A Canadian made a weekend trip to Costco a Japanese pastime

Japan Times

31-03-2025

In the heart of rural Chiba, the Kisarazu Costco branch is doing brisk business. No music plays, but inside the immense warehouse, demonstrations are underway and samples are being handed out.
The atmosphere is buzzing. Under the watchful eye of Ken Theriault, Costco representative director and Japan country manager, the American membership-model wholesaler has flourished in Japan.
Founded in 1983, Costco is the third-largest global retailer. Japan is its fourth-largest market by store count.
Stocking everything from gold bars to toilet paper, fresh fruit to pizza and sushi, it offers Japan something of a unique experience.
Theriault works across all aspects of the business. He likes to be on the move and keep staff on their toes. We begin talking at Costco's nearby office, stopping briefly on a floor where bacon-stuffed bread is being measured and sampled. Then we head into the supermarket.
As we cut our way through the mega-sized produce, he jokes with staff, inquires about a particular product and spies a tiny piece of trash on the shiny floors and quickly picks it up. He tells an employee to get a broom.
With a busy schedule to keep and mounting traffic, Theriault hands me one of Costco's famous inflation-proof ¥180 ($1.20) hot dogs to go — and suggests we continue the interview on the road. As the Costco storefront shrinks in his car's rearview mirror, he talks about how he came to Japan and built the business here.
Affable and energetic, Theriault is from a large Canadian family. It was one of his sisters who nudged him toward his current career, suggesting that a smart haircut would help his job prospects. She was tragically killed in a car accident, perhaps a part of why Theriault — who crisscrosses the country to carry out surprise store visits — is such a careful, accommodating driver himself.
Over the years, Theriault steadily worked his way up the business, and in 2009 he and his family made the 10,700-kilometer leap from Canada to Japan to lead Costco in the country.
'It was literally seven days a week, 18 hours a day,' he said, recalling the early adrenaline-fueled days.
'To get open was tough, to hire people was tough, but it was a never-give-up attitude.
'Now I sit back and we're going to have our 37th building opening in 26 years, we have 14,000 employees, two depots, e-com. It's pretty good,' he said of the brand's Japan presence.
But Theriault is far from complacent, viewing 'everyone' as a competitor because of Costco's range of product categories. Expansion plans are informed by data maps showing car and home ownership, and also a desire not to cannibalize existing stores. The aim is to keep growing.
Stocking everything from gold bars to toilet paper, fresh fruit to pizza and sushi, Costco offers Japan something of a unique experience. |
Elizabeth Beattie
Typically, foreign businesses that thrive in Japan localize heavily, but part of the Costco allure is that it hasn't done so.
Instead, it has become a destination — a weekend activity. Theriault says there can be such a thing as too much localization.
'Carrefour came to Japan, but they got a partner. They localized so much that people went there and said, where's all the French wines, where's the French cheeses, where's the French bakery? They just tried to localize too much. They didn't set themselves apart from the competitors,' he said.
While Costco took off in Japan in 1999 by blazing its own path, Theriault's ambition since his arrival gave it more fuel. A weekend trip to the wholesaler has now transformed into a Japanese pastime of its own.
'We're like Disneyland' to some members, Theriault said.
Timothy Connor, CEO and founder of Japanese market consultancy Synnovate, agrees.
'The aisles are very wide, stock is piled very high, the packages are big. Costco definitely has a wow factor,' he said.
Costco in Japan 'feels and smells like America,' Connor said, noting that those with an affinity for modern American casual style are represented among the customers.
'There's a Costco customer profile. It's a family thing; 'Pack the kids into the car and go to Costco for the afternoon,'' he added, noting that food sampling is part of the allure.
While Japan boasts the most members per Costco warehouse than anywhere else in the world, consumers in the market tend to shop on budgets, unlike in other markets where hefty shopping bills are frequently charged to credit cards. In fact, there are plenty of Japanese budget-conscious Costco content-generating Facebook groups and YouTubers. There is also a secondary market of Costco resale stores in Japan.
