I braved Costco yesterday. For those reading this in the future, it was a Thursday.
Timing is everything.
I got there at 12:10. Parking was hard to find but it didn't requiring driving around and around and around like the time before. The line to get in wasn't really long but they let people in like a nightclub with a bouncer using a stanchion letting in 6-8 people at a time. (Last time I was there, no limit to people entering). So the line wouldn't move at all for awhile, and then it would move 36-48 feet all at once (everybody 6 feet apart). Although I only waited in line for 13 minutes, by the time I got to the bouncer the line was 4x as long as when I showed up. They were using carts as a crowd control barrier to keep people corralled, and there were at least 2 employees there, in addition to the bouncer, to maintain their entry system.
The line does a "U" shape under cover, I would guess about 20-40 minutes of wait time can fit in the shade. When I came out of the store about 45 minutes later the line was at least 2x as long as when I went in, or about 8 times as long as when I showed up. About half the line, people were in the direct sun. It was hot AF and I felt bad for people standing on the asphalt directly in the Kona sun and it looked like they were at least 20-30 minutes away from the shade.
There was a hand sanitizing station at the bouncer, and he was strictly enforcing the mask rule as well as the mandatory hand sanitizing. One of the employees who was doing crowd control had a big sprayer and was disinfecting the carts before people used them.
I didn't see that they were out of anything. Plenty of TP and paper towels. They had a sign that there was a limit of 1 for TP. I did notice that they only had 2 kinds of flour (all purpose and self rising) whereas in the past they frequently also had bread flour and sometimes organic flour. Even with the crowd control measures to get in, the store seemed just as packed as it always does. I guess I was expecting the shopping experience to be a little improved with less people inside, but that was not the case.
Checking out was a little different. They disinfect the belt (the entire belt, and it looked like at least two times so it was running and running as they wiped it down) and cashier area in between each customer and there is a sign instructing not to approach until called upon. There was a cheap plastic barrier between the cashier and customer with only a tiny sliver of open space to insert payment card. I actually couldn't see/read the payment screen thing because it was at an angle I couldn't get close enough to and when it started honking at me the cashier had to read it to me and explain there was a chip read error and I had to try again. I think all the checkout lines were open. The wait to check out wasn't very long. The lines LOOKED long because of the 6' rule but in reality they were pretty short.
When I was waiting in line to get out of the store after paying, I saw employees sanitizing various things like vending machines, counters, etc. They are taking sanitation very seriously. I probably witnessed literally a dozen employees who's primary job was to sanitize surfaces throughout the store. Including things like refrigeration doors, etc.
When I was pushing the cart to the car I noticed a lot of empty parking spaces, which doesn't make any sense on the surface because the line to get in was 8x longer than when I showed up. Undoubtedly they have some "formula" on how many people they let in, perhaps due to staffing or something to do with the checkout lines.
Oh, and they had a good deal on a solar/battery-powered wireless backup camera for a car. It's basically a license plate frame with a camera and solar panel built into it. And a viewing screen for the dash. It has the option for a graphical overlay to show whether you are "green/yellow/red" to hitting something. Very low profile and many options to mount the wide viewing screen. $52 less than Amazon. My car's visibility out the back is crap and I've been wanting something like this for a long time. Truly plug-and-play. If you can screw in a license plate, you can have a backup camera. No electrical/wiring/car knowledge necessary.
Timing is everything.
I got there at 12:10. Parking was hard to find but it didn't requiring driving around and around and around like the time before. The line to get in wasn't really long but they let people in like a nightclub with a bouncer using a stanchion letting in 6-8 people at a time. (Last time I was there, no limit to people entering). So the line wouldn't move at all for awhile, and then it would move 36-48 feet all at once (everybody 6 feet apart). Although I only waited in line for 13 minutes, by the time I got to the bouncer the line was 4x as long as when I showed up. They were using carts as a crowd control barrier to keep people corralled, and there were at least 2 employees there, in addition to the bouncer, to maintain their entry system.
The line does a "U" shape under cover, I would guess about 20-40 minutes of wait time can fit in the shade. When I came out of the store about 45 minutes later the line was at least 2x as long as when I went in, or about 8 times as long as when I showed up. About half the line, people were in the direct sun. It was hot AF and I felt bad for people standing on the asphalt directly in the Kona sun and it looked like they were at least 20-30 minutes away from the shade.
There was a hand sanitizing station at the bouncer, and he was strictly enforcing the mask rule as well as the mandatory hand sanitizing. One of the employees who was doing crowd control had a big sprayer and was disinfecting the carts before people used them.
I didn't see that they were out of anything. Plenty of TP and paper towels. They had a sign that there was a limit of 1 for TP. I did notice that they only had 2 kinds of flour (all purpose and self rising) whereas in the past they frequently also had bread flour and sometimes organic flour. Even with the crowd control measures to get in, the store seemed just as packed as it always does. I guess I was expecting the shopping experience to be a little improved with less people inside, but that was not the case.
Checking out was a little different. They disinfect the belt (the entire belt, and it looked like at least two times so it was running and running as they wiped it down) and cashier area in between each customer and there is a sign instructing not to approach until called upon. There was a cheap plastic barrier between the cashier and customer with only a tiny sliver of open space to insert payment card. I actually couldn't see/read the payment screen thing because it was at an angle I couldn't get close enough to and when it started honking at me the cashier had to read it to me and explain there was a chip read error and I had to try again. I think all the checkout lines were open. The wait to check out wasn't very long. The lines LOOKED long because of the 6' rule but in reality they were pretty short.
When I was waiting in line to get out of the store after paying, I saw employees sanitizing various things like vending machines, counters, etc. They are taking sanitation very seriously. I probably witnessed literally a dozen employees who's primary job was to sanitize surfaces throughout the store. Including things like refrigeration doors, etc.
When I was pushing the cart to the car I noticed a lot of empty parking spaces, which doesn't make any sense on the surface because the line to get in was 8x longer than when I showed up. Undoubtedly they have some "formula" on how many people they let in, perhaps due to staffing or something to do with the checkout lines.
Oh, and they had a good deal on a solar/battery-powered wireless backup camera for a car. It's basically a license plate frame with a camera and solar panel built into it. And a viewing screen for the dash. It has the option for a graphical overlay to show whether you are "green/yellow/red" to hitting something. Very low profile and many options to mount the wide viewing screen. $52 less than Amazon. My car's visibility out the back is crap and I've been wanting something like this for a long time. Truly plug-and-play. If you can screw in a license plate, you can have a backup camera. No electrical/wiring/car knowledge necessary.