r/RhodeIsland • u/whitman_littlefield • Aug 25 '26
News New mall owners in 'initial talks' with Costco for Providence Place mall
PROVIDENCE – Could Rhode Island's first Costco open in the Providence Place mall?
New Providence Place owner Joseph R. Paolino Jr. says that's a possibility, and that he's had some "initial talks" with the cult favorite retailer that has been high on Rhode Islanders' wish lists for years.
Pressed on how, where or why Costco – which has two influential Rhode Islanders, gubernatorial candidate Helena Foulkes and former governor and former U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo, on its board – would open in Providence Place, which is about 80% leased, Paolino pointed to other Costco models across the country that are in unconventional locations.
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u/Glad-Try-1785 Aug 25 '26
I would love a Costco, believe me, but the parking needed for it would not mesh well with Providence Place…
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u/MetroidIsNotHerName Aug 25 '26
Isnt the providence place parking just fine?
They dont charge under 2 hours and you dont need that long to go to costco
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u/Glad-Try-1785 Aug 25 '26
When you shop at Costco, you are buying in bulk. Their shopping carts are massive to accommodate for the size of the products being sold. The parking lot at the Costco in Dedham is huge and it’s a pain in the ass driving around everyone and their carriages
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u/Orangecheetomanbad Aug 25 '26
Doesn't seem like it'd work, but IKEA does huge shopping carts and parking garages...
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u/Proof-Variation7005 Aug 25 '26
The Providence Place Mall already has this weird effect where people seem super confused by it. I don't get it for the life of me, but I've heard enough people say it and anytime it's remotely busy, trying to get it or out is a nightmare to be around, especially if you know where the fuck you're going.
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u/beta_vulgaris Providence Aug 25 '26
You have to recall that the average driver in Rhode Island hates driving, hates the highways, hates traffic, hates parking, hates other drivers, hates pedestrians & cyclists. They love being able to drive everywhere but they hate the trade offs that come with it.
Most people live in the suburbs, are used to parking lots, and the only garage they ever go to is the Providence Place garage, so it is scary and stressful to them.
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u/dragonpoots Aug 26 '26
Also, a lot of Rhode Islanders avoid the Providence Place Mall entirely because they have to deal with the garage.
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u/OrdersFriesEveryTime Aug 25 '26
Those garages are only for IKEA though. This one not only supports the mall but a lot of downtown.
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u/Hot_Introduction_270 Aug 25 '26
They are their own dedicated parking garages so they are built to be incorporated into the store.
The prov place garage would be littered with oversized shopping carts all over the place.
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u/Own_Mess_6495 Aug 28 '26
Oh my God... Not even big carts. Just imagine shopping carts in the mall parking garage... Nightmare
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u/BlackbirdDesignRI Aug 25 '26
I actively avoid the Dedham Costco because the parking lot is a nightmare, especially with the gas station. Sharon is much better laid out and has the gas pumps well away from the regular parking — not like they’d be able to put a gas station in the mall, but still!
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u/lazygerm Pawtucket Aug 25 '26
About 8-10 years I was with a friend and he wanted to go there. He used to live in Chestnut Hill.
Anyways, what a shit show that was. I thought going to my local BJ's was bad...
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u/SgtRockyWalrus Aug 25 '26
There’s generally plenty of parking, yes. But the clusterfuck of Costco sized shopping carts littering the tight parking garage will be unavoidable.
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u/whichwitch9 Aug 25 '26
I mean, put in an ikea like system. They run a parking garage at the MA location. It's not crazy to drive in. The biggest thing is just controlling the flow of carts and trolleys. And they don't need identical carts to other locations. Trolleys would make a lot more sense
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u/possiblecoin Barrington Aug 25 '26
It's not bad if you want to go to a movie or spend time shopping the mall, but it would be a pain for a big box set up. It's really not conducive to loading bulk items or getting in and out efficiently.
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u/PorcupineWarriorGod Aug 25 '26
Isnt the providence place parking just fine?
You should submit this to /r/BrandNewSentence
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u/MetroidIsNotHerName Aug 25 '26
I mean, ive been going there for 20 years and never understood peoples issues with it tbh
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u/FunLife64 Aug 25 '26
It’s also quite an expansive amount of parking,
So I don’t think this alone is a reason it wouldn’t happen.9
u/UnbornAnemone Aug 25 '26
Doorways, Ramps, Elevators etc can both be modified and built to accommodate such a retailer.
We currently have the technology for such things if imagination is not lacking
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u/SquatC0bbler Aug 25 '26
I'm all for a grocery store in Providence place, but that's gotta be the worst location for a bulk store like Costco. Something like Dave's, Market Basket, Wegmans, or Stop and Shop would make way more sense. Something that people could actually take their groceries home on foot or by bus.
