Costco’s first Pensacola warehouse opens June 25, with full-service departments

Costco is using its first Pensacola warehouse to do more than add another pin on Florida’s map. The company’s warehouse page lists June 25, 2026, for the opening at 225 E. Nine Mile Road, and the department mix, bakery, executive membership, fresh deli, general information, self check-out, service deli and gas station, shows a full-service operation from day one.

That matters in a state where Costco keeps building out location by location. Pensacola will be the 35th Costco store in Florida, a sign that the chain’s growth is still being driven by sales and membership momentum rather than by any new format. A ribbon-cutting is set for Thursday, June 25, from 7:30 a.m. to 8:00 a.m. CDT, with the warehouse scheduled to open at 8 a.m., giving the store a short ceremonial lead-in before the first member rush.

For workers, the real story is the staffing ramp. Costco was actively hiring locally for the Pensacola opening, with 47 job listings tied to the new warehouse and starting pay at $20 an hour. The company’s careers site describes warehouse and business-center jobs as fast-paced and team-based, and the Pensacola listing includes paid time off, health benefits, a 401(k) and stock purchase plan eligibility for workers who qualify.

That hiring push points to the pressure that comes with a new warehouse in a high-traffic Florida market. Front-end assistants, stockers, bakery and deli crews, gas station attendants and service staff all have to come together before member traffic settles into a routine. Self check-out on the department list also shows how Costco keeps pushing front-end technology into its operating model, even as the work still depends on labor-heavy coverage across food, fuel and membership services.

The building itself is set up to handle a heavy draw. One report puts the Pensacola warehouse at 172,580 square feet and says it will include a tire shop, gas station and liquor store, which makes the site more of a retail anchor than a simple warehouse opening. That kind of setup tends to spread demand across the whole property, from the parking lot to the deli to the checkout lanes, and it raises the bar for training, inventory flow and member service in the first weeks.

Pensacola is a clean example of how Costco expansion changes work on the ground. A new warehouse brings a hiring wave, a larger member base and a short runway before the store has to perform like an established location. For the people on the floor, the opening is not the finish line. It is the start of the pace the building will live with for years.