On a recent Saturday at 9 a.m., I went to Costco during its new earlier opening hours for Executive members.
What I was expecting was a slightly easier shopping experience. What astounded me was the warehouse was nearly completely void of people: I saw maybe two or three dozen other customers, opposed to several hundred jostling for space to maneuver the aisles.
And so began my step into the bizarro world: Rockstar parking. An employee pushing a 5-foot-wide dry mop through the aisles, unhindered by customers. So few people that several times I left my shopping cart unattended in the middle of the aisle so I could fetch items I’d forgotten in another section of the store. And no lines at the otherwise perpetually crowded weekend checkout lanes…