Eager shoppers flock to Costco

Colorado Springs’ first Costco warehouse opened Wednesday to a small but eager crowd — a much calmer atmosphere than a VIP preview party the night before.

The two-hour preview Tuesday night, held largely for employees and their families, suppliers, Costco members and local dignitaries, drew about 5,000 people and snarled traffic in all directions at Barnes Road and Powers Boulevard. In contrast, a few dozen people were in line when Costco opened about 7:30 a.m., a half-hour before the scheduled 8 a.m. opening.

Kevin and Debbie Lloyd of Monument were among the first in line. They were there to buy a Wii game system.

The two have been Costco members for years and cite quality and price as the reason.

“And their customer service is phenomenal,” Debbie Lloyd said.

Jim Sinegal, president and chief executive officer of Issaquah, Wash.-based Costco Wholesale Corp., attended Wednesday’s opening, wearing a Costco badge simply reading “Jim.”

The crowd at Tuesday night’s preview would have been typical in, say, California or Washington, Sinegal said, but was a bit of a surprise here.

“We didn’t realize the following we had here in Colorado Springs,” he said.

There are about 7,500 existing Costco members in the Springs area, with new sign-ups in recent days nearly doubling that number, warehouse manager John Wynns said. He said Tuesday night’s crowd was about what the store had planned for as far as food.

“It’s a little unusual for the Colorado area to have that kind of turnout,” he said, “but it was very exciting.”