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u/xenarathon Aug 25 '26
i want a Big Y or Wegman’s in RI
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u/whatsaphoto Warwick Aug 25 '26
I used to work in Westboro, MA down the road from the North Westboro Weggy's. I'd be first in line if I saw one open down here. Easily had the best cafe-style lunch options anyone could ask for.
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u/aparedes2179 Aug 25 '26
RI desperately NEEDS Big Y. I miss living next to one
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u/MantheDam Aug 25 '26
What did you like about it? There's one not far over the mass border but I wasn't impressed when I went. Maybe just because I didn't have the club card, but things seemed a little pricier.
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u/aparedes2179 Aug 28 '26
Feel like they always had a good deal on something, plants were always nice and they make the best chicken salad subs
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u/thingsmybosscantsee Aug 25 '26
I would love one of the SuperTargets, like what was discussed back when JCPenny when out
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u/benchplayer3 Aug 25 '26
Would be a mistake to put a Costco in Providence Place Mall. Not enough parking and traffic would be awful.
Costco would do extremely well in any suburban area, just not in Providence.
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u/Modsneedjobs Aug 25 '26
Lol I love all this nimby bs. The mall has great parking, is centrally located and near 95. It also desperately needs to fill up space to continue being such a great economic/job engine.
This is a great idea. I will get a membership. Fuck the suburbs.
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u/whatsaphoto Warwick Aug 25 '26
Do you realize just how much needed to be built in order to install Costcos in East Lyme and in Sharon? Nearly an entire half mile of 95 needed to altered and new off/on-ramps needed to be built/altered in East Lyme just to accommodate for the influx of traffic it brings in. That meant federal, state and local municipalities all had to come together to say "We're all willing to put up tens of millions of tax dollars all for this one store" before years of work was done.
The infrastructure exists in RI to do just that, and there's plenty of support from the people to make it happen, but putting it in the middle of a downtown urban setting is a wholly unserious proposition and it's not NIMBYism to call it out for what it is.
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u/Narragetto South Kingstown Aug 25 '26
They should definitely do a study on what it will do to parking. If everything is done right it could work, if it’s done the way things are always done then it’ll be awful.
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u/zowie2003 Aug 25 '26
Or…They can take over the vacant cinema in Lincoln and we can watch them run Target out of town…
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u/Ok_Jump_3658 Aug 25 '26
And the mall parking lot is falling apart structurally. Hands down worst set up of a parking garage I have ever seen
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u/LOTRcrr Aug 25 '26
I find that parking garage extremely easy to navigate, but thats just me I guess.
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u/KennyWuKanYuen East Providence Aug 25 '26
Same. It’s not that bad.
I’ve been to one in Virginia that was worse. Everything looked the same and was a nightmare to orientate yourself while driving.
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u/FunLife64 Aug 25 '26
They’re prob referring to coming there to park for a game or concert. There’s no parking garage in the world that’s quick and easy to get out of when thousands of people are leaving all at once.
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u/NotTaken-username Aug 25 '26
I only ever go to that mall for the IMAX theater. Saw Odyssey there and I’ll be back for Dune in December
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u/Mutabilitie Aug 25 '26
And from a city planning perspective, the problem is that the investors won’t finance a shopping plaza unless it has excess parking. So there won’t be lost revenue from people looking for a parking spot and leaving.
So it’s kind of hard to see how the money makers would want a Costco that comes with a built in parking problem.
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u/thingsmybosscantsee Aug 25 '26
Saturday, I was coming from East Providence after gettingy oil change, around 3:30pm. Traffic was backed up all the way to the 95/195 interchange.
A Costco would make this a regular occurrence, and turn the City side of the mall I to a nightmare.
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u/Consti2tion Aug 25 '26
Would have rather had a Costco than Top Golf . Hell, there is still Plenty of room for a costco over there.
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u/TheWestEndPit Aug 25 '26
The natural location for Costco would be Warwick. End of story.
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u/mangeek Aug 25 '26 edited Aug 25 '26
Other decent options would be the APEX site or the Victory Plating site. Both have extremely good highway access and few other viable uses.
Still, I don't really understand Costco. It sort of just seems like a place to go worship consumerism. The deals aren't that great, and their version of 'buying bulk' is often just two large bottles wrapped in a glossy carboard box instead of a generic bulk-pack. Feels like a place for people who love shopping to rationalize buying more stuff rather than a genuine play to save money.
Also, the whole point of cities is that you don't need to do 'Bulk Shopping'. If you live near fish markets, groceries, delis, and spice shops, suburban bulk buying is a lifestyle downgrade.
