08/07/2026
🎉❤️🔥 Costco is coming to Escondido 🎉⛄️
🚨 BIG NEWS: COSTCO IS FINALLY COMING TO ESCONDIDO! 🛒🎉
After years of rumors, negotiations, false starts and disappointment, it appears Escondido is finally getting something residents have been asking for for a very long time — our own Costco.
According to a new report from the Escondido Times-Advocate, plans are moving forward to bring Costco to the former Sears property at Mershops North County Mall, formerly known to generations of Escondido residents as North County Fair.
And if this story sounds familiar, it should.
Back in 2022, Costco had plans to redevelop the former Sears site. The City Council approved a lease takeover, and plans called for demolishing the approximately 156,000-square-foot Sears building and replacing it with a new Costco warehouse along with a gasoline station.
Then, in November 2023, the deal unexpectedly fell apart. Costco withdrew its offer and asked the City to stop processing its development application.
For a while, it looked like Escondido had lost Costco.
But the story wasn’t over.
Costco eventually returned to the table, and a new development application was submitted to the City in December 2025. City records show the proposal calls for modifications to the mall’s Master Plan and Precise Plan to allow a warehouse retailer and fuel stations at the property.
Negotiations have continued behind the scenes in 2026. City Council records show Costco Wholesale Corporation and the City were discussing the price and terms of a ground lease and related agreements for the property at 272 E. Via Rancho Parkway as recently as May.
Now, after all those years of uncertainty, the Times-Advocate is reporting that Escondido is finally getting its Costco.
This could be much bigger than simply giving Escondido residents a shorter drive for a $1.50 hot dog. 🌭😂
Costco could become a major anchor in the continuing redevelopment of the mall and bring thousands of shoppers back to an area that has struggled with vacancies and the loss of major retailers.
The mall itself has been part of Escondido for 40 years. It opened as North County Fair in 1986, with major anchors including Sears, Nordstrom, JCPenney, May Company, Robinson’s and The Broadway. For many longtime Escondido residents, going to North County Fair wasn’t just shopping — it was part of growing up here.
Retail has changed dramatically since then.
Sears and Nordstrom closed in 2020, and more recently the mall lost its Apple Store. But there are also signs of a transformation. The former Nordstrom is being redeveloped into a huge Round1 Bowling & Arcade entertainment center, bringing bowling, arcade games, karaoke and other entertainment to the property.
Adding Costco to that mix could completely change the future of the mall.
Instead of trying to recreate the traditional shopping mall of the 1980s and 1990s, Mershops could evolve into something different — a regional destination combining retail, groceries, restaurants, entertainment and other uses.
And there is another major benefit for Escondido: sales-tax revenue.
When the original Costco proposal was announced in 2022, the City anticipated approximately $1.5 million in annual sales-tax revenue once the store reached stable operation. While today’s eventual revenue could be different, Costco would clearly represent an important new source of economic activity for the city.
There will still be a development and public-review process ahead, including City review and environmental requirements, so there is plenty more information to come regarding the final design, traffic, gasoline station, construction schedule and opening date.
But after years of hearing “Costco is coming to Escondido” followed by “Costco isn’t coming,” this is certainly a major development.
For a city of more than 150,000 people — and a commercial center for much of inland North County — many residents have wondered for years why Escondido didn’t have a Costco of its own.
It looks like that wait may finally be coming to an end.
Welcome to Escondido, Costco! 🛒❤️
What do you think?
👍 Excited to finally have Costco in Escondido?
👎 Worried about traffic around Via Rancho Parkway and I-15?
🤔 Could Costco help bring North County Mall back to life?
— Escondido News & Entertainment
