Costco continues to expand its Bay Area reach with the opening of a new location in Pleasanton on Nov. 27th.
The warehouse is located at 7200 Johnson Drive and includes a gas station. It will be the third Costco in the Tri-Valley, an area encompassing Dublin, Livermore, Pleasanton, and San Ramon.
With city officials saying the store has been nearly a decade in the making, residents have been looking forward to the opening for quite a while. But on top of providing a new, affordable option for the shoppers of Pleasanton, Costco managers claim that the warehouse will bring around 380 new jobs to the city as well, according to ABC7 News.
“Having this Costco in Pleasanton is amazing,” said Yashvi Shah, a sophomore at Carlmont who often visits family in Pleasanton. “I can’t wait to shop there with my cousins every time we visit.”
Shah was also present during the opening ceremony of the new Costco. Although Shah loves Costco, she says that her love for the store is mild compared to the people she witnessed camping out at the new location days before the opening.
“It was really crazy. Right off the bat, getting into the parking lot was a struggle. We got there at 6 a.m. and didn’t even park until 6:45 am because traffic in and around the parking lot was so bad,” Shah said. “When we got in, I remember seeing rows and rows of tents.”
Shah was relatively late compared to other shoppers. Despite Costco’s policy prohibiting lining up before 6 a.m., some shoppers began lining up overnight. The store opened between 7:30 a.m. and 8:30 p.m.
“We were pretty far back in line. I guess we should have gotten there earlier, but while I love Costco, I don’t love it that much,” Shah said.
However, the campers had reason to wait as long as they did. Upon the opening of a new Costco, there are generally rare or limited edition items for cheap prices that attract collectors and customers. In the case of Pleasanton, these items included limited-edition bottles of bourbon and other spirits.
Prices for some items were marked down by more than 50%, including Blanton’s Single Barrel Bourbon at $59.99, compared to its usual $150 retail price, and Eagle Rare 10 Year Bourbon at $32.49, which can typically cost more than $60, according to the San Fransisco Chronicle.
Another appeal of the opening was their fully stocked shelves. Being on the day before Thanksgiving, the grand opening attracted customers looking for last-minute Thanksgiving ingredients that were out of stock at other grocery stores.
“I’m so relieved I found out about this,” said Gautham Venkatesh, a Bay Area resident who hosted a Thanksgiving feast. “I had been looking for a turkey all day, but everyone was sold out, except for the new Costco.”
The opening of this Costco marks the second of two new Bay Area locations. The first, in Napa, opened Oct. 15 and created 350 new jobs. That store also features Costco’s largest wine collection in the U.S., commemorating the region’s wine culture.
These two stores are precursors to an intense expansion of Costco warehouses for the 2025 fiscal year. They plan to open 29 new stores this upcoming year in North American markets, according to the Seattle Times.
“I’m glad to see my favorite grocery store doing so well,” Shah said. “I think it’s great how they strive to bring quality, quantity, and affordability to all people all around the U.S.”
