COSTCO has made four major changes to its stores, from opening hours to the food court.
The changes have seen a cult classic food court item introduced and a massive expansion plan get underway.
Costco has made four major changes to its stores, from opening hours to the food court[/caption]
Costco has recently announced four changes to its store operations.
Not all of them have gone down well with shoppers, but it has seen the arrival of a highly anticipated food court favorite.
1. FOOD COURT HEAVEN
After waiting since March, fans at the food court have finally seen the introduction of the Combo Calzone.
The item is only $6.99 and comes with filled with pepperoni, sausage, cheese, tomato sauce, onions, peppers, olives, and mushrooms.
It also comes in at 1,080 calories.
On social media, shoppers have expressed their excitement about the calzone addition.
One person said: “This looks delicious!! I know what’s for dinner tonight.”
Another chimed in: “My stomach is bubbling!!”
2. POLICY SWITCH SLAMMED
But customers have slammed Costco for another food court change, namely the order numbers not being called out anymore.
It has been called out for being inefficient by customers.
One customer revealed the policy switch: “My local Costco recently stopped calling out order numbers.
“So last time I was there a whole bunch of people were just standing around waiting for the number to be called.”
“Eventually somebody saw this tiny sign that said that they’re not calling out numbers anymore and so people formed a rough line which then grew quickly as they very slowly got out one order at a time.
“It was not great and not efficient.“
Costco classic food court items
- Hot Dog with Soda – $1.50
- Pepperoni or Cheese Pizza slice – $1.99
- Rotisserie Chicken Caesar Salad – $6.99
- Turkey and Swiss Sandwich – $6.99
- Double Chocolate Chunk Cookie – $2.49
Others online criticized the new policy: “This new scheme of waiting in line before anyone starts to make your order is slow and stupid.
“Change it back. I had to wait in line 10 minutes for a hot dog and a coke.”
3. NEW STORES
Costco is planning to open 27 new warehouses by the end of 2025, as confirmed by its CEO Ron Vachris.
He said: “For this fiscal year, we expect to open 27 new warehouses, including three relocations for a total of 24 net new buildings.”
Seven of those stores are set to open next month, with two of them in Canada and one in Mexico.
The remaining four will be based in the US.
The opening dates are:
- Rimouski, Quebec (opening Aug. 5)
- The Villages, Florida (opening Aug. 6)
- North Guadalajara, Mexico (opening Aug. 7)
- Richland, Washington (opening Aug. 8)
- Allen, Texas (opening date TBA)
- East Newmarket, Ontario, Canada (TBA)
- Spring Valley, Nevada (TBA)
Costco is also planning to open 10 of the locations in the fourth quarter of the year.
4. HOURS CHANGE
The fourth change at Costco is the switch in Executive members, as they will now be given an extra hour to shop.
It will allow them to enter the store before anyone else.
Executive members will now get to shop from 9am onwards, an hour earlier than those with Gold Star and Business memberships.
On Saturdays, this will be pushed up to 9:30am.
“Our Executive members are our most loyal members, and we want to reward them for their commitment to Costco,” the company told Business Insider.