The wholesaler's revolving product selection is compatible with the Japan market, where seasonal offers are a staple of the experience.
Costco's famous inflation-proof hot dogs cost ¥180 in Japan. |
Elizabeth Beattie
'Japanese consumers like change — new and change, that's the Costco way,' Theriault said. 'Every time you come in, it's like a treasure hunt.'
The American brand has also extended to business norms. Ambition and a bit of aggression has helped fuel the company's growth in the market, and Theriault has made an effort to retain its international culture in other aspects — joking with customers, and encouraging greater informality from staff.
'Their suit jackets are off, ties are off when we have our meetings and I'm straight to the point. I don't like to go and have a meeting, then another meeting, then another meeting. I don't have time. Let's get it done now — today. Let's come up with a decision,' he said.
'When I came to Japan — I had been here six months — at the opening of the first building, the announcement at the VIP party — the local guy said, 'This is Ken Theriault-san' but we call him the Road Runner,' he recalled with a laugh. 'Says it right on the stage.'
But the 'Road Runner' has remained committed to Japan through tough times — including in 2011 when the Great East Japan Earthquake struck the country. At the store's Tamasakai warehouse in western Tokyo, a parking ramp collapsed, trapping two people inside, while aftershocks trembled across the country. Both later died.
'Everyone said, Ken, you stood outside for two days. You didn't go to the bathroom. I don't remember. I was just trying to manage everything,' he said of his experience dealing with the aftermath of the incident.
Theriault went to meet with the family of one of the two people who died. They had accused him of killing their mother.
'I said, I'm sorry for what happened,' he said. ''Well, you don't understand loss,' was the family's response.'
'I said, let me tell you a story, when I was 18, I lost my sister in a car accident, so I know what it's like. ... Then all of a sudden (there was recognition) 'oh, you know what it's like to lose a person.''
'So that was tough,' he said.
In the end, the family sued and Costco paid out.
But Theriault is incredulous at the notion that he would have left Japan at that time.
'No way. My people are here. I'm going to run and come back? How would I face these people?
'I'm here, I'm in it with you,' he said.
To some members, Costco is like Disneyland, Theriault says. |
Elizabeth Beattie
Costco has disaster response agreements with local prefectures throughout Japan, but local governments are also seeking to entice Costco along with its job opportunities and higher-than-standard wages. Store openings typically generate media coverage and can have knock-on effects for ailing rural economies.
Synnovate's Connor said that while there was an argument made sometimes that the American behemoth would put smaller retailers out of business, the net positive for the local economy couldn't be overlooked.
'They're going to come in and they're going to hire a lot of people, and offer good wages. People from the area are going to start working and making more money. When people make more money, what do they do? They spend it,' he said.
'If Costco comes in, it's definitely going to contribute to revitalization in the area,' he added.
With there soon to be 37 warehouses across Japan — with the latest one to open in Yamanashi Prefecture in April — that dance has been well established and shows no sign of slowing.
And neither does Theriault, who said that after more than 50 years in the retail and wholesale business, it is the love of people that has kept him in the business for so long.
Over the years, he's seen businesses and people come and go — some more dramatically than others, such as former Nissan Chairman and CEO Carlos Ghosn, a drinking buddy of his who infamously fled legal charges in Japan for Lebanon.
The two shared an appreciation for yakitori at Kushi Waka restaurant in Tokyo.
'My picture is on the wall because I introduced Carlos Ghosn there. Carlos and his family used to go there all the time,' Theriault said of the restaurant, noting that the night Ghosn flew to Japan and was arrested on financial misconduct charges, he had plans to have a meal there.
'That night he had a reservation booked at Kushi Waka. So I laughed with the guys — so he didn't make his booking that night?'
Theriault takes a quick call from his wife to discuss their own dinner plans as we draw near Shinagawa Station.
His weekend already sounds busy. There's a work trip to the U.S., but he'd like to visit one more store, if he can squeeze it in, before he leaves.