Founded in 1983, Costco (No. 19) has appeared on the Fortune 500 for 20 consecutive years. It helped make bulk-purchase warehouses chic. (You never know what kind of a bargain or treat you might find on one of their pallets.) Today a growing portion of the revenues–some 28% of its $105 billion in 2013 sales–of the Issaquah, Wash., company comes from abroad. Costco (COST) opened its first members-only warehouse outside the U.S. in Canada in 1985 and now boasts nearly 190 international locations. Pictured here is a Costco in Seoul, one of 10 in South Korea. The 147,000-square-foot facility is similar in size to its sibling outlets in the U.S. but, according to the company, boasts the highest sales of any Costco worldwide.
Leadership
Portraits of the 500: The busiest Costco in the world
This location in Seoul, South Korea, isn’t bigger than the retail giant’s typical warehouse store, just busier.
