“30 years in the making”: Costco coming to Thunder Bay

It’s official: eight hectares of land on Golf Links Road and Central Avenue are now owned by Costco.

Thunder Bay shoppers can rejoice as this (almost) guarantees the long-anticipated arrival of the superstore.

“It’s been 30 years in the making that Costco’s been trying to get in (the Thunder Bay market),” said Brian Flynn, Manager of Leasing and Acquisitions for Forum Properties, the firm that sold the land to Costco. “It took quite a bit of effort and heavy lifting to put it all together. We worked hand in hand with city real estate, development, engineering, et cetera. And we had good vendors in the landowners that worked with us.”

Flynn says that Costco can now submit their building permit to start construction on the site, and it is working through that process now.

“Together we steered the ship through all the requirements and got to the end result, which is great for the city of Thunder Bay,” Flynn said. “We don’t see there being a better site in this market for Costco. It’s exactly where you’d want to be, easy to access from anywhere in the city, and it’ll be a huge regional draw for the city. It’ll keep dollars being spent in the city limits rather than outside of the city.”

There have been rumblings of a Thunder Bay Costco for at least the last decade, dating back to the Keith Hobbs regime. It’s finally here.