Costco Announces Opening Date for St. Cloud Store

ST. CLOUD -- We now have a good idea of when the Costco Wholesale store is going to open in St. Cloud. Store General Manager Katie Elder tells WJON news that they are planning to open in late June. She didn't want to give a specific date because of the unpredictability of construction. However, a post on Costco's Facebook page says they plan to be open on Saturday, June 29th.

Elder says between now and then the company will have pop up tents and kiosks set up around town getting people signed up for memberships.

The Executive Membership is $120 and that's where you get the extra coupons and savings, and then we also have the Gold Star Membership, which is just a basic membership, and that's $60.

Elder says they are also hiring right now.

We're taking transfers right now within the company and we're going to have several from other Costcos in the state as well as other states, and then we're going to be hiring 150 to 170 people new to Costco.  We're hiring for all departments everything from the hearing aid department to the pharmacy to bakery & deli.

They will have about 200 employees. Starting pay is $15 an hour. You can apply online on the Costco website, or visit their temporary office in the strip mall next to the Burlington store.

The store hours will be 10:00 a.m. until 8:30 p.m. Monday through Friday, 9:30 am. until 6:00 p.m. on Saturday, and 10:00 a.m. until 6:00 p.m. on Sunday.

Costco Wholesale is being built at the corner of 33rd Avenue and 2nd Street South in St. Cloud.

Elder, a St. Cloud native, says she starting working for Costco when she was 16 years old back in 1999, so she is coming up on her 20 year anniversary with the company.

In February of last year, the St. Cloud city council voted to sell 18 of the total 92 acres that make up Heritage Park to Costco.