I upgraded my Costco membership to shop during its new executive member hours. I felt like I had the store to myself.
I upgraded my membership to shop during the executive member hours and loved how empty it was.
When I visited, there were no lines to enter the store, check out, or buy food at the food court.
Costco's new executive membership is the TSA PreCheck of grocery shopping, and I'm here for it.
As a frequent visitor of Manhattan's only Costco location, I usually wait in a long line to get into the store first thing in the morning and then stand in another long line at checkout.
When I heard Costco was reinstituting shopping hours exclusively for executive members as of June 30, I was eager to see whether it would result in a less crowded experience. I paid an extra $65 to upgrade my membership from the Gold Star level, and I'm pleased to report that it was absolutely worth it.
Here's what it's like to shop during Costco's new executive member hours.
The only Costco store in Manhattan is inside East River Plaza, a shopping complex in East Harlem.
Other Costco stores in the New York City area are in Brooklyn and Queens.
I arrived about 10 minutes before 9 a.m., when the store would open for executive members only.
Costco's revamped executive membership, which costs $130 a year, includes an exclusive hour of shopping on weekday mornings. The stores open at 9 a.m. on weekdays and Sundays for executive members and 10 a.m. for Gold Star and business members.
The parking garage featured lots of empty spots since it was so early — a surprising perk.
I normally have to circle the garage a few times to find parking, but arriving an hour earlier than the general public meant that there were plenty of open spots.
At 8:56 a.m., a few other executive members began to line up by the doors, but it was nothing compared with the line that usually snakes outside the store.
As we stood at the entrance, we joked about pushing past each other to get inside first. Clearly, there was no need to jostle for a better spot in line.
For context, this is what the line looked like before opening when I visited the previous month.
When I shopped at Costco in June, I encountered the usual long line outside the store.
When the doors opened at 9 a.m., I noticed new signage indicating executive members' extended shopping hours.
Costco executive members get an extra hour of shopping in the morning on weekdays and Sundays, and an extra half hour on Saturdays.
A sign at the card scanning kiosk also advertised the new benefits that come with an executive membership.
In addition to extra shopping hours, Costco's executive membership includes a $10 monthly credit on orders of $150 or more when ordered via Instacart or Costco's same-day delivery service and an annual 2% reward of up to $1,250 on purchases.
I scanned my shiny new executive membership card for the first time and headed inside.
When the line outside the store gets extra long, I've seen Costco employees scan people's membership cards while they wait to allow everyone to enter the store faster. With a smaller crowd, there was no need, so I scanned my card myself.
I've never heard Costco so quiet.
The aisles were wide open without the usual crowds, and it felt much quieter without the usual sounds of rattling carts and conversation among shoppers and employees.
This earlier hour of store access also seemed well-suited for those who need a more sensory-friendly shopping experience.
The rotisserie chickens weren't ready yet first thing in the morning — one disadvantage of arriving so early.
Costco's rotisserie chickens retail for $4.99 each and are known to fly off the shelves.
But I enjoyed not having to climb over people and squeeze past carts to reach a carton of eggs in the refrigerated section.
Because the refrigerated section is a smaller room, I've found it can take some extra maneuvering to reach the items inside when the store gets busy.
The checkout aisles were emptier than I've ever seen them.
Only one or two checkout aisles were open for the early hour of shopping, and self-checkout was closed, but I didn't have to wait at all before loading my items on the conveyor belt.
There were no lines at the food court either, another rare sight.
At the Manhattan location where I usually shop, the food court is almost always full of customers waiting for their orders. If I'd wanted to start my day with a $2.99 cold brew mocha freeze or $2.99 smoothie, it would have been a quick pit stop.
I completed my Costco grocery run just after 10 a.m., when the store opened to all other members.
I finished my grocery shopping before the opening rush with the added perks of plentiful parking, less-crowded aisles, and shorter checkout lines — all before the store even opened to other members. To me, that's worth the extra $65 a year.
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