Costco gas station in Tacoma closes for six weeks this summer

A summer remodel at Costco’s Tacoma gas station is about to reroute more than drivers. The fuel station at 2219 S. 37th St. began construction on June 1 and is scheduled to shut down completely from July 6 through August 14 as the site is expanded.

Until the full closure begins, the station will stay open in a limited way, but access has already been shifted. One report said drivers were entering through the front Steele Street entrance as construction got underway, a reminder that even a fuel project can change the flow around the warehouse before the pumps actually go dark.

For Costco employees, that kind of disruption shows up in the workday fast. Members who show up expecting to fill up will pivot to the warehouse, ask where the nearest alternate station is, or press front-end staff and membership desks for the same answer over and over: when does the station reopen, and where should they go in the meantime? That means more questions at the door, more pressure on front-end assistants, and more coordination for managers trying to keep the building’s routine from fraying.

The Tacoma site is not a new location. Costco’s warehouse there opened on May 24, 1984, so the fuel project is landing at a long-established stop for local members. That matters because the gas station is part of the shopping habit for many Costco drivers, especially in a market where fuel prices remain high. AAA put Washington’s statewide average at about $5.53 per gallon on June 13, while Tacoma-area prices were estimated at about $5.57. Local reporting also said Costco was charging $5.09 in Tacoma, compared with a local average of $5.72.

The timing also fits a broader push inside Costco’s fuel business. In its most recent quarter, the company said gas volume hit a record, with the final five weeks ranking among its top five volume weeks ever. Costco also said many locations needed multiple daily fuel deliveries to keep up with demand. More recently, reporting put Costco at 747 gas stations and said fuel accounted for about 10% of overall sales last year.

For Tacoma, the six-week closure is a small construction project with a big operational footprint. It will alter parking, entrance patterns, and member traffic at a warehouse that has served the city for more than four decades, and it will force workers to manage the confusion that follows whenever the gas side of Costco stops working like normal.