American giant Costco claims it is selling the cheapest fuel in the UK after it opened its first filling station in this country on Thursday June 26.
The filling station is in the car park of its site in Liverpool and is only available to Costco members.
Costco UK managing director Steve Pappas would not reveal the prices it was charging but said: “It will be below everyone else.”
He said the company had not advertised the opening but added: “We already have lines of taxi drivers queuing up. People see great prices and it creates a buzz.”
The company has been reluctant to discuss plans to roll out filling stations across its UK estate, but Costco UK’s director of real estate Nick Deeks confirmed it was “reviewing a number of additional locations for future outlets”, although no planning applications had yet been made.
Costco currently has 25 warehouses across England, Scotland and Wales. A new warehouse is also due to open at Hayes, west London, in August, followed by openings at Sunbury, on the southern outskirts of London, and Wembley.
Costco sells a range of food and non food items across eight countries and has a global turnover exceeding $100bn.
It is a major player in the US and Canadian fuel markets, and consumers voted it north America’s favourite petrol station operator, according to US customer intelligence company Market Force.
Costco charges a membership fee and prides itself on selling merchandise at “substantially lower prices than are typically found at conventional wholesale or retail outlets”. Market Force said the low prices and convenient petrol pumps in north America were winning market share from other operators.
The new facility in Liverpool is self service and has 16 fill positions. Costco said it was designed for fast refuelling and features extendable hoses that allow customers to dispense fuel conveniently from pumps on either side of their vehicle. Debit Cards or any American Express card are the only accepted forms of payment.
Opening hours of the fuel station are longer than the warehouse - Monday to Friday 6am to 9.30pm, Saturday 6am to 7pm and Sunday 7am to 6pm.
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