US retail giant Costco is opening its first store in Reykjavík to much fanfare today. Roughly 10% of Iceland's population have already signed up for membership at the store. Costco has employed ICE-SAR to manage the traffic expected at the opening today and local media are doing live reports from the store.
Thousands of members of the store are expected at the opening today. This is the first foray of a major foreign chain into Iceland's general retail market and Costco's arrival has already shaken up the local competition. Local news site Vísir reports 35,000 people have already claimed membership to the store.
Read more: Expecting crowds, Costco requests ICE-SAR assistance during its opening next week
An economist the National Broadcasting Service RÚV spoke to said Costco's arrival was likely to cause a division in the Icelandic retail market. It would lead to two kinds of stores dominating the market; cheap bulk-buy stores like Costco's on the one hand and more expensive high-end retailers with higher levels of service on the other.
The US embassy in Reykjavík posted a video from a pre-opening party at the new store on its Facebook page last night. The video gives a good indication of the scale of the new store and what Icelander's may expect when Costco opens its doors for the first time at 9 a.m. this morning.
US retail giant Costco is opening its first store in Reykjavík to much fanfare today. Roughly 10% of Iceland's population have already signed up for membership at the store. Costco has employed ICE-SAR to manage the traffic expected at the opening today and local media are doing live reports from the store.
Thousands of members of the store are expected at the opening today. This is the first foray of a major foreign chain into Iceland's general retail market and Costco's arrival has already shaken up the local competition. Local news site Vísir reports 35,000 people have already claimed membership to the store.
Read more: Expecting crowds, Costco requests ICE-SAR assistance during its opening next week
An economist the National Broadcasting Service RÚV spoke to said Costco's arrival was likely to cause a division in the Icelandic retail market. It would lead to two kinds of stores dominating the market; cheap bulk-buy stores like Costco's on the one hand and more expensive high-end retailers with higher levels of service on the other.
The US embassy in Reykjavík posted a video from a pre-opening party at the new store on its Facebook page last night. The video gives a good indication of the scale of the new store and what Icelander's may expect when Costco opens its doors for the first time at 9 a.m. this morning.
