How the new Costco Business Centre differs from other Costcos in Canada

Late last month, a new Costco opened in Mississauga in the city’s northwest end.

But’s it’s different than the other three Costco locations in Mississauga and most Costco warehouses in Canada, in fact.

The location at 3115 Argentia Road is a Costco Business Centre — only the seventh of its kind in Canada.

It opened on Oct. 28 and operates from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. from Monday to Saturday, and 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Sundays.

“It is part of a Costco national expansion plan, with additional Costco Business Centre locations planned to open across Canada over the next couple of months,” a news release said.

There are now four business centres in Ontario, with the others in St. Catharines, Scarborough, and Ottawa. A fifth is set to open next month in East Gwillimbury.

How the business centre is different

So what sets the Costco Business Centre apart from conventional Costco warehouses?

“Open to all Costco members, the business centre concept is vastly different from the traditional Costco warehouse, with more than 70 per cent of the product offerings unique to the business centre, and targeted to meet the needs of businesses of all sizes,” the company said.

The Mississauga store has “more than 3,000 high-quality items, targeted at restaurants, convenience/grocery stores and offices – from bulk food items, to commercial kitchen wares and cleaning supplies, to office furniture, coffee needs and everything in between,” Costco said.

While Costco is already known for selling big items, the business centre offers even bigger products.

INsauga.com visited the new Mississauga location last week and barrels of olive oil and maple syrup, buckets of mayo and pickles, 50-pound bags of onions and carrots, and wheels of cheese were among the extra-huge items for sale.

Commercial appliances, including refrigerators, mixers, and fryers, were also for sale.

READ MORE: 10 huge finds at the new Costco in Ontario

A sign displayed in the store tells customers they can “order by the truckload.”

The warehouse has a 14,000 square-foot cooler and 10 trucks for commercial delivery.

Can you do household shopping at the new business centre?

While huge items are for sale, there are also still plenty of conventional Costco-sized products, so some household shopping can definitely be done at the Mississauga business centre.

That includes groceries and personal care products.

See some photos below, as an example:

Something you won’t find at the Mississauga business centre is the much-loved Costco food court.

That means you won’t be able to buy a $1.50 hot dog with a pop.

We also didn’t see a cooked rotisserie chicken section.

On a positive note, during the Wednesday afternoon visit, parking was relatively easy to find and there was no line at the checkout.

Costco said the new location has created 200 part-time jobs.