By Delise White
Baltimore Watchdog Staff Writer
Costco Wholesale is set to open at the newly constructed Mill Station development in Owings Mills on Oct. 18, company officials said.
The 148,000-square-foot warehouse will have eventually have 15,000 Costco member and employee 300 people, said Patrick Townsley, the Costco marketing manager for the Owings Mills location.
He said that about 33 percent of the employees will come from other store locations.
“It’s a lot of pressure to be the first store to open in Mill Station,” Townsley said. “Our goal is to get 5,000 new members for this location and right now we have 2,500.”
The Costco will provide a variety of goods and services, including groceries, electronics, transportation products, pharmaceuticals, vacation deals, and optical services. It will also have a food court and gas station.
Located at 10270 Mill Run Circle in Owings Mills, the warehouse will be the only Costco near western Baltimore. The closest Costco is in Elkridge, about 25 miles away.
The Costco will be one of the anchors of the 620,000-square-foot Mills Station, a new shopping center that will house 30 retailers and restaurants in an open layout with green spaces and walking paths that will connect the office and retail space.
The shopping center replaces the old Owings Mills Mall, which had sat vacant and rotting since 2016, when J.C. Penney was the last store to leave. The mall, owned by Kimco Realty, officially closed in September 2015 and has since been demolished.
“I used to shop at the Sam’s Club that was down the street. But then they unexpectedly closed and I was out of luck,” said Rebekah Bingham of Randallstown, a new Costco Gold Star member. “But now we have this opening up and I’m just glad they finally tore down that old mall. Every time I would drive by, it looked so pathetic just sitting there with a big hole in its wall.”
Townsley said that Costco is not just a one-stop shop and that he believes that residents in the area will be accepting of the new location.
Costco has opened 741 warehouses worldwide since 1976. This does not include stores that will be opening by the end of this year.
According to several people who were recently interviewed, there has been constant construction at the site since last year.
“The construction crews have been considerate regarding the noise they make. They’re usually really loud in the middle of the day, when everyone is at work,” said Destinee Hawkins, a resident of The Townes at Mill Run. “It hasn’t been an issue for me. I’m just glad they’re finally about to open the store.”
More retail stores are set to open in Mill Station in early 2019. Some of these include a Lowe’s Home Improvement, Giant Food, Five Below, Burlington and Marshalls.
Councilman Julian Jones, D-Fourth District, said that people in the area will appreciate the building.
“We haven’t had any backlash,” Jones said. “I think it’s because it was once a dead mall, so people are happy to see something finally going there.”