Local
Smithfield site identified for Rhode Island’s first Costco, with zoning changes ahead
Costco plans to build at the former Smithfield Peat property near Routes 7 and 116, Town Council President John Tassoni said Thursday. The store is expected to create more than 200 jobs starting in 2028, but zoning adjustments remain necessary.
SMITHFIELD, R.I. — Costco has selected a site in Smithfield for its first Rhode Island warehouse store: the former Smithfield Peat property at the intersection of Routes 7 and 116, Town Council President John Tassoni said Thursday, Oct. 22.
Tassoni said he contacted the company after it withdrew from a proposed Cranston location. The Smithfield property has been vacant for several years, he said, and the project will require some zoning changes.
“I’m assuming that the Zoning Board and the new Town Council that’s going in would be in favor of this,” Tassoni said in a radio interview. He called the project significant for both Smithfield and the state.
Helena Foulkes, a Costco board member who is also the Democratic candidate for governor, announced the company’s plans earlier Thursday. In a statement, she said the store would bring more than 200 jobs to Rhode Island beginning in 2028. She also said residents had told her they were tired of traveling to Massachusetts to shop at Costco.
The announcement follows years of efforts to land a Costco in Rhode Island, including proposals for sites in Cranston and discussion of a possible location at Providence Place. The closest store to Providence is in Sharon, Massachusetts, about 24 miles away; it opened in 2025.
The Smithfield project still faces local zoning steps. BJ’s Wholesale Club, a competitor, already operates three Rhode Island locations, including a market in Warwick.