man standing next to sign that reads Costco Wholesale Coming Soon — Irondale Mayor James D. Stewart, Jr. stands on-site at the new Costco being built in his city. (City of Irondale)

You’ve probably heard by now that we’ll soon be getting our second Costco location—it’s one of the Greater Birmingham Area’s most anticipated openings yet.

The $115.5-million investment is well under way in Irondale near I-459, but there’s still about two years of waiting to do (just long enough to make your way through that giant bucket of cheese balls you grabbed on your last trip to the Hoover location).

We spoke with Irondale Mayor James D. Stewart, Jr. to learn the latest and got the scoop on the (hopeful) goal opening date: mid-to-late 2028 with a goal of Thanksgiving 2028. Here’s what we learned about the world’s third largest retailer opening near us soon. 👇

The Costco Irondale hopes to open fall 2028 + what’s happening now

July 29, 2025: date the project was unveiled
$10.5M: cost of land acquisition
152,000-square-foot: planned size of warehouse
200-300: number of new jobs created
$6-8M: estimated annual new sales tax revenue

Irondale Mayor James D. Stewart, Jr announces Costco is coming to his city [City of Irondale] — In 2025, Irondale Mayor James D. Stewart, Jr. announced Costco was coming to his city. (City of Irondale)

The good news: Progress is moving swiftly. As of press time in mid-October 2026, the land is fully cleared and the project is in its second week of blasting work. According to Mayor Stewart, they may have even found something with the site work that puts them a little ahead of schedule on that portion.

“I had the opportunity to visit the Costco construction site this week and see firsthand the progress being made on this $115.5 million investment in Irondale.

With this, and other major developments underway, we are already more than one-third of the way toward our goal of attracting $1 billion in investment by 2033.

Once completed, Costco will bring hundreds of new jobs, generate substantial tax revenue and provide additional resources to enhance city services and improve quality of life for our residents.”

_{Irondale Mayor James D. Stewart, Jr.}

Mayor Stewart also clued us in on a big step that will help ease traffic concerns around the new build:

“It will be about a year before work begins on realignment of roads. County will handle realignment of Grantswood Road and Mercedes Way for Costco entrance, and ALDOT will be doing some work on the on and off ramps to I-459.”

_{Irondale Mayor James D. Stewart, Jr.}