Sol and Robert Price opened Price Club in a former San Diego airplane hangar in 1976. Widely considered America's first members-only discount chain, it sold bulk goods; the Morena Boulevard site now operates as Costco warehouse No. 401.
The store occupied a 102,000-square-foot hangar near Interstate 5 that had once belonged to aviator Howard Hughes. It stocked about 4,000 items. Unlike Costco, Price Club did not admit individual shoppers: membership cost $25 a year and required a resale certificate or professional license.
Price Club went public in 1980 and had 24 locations and more than 1 million members in the Southwest by 1986. It merged with Costco in 1993 after declining an offer from Walmart and Sam's Club. The combined company operated as PriceCostco until remaining stores were renamed Costco in 1997. Costco recognizes Price Club's 1976 opening as its founding date.
