Bulk good food items were flying off the shelves on Thursday morning as Costco devotees welcomed the opening of the US giant’s Ipswich store.
Several hundred people lined up for hours ahead of the opening to be among the first people into what is only the second Costco store in Queensland.
Among them were neighbours Rebecca Platell and Jasmine Lawlor who staked out their spot at the front of the line at 11pm on Wednesday night.
“I finished work and came down here. I’d been planning it all week. It’s exciting to be the first customers into the store,” she said.
Ms Platell and Ms Lawlor spent the night on camp chairs as they waited for the roughly 7.30am opening. Not a lot of shut-eye was had as workers were on sight in the wee hours preparing for the big day.
“There wasn’t a lot of sleep because they were gurneying the concrete early, getting it ready for this morning,” Ms Lawlor said.
Gailes man Peter Dever makes his way to the checkout with a giant teddy bear.
Gailes man Peter Dever grabbed one of the more unusual items inside the 14,000 square metre warehouse, a giant stuffed teddy bear.
“It’s for my six-month-old daughter. It’s the only thing I came in for today. I’ve already got two more at home, for my other two children,” he said.
Brooke Norgrove enjoyed her first Costco experience, loading up her oversized trolley with goodies for the Ipswich Basketball Association ahead of an event this weekend.
“It’s really good. I’m impressed by the quantity of products and the pricing is pretty good,” she said.
Many walking the aisles of the Ipswich store on Thursday were longtime customers of Costco’s North Lakes store, with all who spoke to Ipswich First happy to have a warehouse closer to home.
That included Jason Hartfield of North Ipswich who was doing his regular shop with son William.
Jason Hartfield of North Ipswich shops with son William.
“We’ve been going to the North Lakes store for a few years because you can save a lot of money on groceries and fuel,” he said.
“We go about every two months, but now this store is open, if we run out of something we won’t have to hold off, we’ll be able to just drop in and get it.
“It’s great to have Costco close to home.”
Costco Australia managing director Patrick Noone said he expected about 10 per cent of customers who previously shopped at North Lakes would now choose to shop at the Ipswich warehouse.
Customers are also likely to be drawn from areas further out such as Toowoomba and Esk.
“We looked at where people drive from to get to North Lakes and there are a lot of members in Gold Coast and in the Ipswich area,” he said.
Gallery:
“I think when you look at the whole map there are about 20,000 members who will come down here to shop at Ipswich, which is great for them because it’s closer.
“We’ll see how it works out because somewhere in the middle of Brisbane there is a dividing line where people will naturally go one way and naturally go the other. It’s always a good conundrum to try and guess where that line is.”
Costco Ipswich is at 1 Wood Street, Bundamba.
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