Costco Wholesalers, Inc. came one step closer to starting operations in Puerto Rico with the purchase of land for its new store in the Bayamon area. The store will be located directly in front of a large food store operated by the Supermercados Amigos chain. It appears that Costco may also be interested in acquiring two pieces of real estate that were recently purchased by Home depot in Caguas and Bayamon. If those two purchases go through, the first Costco store could open in 2001, because all necessary permits have already been secured. Costco stores, which have been operating in Latin America (Mexico) for over five years, focus on volume food sales in addition to offering a wide range of household items. In the Puerto Rican market, Costco is a direct competitor of Sam's Club outlets. The Puerto Rican stores will add to the 316 Costco outlets which already operate in Canada, the UK, Japan, Korea, Mexico, Taiwan, and the US.