Costco Wholesale Corporation is the third largest retailer in the world. It sells bulk volumes of food items, automotive supplies, toys, hardware, sporting goods, jewelry, electronics, apparel, health and beauty, and more. This American multinational corporation has been ranked in the top 10 of the Fortune 500 rankings of the largest US corporations by total revenue. Headquartered in Issaquah, Washington, the company has been in operation since 1976 and has since rolled out its warehouse (retail outlet) model to locations as far afield as Puerto Rico, Canada, Japan, the UK and more.