“In California, you just park and go,” she tells me.
That’s roughly one Costco for every 300,000 people.
In Brooklyn, home to over 2.5 million New Yorkers, there is only a single location.
Chris Shott/Eat This, Not That!
The parking lot is nearly impassable with all the idling cars waiting for spaces to open up.
The line to the returns desk stretches out the door.
The food court is standing room only.
A typical Monday morning at Costco in Brooklyn, N.Y.Chris Shott/Eat This, Not That!
It’s my very first day as a Brooklyn Costco shopper.
But, as I would learn over the next several months, it’susuallythis busy at Costco in Brooklyn.
We’re talking weekends, weekdaysany day, really.
When the Brooklyn lot is full, Costco shoppers often make their own parking space.Chris Shott/Eat This, Not That!
The relatively modest-sized, 143,000-square-foot warehouse is Costco’s first U.S. store with two floors, according toSupermarket News.
Electronics, household essentials, pharmacy, and food court are located on the ground floor.
But it paid-off handsomely for the company.
You won’t hear Costco execs complaining.
It was so successful that Costco reportedly considered opening another location in Brooklyn.
Unfortunately for shoppers, that second Brooklyn store never materialized.
“I will now drive an extra 30 mins to avoid that store.
Even though they pack a lot of stuff into that store, the lines are horrible.
Very difficult to get a parking space.
Extremely cranky Costco employees.
The people that shop there are worse.”
Addedanother, “Sometimes it’s likeHunger Gamesthe way people come at you with their carts.”
Parking is certainly a problem.
You’ll also commonly see cars parked on top of the surrounding landscaping.
It’s a very noisy lot, with near-constant honking and shouting between drivers competing over limited spaces.
The escalator area is another point of dysfunction.
To no one’s surprise, Brooklyn failed to make the Top 10.
The only real shock is that it didn’t come in dead-last at 482nd.
As a Brooklyn resident, I demand a recount!
It’s truly hard to imagine another store being any worse than this.
Costco did not respond to my questions about the Brooklyn warehouse.
“It’s not just Costco,” she tells me.
“It’s living in this towneverything’s a pain in the ass.”
