Cranberry Costco store completion date planned for fall

Costco does not advertise, but that has not slowed buzz about the international warehouse club chain that soon will open a store in Cranberry.

Costco President Jim Sinegal said he hopes construction of the store, which will be larger than three football fields, will be completed by fall.

'It's the No. 1 question we get,' said Jerry Andree, Cranberry Township manager. 'When are we going to get Costco?'

Andree said store planners must address several minor issues related to township regulations, but the permitting process almost is complete.

The warehouse chain, with 34 million club members worldwide, sells everything from toilet paper - its top-selling item - to cashmere sweaters, table saws and emerald-cut diamonds.

The store is planned for a 10-acre lot along Cranberry Square and Executive drives behind Dick's Sporting Goods. Costco stores are renowned for their Spartan interiors. Products sit on shelves, sometimes 15 feet high, and loading pallets. The floors are bare concrete.

The Cranberry store also will have gasoline pumps, as do about 125 of the chain's 253 U.S. stores, Sinegal said.

'Costco is able to offer lower prices and better values by eliminating virtually all the frills and costs historically associated with conventional wholesalers and retailers,' Sinegal said.

Membership fees for the warehouse club range from $35 to $100.

The Cranberry store will have about 148,000 square feet, Sinegal said.

The store will employ approximately 200 people, about half full-time and half part-time, Sinegal said. The Issaquah, Wash.-based retailer also pays substantially more than most retailers pay their employees.

Sinegal said clerks start at about $10 per hour and could make as much as $30,000 per year if they stay with Costco for several years.

Costco also is planning to open a store in Robinson Township, said Sinegal, who grew up delivering newspapers in the Garfield section of Pittsburgh.

'The Cranberry market is very attractive to us. We have been working on this piece of property for several years,' he said. 'Pittsburgh is one of the few metro areas we aren't in yet.'

Plans for the store were announced in January 2000, but construction was delayed by a legal dispute between the owner of a mineral lease for the land and the owner of a surface lease. A recent out-of-court settlement opened the door for construction.

'After the settlement of gas issues, they really kicked it in to gear,' Andree said.

William Kemper, a Butler attorney, would not disclose terms of the deal between his client Charlemagne Investment, which had the mineral rights, and the Rubinoff Group, developers for Costco.

Sinegal said Costco recently opened a warehouse in Cincinnati and has plans for a Cleveland store in the fall.

Dominick DiRienzo can be reached at ddirienzo@tribweb.com or (724) 779-7124.