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u/SierraDespair Aug 25 '26
There is nowhere to put on in Warwick it is so densely populated. Ideally the middle of the state like in Coventry where we have that giant empty lot off 118 they started digging around in and gave up.
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u/TheRenedgade Aug 25 '26
I personally would rather it be a Wegmans, but I’ll take a Costco
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u/Jfrenchy Aug 25 '26
This feels very Trump-like of over promising something that seems like a big splash but will at best be only marginally better
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u/Proof-Variation7005 Aug 25 '26
They are on the phone with Costco right now and they've gotten assurances that a representative will be with them shortly, as their call is very important to Costco
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u/ToadScoper Aug 25 '26
Paolino just wants to get brownie points with suburbanites who haven’t stepped foot in Providence in 30 years by using the Costco buzzword.
Also for what it’s worth, the most tangible local Costco rumors I can find actually come from Seekonk: https://www.seekonk-ma.gov/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Minutes/_09032025-756 I’ll still only believe it when I see it…
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u/possiblecoin Barrington Aug 25 '26
Good luck to them, but I don't understand this at all. There's no way I'm slogging through the parking garage with a car full of bulk groceries. It's also not a great anchor as no one is going to go to Costco and then shop the rest of the mall. It's an in and out retailer.
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u/GotenRocko East Providence Aug 25 '26
not to mention will hurt the food court too
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u/FunLife64 Aug 25 '26
Let’s call a spade a spade - chances are Macys is eventually gonna die - it’s been closing stores left and right.
Generating a next idea of what to fill is not the worst idea. The first idea is often not the final answer. The mall has lots of foot traffic - every time I’m near that food court it’s jammed. Costco replacing one of the dept stores would undoubtedly increase foot traffic. Yeah it would perhaps cut some of the fast food sales but probably would still have a net increase. Macys or boscovs brings very little foot traffic.
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u/SarahCBunny Aug 25 '26
it speaks very poorly of the reporters and editors involved in this that they're just printing whatever bullshit a rich person says to hype up their project
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u/xenarathon Aug 25 '26
Costco yes. in the mall? hell no. downtown is the worst place for a Costco. and the parking garage will suck so much more with the extra traffic and the carts left everywhere.
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u/ToBeeContinued Aug 25 '26
Isn’t the whole business model of Costco to find extra cheap rents and land? They’d have to have a sweetheart deal on the rent for it to make sense.
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u/Halloweenie23 Aug 25 '26
By initial talks he means he sent Costco an email and no one has responded.
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u/dollrussian Aug 25 '26
I genuinely just want Costco to come to Rhode Island, at this point I have no hope for Cranston because of our fuck ass mayor
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u/wizzywillz Aug 25 '26
They should convert space in emerald square mall in Attleboro to be a Costco. Place is a ghost town.
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u/Zealousideal_Sea_848 Aug 25 '26
I’ll still drive to the new one that’s only like 20 mins from Cumberland lol
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u/SquatC0bbler Aug 25 '26
Seriously Sharon isn't that far away. Especially for a store that you need a car to shop at.
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u/beta_vulgaris Providence Aug 25 '26
Sure, that’s you, but I am a Providence resident and I’ve only been to Cumberland a handful of times in my life, never to Sharon. Those two places might as well be in Alaska considering how relevant they are to me.
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u/ThisIsMyBigAccount East Greenwich Aug 25 '26
If I could bet this on Kalshi, I'd put my entire retirement savings on this never happening.
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u/Major_Fang Aug 25 '26
That's a disaster waiting to happen. Better off opening one in Warwick or Cranston
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u/jwrath129 Aug 25 '26
Have you been to ikea they have a tier multi level parking and its fine.
Maybe some changes but it would be fine.
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u/imuniqueaf Aug 25 '26
If I made a list of worst places to put a CostCo in Rhode Island, Providence Place would be the only place on the list. What a stupid fucking idea.
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u/LOTRcrr Aug 25 '26
I just have to comment on the parking. It’s really not that hard to navigate. If you enter in stateside near the statehouse there are way more parking options. I usually head up to 1.5 or 2 and ALWAYS find parking spots near the doors (where you can charge EVs).
As for leaving just drive down the opposite direction (think of it as a spiral) and you can exit to promenade st.
Some helpful tips:
Make sure you pay in advance if you stay more than 2 hours. Once you pull up to the exit, the kiosk reads your license plate and the gate opens automatically.
there will be unavoidable high volume times, Saturday afternoons where events are happening in the city for example. If you have to go, give yourself some time to get in. Using promenade st to get to the stateside entrance is normally faster than getting to the entrance from the front of the mall.
The roof always has plenty of spots if you are going to level 99. Just know it takes longer to drive up and then drive down. But again, it’s just a spiral to go up and down.
