How Costco Decides Where To Open A New Store

[Durian Fiend]

My 2 cents,
I had dinner with a friend from the mainland the other night. He has 5 Costcos within a 20 minute drive of his house.  Did you read the Costco earnings call? I simply quoted what their CFO said during the call.

Population density has to support that. 200k total people on the island won't support 2 Costco's

I think the tourists negate the population part of the equation.  When I've been to the Kona costco there were times when it was readily apparent most of the shoppers were tourists.  Kona Kostco is clearly having a tough time dealing with the hordes of people...

That's true, Kona Costco is a madhouse pretty much at all times.  Considering the high cost of food these days and the greater number of people living on the east side, it seems to me there would be no question that a Costco on this side would be wildly successful without killing off the Kona store, although Walmart probably wouldn't appreciate it much.