Costco’s Kirkland Signature Brand Celebrates 30 Years

Three decades after launching its private label brand Kirkland Signature in 1995, Costco is celebrating the 30th anniversary of its proprietary product line. Over a thousand Kirkland trademarks are filed worldwide, with the private label generating approximately $86 billion annually, which is about one-third of the retailer’s total revenue today. 

Kirkland Signature follows a unique product strategy, as the line offers household items like batteries, laundry detergent, diapers, hair products, olive oil, and maple syrup — all under the same brand name. But that wasn’t always the case.

Between 1981 and 1991, leadership at the retailer began noticing price increases for name-brand products — like Clorox, Gillette, and Quaker Oats — carried in Costco stores. Around the same time, Costco co-founder and former CEO James (Jim) Sinegal also observed that customers in Europe were starting to choose private label items instead of name-brand options, and the ideas for what would become Kirkland Signature were taking shape.

How Kirkland Signature was created

Following Sinegal’s insights, Costco introduced nearly 30 different private label brands in the early 90s, each with its own distinct brand name, including Chelsea toilet paper, Meridian coffee, Cloud detergent, Pinnacle legal tablets, and more. The warehouse retailer would produce these items at competitive prices to offer better deals on quality products for its members.

In 1995, Sinegal was motivated to unify all products under one private label after a warehouse manager in Los Angeles struggled to recall the name of one of Costco’s many in-house brands. To simplify branding for its private label items, they were grouped under a single name: Kirkland Signature.

The first Kirkland Signature items to hit shelves were shampoo and multivitamins. Today, the brand offers a wide variety of products, including snacks, frozen meals, pantry staples like peanut butter and chicken stock, wine, ice cream, clothing, household items, pet supplies, beauty products, and everything in between.

The Kirkland Signature brand now offers over 500 products, many of which are favorites among Costco shoppers, such as the well-known rotisserie chicken, maple syrup, basil pesto, extra virgin olive oil, and vanilla ice cream.

When the private label was launched, Costco’s headquarters were in the small city of Kirkland, Washington, which inspired the name we all know today. However, this wasn’t the company’s first choice. Costco initially considered “Seattle Signature” as the name of its private label, only switching to Kirkland after the first trademark suggestion was rejected. 

Kirkland Signature products must meet strict quality standards

Most retailers avoid using a single brand name for all their private label products because they worry that a negative experience with one product category could turn customers away from the brand entirely. To ensure customers always have a positive experience with its products, Costco guarantees that every item sold under the Kirkland name stands for two things: outstanding quality and affordable prices.

Sinegal and current Costco CEO Ron Vachris told The Wall Street Journal earlier this year that Costco’s primary goal has always been to carry a limited selection of the highest quality products.

That doesn’t mean having few products in stores — we all know how large Costcos are — but rather offering a small number of options per category, such as two diaper brands instead of five. Sinegal noted that, “One of the significant disciplines of our business is the limited selection.”

In its magazine, Costco Connection, the store confirms that even today, “every Kirkland Signature item must be personally approved by Vachris,” and a final authorization meeting is held for every product.

Vachris previously told The Wall Street Journal that “I’m the last sign-off on every Kirkland item,” and reveals that he has withheld approval for a Kirkland product until certain improvements were made. (For example, Vachris initially said no to the Kirkland Signature Breakfast Sandwich because it didn’t contain enough bacon.)

Kirkland products must meet strict quality standards established by the chain, which often surpass industry standards.

As Food & Wine reported earlier this year, Costco’s milk undergoes stricter testing and quality control than what the United States government requires, including extra audits of supplier facilities that don’t meet the retailer’s standards. The result is milk that customers say lasts longer than other brands, demonstrating how this attention to detail can benefit you at home.