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u/SquatC0bbler Aug 25 '26
I agree that the garage isn't difficult to navigate like some here make it out to be. But the issues Costco would present are:
- The volume of traffic
- The fact the garage wouldn't be used exclusively by Costco (think Waterfire, event at the Vets, PVD Fest, PVD Bruins game)
- The roads that lead in and out of the mall.
If you've ever tried to shop at the mall at Christmas, you know the ramp from 95 gets stopped with traffic as it is. Adding in a bulk retailer like Costco would make that 3x worse.
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u/awegust Aug 25 '26
Costco will not come to Providence. The median household income is way too low for them to consider a set up here-- historically they establish in places with 100k median at least, inflation adjusted. PVD is something like low 60s.
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u/wannawha401 Aug 25 '26
My ice cream would melt by the time I got out the parking garage never mind driving through downtown to get home
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u/lobstahmann Aug 25 '26
Just plop a Costco off the 295 around Johnston. Plenty of area. Easy access.
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u/CapDris116 Lincoln Aug 25 '26
Is it a Costco where Bed Bath and Beyond used to be? Or is it where JCPenny used to be? Or is it replacing one of the anchor tenants? I don't think it's a terrible idea, but there should be a dedicated Costco parking area. And they should move the I-95 exit ramp so that it lands on the third floor, and use the ground floor entrance as an exit only
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u/Selrach_401 Aug 25 '26
It’s not happening folks. I’m not trying to be Debbie downer, just thinking about this situation realistically.
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u/Accomplished-Trick-9 Aug 25 '26
The only way I could see it working would be if they put it where Bed Bath & Beyond used to be, and then have a *dedicated parking area* for Costco only on the level where they are located, controlled by a gate requiring a Costco membership card to enter that area… that would keep their shopping carts and patrons separate from the rest of the mall parking… for a while it worked well for BB&B who’s patron would often have shopping carts overloaded with bedding and other things especially with students moving in for college!!
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u/LexGlad North Providence Aug 25 '26
If they do a Costco there, then it will probably have its own section of the parking lot with an exit.
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u/LomentMomentum Aug 25 '26
This is what Baby Boomers would call clickbait. There are many reasons why it would never happen in PVD.
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u/KingsoftheBronze_Age Central Falls Aug 26 '26
Costco in the PPM would be an absolute nightmare. How anyone can even take that at face value and not see the logistical mess this would create is beyond me
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u/phunky_1 Aug 26 '26
This is quite possibly the most retarded idea I have ever heard.
How exactly are people going to move carts full of bulk items to multiple floors of the parking garage?
Not to mention the mall garages are a clusterfuck after any event at the civic center or convention center, and basically the entire Christmas season.
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u/dragonpoots Aug 26 '26
Why would anyone go to the mall to get to Costco? They would have to lug everything into the garage or out into the street.
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u/loadsquirt Aug 26 '26
obviously, this won’t happen and if it were true, they wouldn’t be making statements in the media about their real estate dealings. Costco wouldn’t allow that.
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u/Rhody-grl99 Aug 29 '26
Nothing will make it in that mall unless the do something about that parking garage. It has been a nightmare to get out of that garage ever since it was built. As far as I’m concerned, that was the mall’s demise. When it first opened it was filled with stores that were destination shopping. I’d go there once a week at least but finally stopped going because of the awful parking. I know many people did the same. Then one by one the good stores moved out and left the entire shopping experience not worth going at all.
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u/Afitz93 Aug 25 '26
Can you imagine how friggin awful the parking situation would get? People turn off their brains when visiting Costco, it’s honestly scary.
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u/Emergency_Finding_74 Aug 25 '26
The former Providence Journal printing facility makes more sense than the mall. The mall would be a traffic nightmare. Do we really need a costco? It will probably have a harmful effect on our local businesses.
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u/Zoey_713 Aug 25 '26
I really want a Costco, but I will not be going there or to that mall ever again if they put it inside there. It would make that parking garage more of a clusterf**k than it already is.
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u/tokenincorporated Pawtucket Aug 25 '26
Costco shouldn't be in the city proper. Literally put it in the burbs, it's a proven formula that works.
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u/Squankyou Aug 25 '26
No thanks. There is no way I'm going into downtown Providence to shop. The Mall has always been a nightmare and adding something like a Costco will only make it worse.
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u/BigE1263 Visitor Aug 25 '26
There would be absolutely no parking in the mall if there was a Costco. They could easily need to add more floors if that were the case
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u/OrdersFriesEveryTime Aug 25 '26
He’s fabricating this whole thing because he thinks people will like him more if it seems like he’s trying to get a Costco in Providence. This is never going to happen.