent 27 years shaping some of the biggest moments in Australian corporate history. He helped steer the demerger of Coles in 2018, oversaw the sale of Coregas, and then spent his final chapter doing something characteristically unglamorous: sitting in rooms with Bunnings figuring out exactly how to hand over everything he built. With that work done, he is retiring in July.

Mr Gianotti said Mr Bult was “instrumental in the growth and success of the group”.

“Tim has the gratitude and best wishes of the Wesfarmers board, leadership team and the broader group,” he said.

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