Phoenix Mall’s Costco Warehouse To Close

One of the nation’s top retailers will close one of its Phoenix stores later this year.

Costco Wholesale did not renew its lease for its store at the Christown Spectrum and will shutter the location at 1646 W. Montebello Ave. in Phoenix. Closing a store is a rare move for the membership-only warehouse club.

According to Costco’s website, this location has been open since November of 1978.

There has been social media chatter about the Costco potentially closing the location for the past week or so, but Kimco Realty Corp., the company that owns and operates Christown, confirmed Tuesday the location will close later this year.

“We were disappointed to learn that Costco would not be renewing their lease at Christown Spectrum, and we understand that many of our shoppers are disappointed as well,” Kimco said in a statement. “Kimco is committed to providing our customers with the tenant mix that will best serve their needs and ensure the long-term health of this shopping center, and we are actively marketing the space to a variety of retail and entertainment tenants.”

Losing Costco will be a major blow to the Kimco-owned property. Costco operated in a space that was nearly 155,000 square feet. Spaces that large can be hard to lease in today’s retail environment.

Kimco’s vice president of marketing and communications, Jennifer Maisch, said the company will actively advertise the space to new tenants and said there is already interest.

The Christown Spectrum is one of the oldest operating malls in the Valley. Besides Costco, its other anchor tenants include Walmart Supercenter, Harkins Theatres, Super Target and JCPenney.

Maisch was not able to give an exact date the store will close, but according to statements posted online from people claiming to be Costco employees, it will be in the Fall.

Even though it offers a spectrum of goods, Costco has the fourth-largest share of the grocery market in Phoenix. Including the Christown store, there are 14 Costco locations across the Valley and in 2019 the company had $1.44 billion in sales in the Phoenix area.

A new Costco location is under development in Surprise on the southwest corner of Sarival Avenue and Waddell Road. That location is expected to open later in 2020.

Click here to find the Costco location nearest you.