Rhode Island is finally getting a Costco, and the warehouse giant has picked Smithfield as the spot for its first location in the state. A source with knowledge of the project says the store is expected to open in 2028 and will employ 250 workers once it does.
The news, first reported by The Providence Journal, caps years of speculation over which Rhode Island community would land the retailer's first foothold in the state. The exact site within Smithfield has not been identified, and the location was not immediately available, according to the same report. What is confirmed, per the newspaper, is that Helena Foulkes, a former Rhode Island executive, confirmed through a spokesperson that the plans call for the store to be in Smithfield by 2028.
Foulkes has a direct line into Costco's boardroom. She and Gina Raimondo both sit on the company's 10-member board of directors, the Journal reports — a notable Rhode Island connection to a company that has spent years circling the state without committing to a site.
Smithfield Beat Out Warwick and Cranston
Smithfield has been angling for this for a while. Town Councilor John Tassoni Jr. had asked Costco's advisory agency, Northwest Atlantic Realty, to consider a site along the Routes 7 and 116 corridor, according to WPRI. Tassoni argued that stretch would work well for shoppers statewide, given its reach via I-95, I-295 and Route 146, the station reported. Costco representatives were indeed expected to tour several potential spots along that same corridor, the Valley Breeze reported at the time.
Smithfield wasn't the only town in the running. WPRI reported that three Rhode Island communities were at one point courting Costco, and the chain's land requirements narrowed the field fast — the company requires more than 20 acres for each of its warehouses, per WPRI. That threshold reportedly knocked Warwick out of contention; the station later reported that Costco was no longer considering the state's second-largest city for its first location.
Cranston had its own near-misses. A 2020 proposal to build a Costco at the Mulligan's Island site, dubbed Cranston Crossings, was pulled by its developer after neighborhood and elected opposition, the Journal notes. Plans resurfaced there in August 2023, only to be withdrawn again months later without explanation, according to the same report. More recently, the new owners of the Providence Place mall held talks with Costco about opening a store as an anchor tenant as recently as August, per the Journal.
A Media Frenzy Scuttled an Earlier Try
The Smithfield deal also arrives years after an earlier courtship fell apart in dramatic fashion. Back in February 2024, Warwick officials said Costco representatives abruptly canceled a scheduled Zoom call with city leaders, citing what the mayor called a media frenzy surrounding the talks, according to Turn to 10. Smithfield had already expressed its own interest in hosting a Costco by that point, the station reported.
Once the Smithfield warehouse opens, Rhode Islanders will no longer have to leave the state for the nearest Costco. Right now, the closest location to downtown Providence sits in Sharon, Massachusetts, roughly a half-hour drive away, per the Journal's reporting. Accounts differ on exactly how rare Rhode Island's Costco-less status has been: the Journal describes it as one of three states without a Costco, alongside West Virginia and Wyoming, while the Valley Breeze earlier described it as one of four, also including Maine.
Part of a Broader Costco Growth Push
Smithfield's store is one piece of a much larger expansion. Costco plans 33 new warehouses in fiscal year 2027, including five relocations, as the company works toward its longstanding goal of opening 30 net new locations every year, according to MassLive. Of those 33 planned warehouses, four are slated for Europe, five for Canada and one for Mexico, the outlet reports.
New England is getting its own slice of that growth beyond Rhode Island. A Costco superstore planned for 21 Coslin Drive in Southborough, Massachusetts, is expected to open by summer 2027, MassLive reports — marking the company's first Central Massachusetts location in more than three decades. Between Southborough and Smithfield, the Costco map across the region is finally starting to fill in after years of stalled talks and withdrawn proposals.
