Uploaded October 2025 | Updated September 2026, 1 week ago
Japan has long been a “graveyard” for foreign big box retailers — Walmart, Carrefour, and Tesco all failed to win over shoppers. Costco, on the other hand, has grown to nearly 40 locations since 1999, making Japan one of its largest markets outside North America.
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On paper, a bulk-buying warehouse shouldn’t have worked in one of the world’s most crowded countries. But Costco bent its US playbook to fit Japan’s unique retail landscape in surprising ways. This is the story of how Costco cracked one of the toughest markets in the world — and why its rivals couldn’t.
Special thanks to Tran Phan for weighing in on our story. You can find more of his reporting here: readtrung.com/.
And if you really haven’t had enough Costco content by this point, then check out our feature story by Zachary Crockett on how Costco gained a cult following — by breaking every rule of retail: thehustle.co/costco-membership-economics
Subscribe to The Hustle:
🔗 clickhubspot.com/vu3l
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🔗 clickhubspot.com/3kln
About HubSpot:
HubSpot is a customer platform that provides education, software, and support to help businesses grow better. The platform includes marketing, sales, service, commerce, operations, and website management products that start free and scale to meet our customers’ needs at any stage of growth. Today, thousands of customers around the world use HubSpot’s powerful and easy-to-use tools and apps to attract, engage, and delight customers.
#TheHustle #HubSpot
Japan has long been a “graveyard” for foreign big box retailers — Walmart, Carrefour, and Tesco all failed to win over shoppers. Costco, on the other hand, has grown to nearly 40 locations since 1999, making Japan one of its largest markets outside North America.
*Get more stories like this in your inbox for free:* 🔗 clickhubspot.com/0d83a1
On paper, a bulk-buying warehouse shouldn’t have worked in one of the world’s most crowded countries. But Costco bent its US playbook to fit Japan’s unique retail landscape in surprising ways. This is the story of how Costco cracked one of the toughest markets in the world — and why its rivals couldn’t.
Special thanks to Tran Phan for weighing in on our story. You can find more of his reporting here: readtrung.com/.
And if you really haven’t had enough Costco content by this point, then check out our feature story by Zachary Crockett on how Costco gained a cult following — by breaking every rule of retail: thehustle.co/costco-membership-economics
Subscribe to The Hustle:
🔗 clickhubspot.com/vu3l
Get the 5-minute newsletter keeping 2M+ innovators in the loop
🔗 clickhubspot.com/3kln
About HubSpot:
HubSpot is a customer platform that provides education, software, and support to help businesses grow better. The platform includes marketing, sales, service, commerce, operations, and website management products that start free and scale to meet our customers’ needs at any stage of growth. Today, thousands of customers around the world use HubSpot’s powerful and easy-to-use tools and apps to attract, engage, and delight customers.
#TheHustle #HubSpot
