Costco opened a gas station today at its store near Christiana Mall.
The station is a drawing card in selling Costco memberships, thanks to prices that can run 10 cents or more below prevailing gas prices. The operation does not include a convenience store.
Costco derives much of its profits from memberships and is not afraid to offer below-market prices on everything from gas to hot dogs and slices of pizza.
The price at the pump for the members-only station was reported at $2.10 a gallon or about 20 cents below the prevailing price for regular.
Rival BJ’s Wholesale Club has gas pumps available to members at some of its Delaware stations and Sam’s Club in Dover also has a fueling area.
The Costco pumps were activated on the same day that Wawa opened a new convenience store in Bear. Earlier in the fall, Dash In opened a large Shell-branded gas station-convenience store near Peoples Plaza in Glasgow. Also in the mix is a new Royal Farms in the Christiana area.
