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Costco is a relatively uncommon employer in the retail industry in that many of its workers have started in entry-level positions and built decadeslong careers with the company.
Most notably, CEO Ron Vachris' first job was as a forklift driver 40 years ago.
So how do you get ahead?
Business Insider spoke with a manager who joined the company more than 20 years ago slinging hot dogs in the warehouse food court to make money for college.
He has since worked in multiple states and held a variety of positions, and he shared his best tip for advancing a warehouse career. BI has verified his identity but is not naming him as he is not authorized to speak to the media.
"If you seriously want to get promoted and want to grow in the company, move to some of the areas where they're growing into," he said, highlighting Louisiana, Oklahoma, and Arkansas in particular. "They have a really difficult time getting people to move there."
The company has just eight locations across those three states — less than half of what it has in New York alone. In addition to a new location slated to open in Louisiana in August, new warehouses are currently in the works for Texas, Nebraska, Minnesota, Washington, and California.
The manager said he knew one colleague who joined the company four years ago and took the opportunity to move to Oklahoma after just a year on the job.
"She's already an assistant warehouse manager," he said.
He added that her rise was likely based not just on her qualifications for the job, but also her willingness to go "where nobody wants to live."
"She ended up getting promoted a lot quicker than most anyone I've ever heard of," he said.
Historically, Costco has added around two dozen new US locations per year, and more recently execs have discussed locating new openings closer together in order to alleviate the pressure on popular warehouses dealing with long lines and crowded parking lots.
As a company, Costco has shown a distinct preference for internal hires — most of the C-suite is made up of longtime insiders — and existing warehouses are typically tapped for talent to make sure new locations have enough experience in the building to operate successfully.
"It's very, very rare that they hire a supervisor or a manager in a warehouse off the street," the manager told BI.
