On May 28, the first Costco store in Nanjing opened its doors to customers. The store was originally scheduled to open at 9 a.m., but due to the long queues forming as early as six to seven in the morning, they decided to open the doors before 7 a.m. The store was crowded with people, and even three Hermès bags were quickly sold out as soon as the doors opened, with continuous restocking of popular items like the “Strawberry Bear”.
By a little after 9 a.m. on the 28th, the road about a hundred meters from Costco was already experiencing traffic congestion, with many vehicles unable to even enter the parking lot and having to park on nearby roads and in surrounding neighborhoods.
Consumers told local media that the store had to open early due to the excessive number of people queuing up.
According to Modern Express, at the scene, a blue tent was set up outside the Costco store, with the queue of people constantly moving forward. Staff on-site held up signs indicating that it would take about an hour to enter, leading some to leave, but many others kept joining the line.
Inside, there were also long queues, stretching as far as the eye could see. “We drove here from Gulou early in the morning. Since we’re already here, let’s just go in and take a look. We can’t go back empty-handed,” said Ms. Chen, a local resident who waited for over an hour to get into the store, only to find long lines at the checkouts.
Before the opening, Costco attracted attention with Hermès bags that didn’t require a reservation. Three Hermès platinum bags, which were placed on shelves on the opening day, were quickly sold out. The two bags with a size of about 25 centimeters were priced at ¥169,999.9 each, while the 30-centimeter bag was priced at ¥177,999.9 each.
A customer mentioned that when she arrived at the store around 8 a.m., the bags were already sold out.
Staff members noted that the 43-degree Moutai liquor priced at ¥1,099 per bottle was quite popular among some male customers.
The adorable “Strawberry Bear” became the star of the store, with the 80cm bear priced at ¥399.99 each, and the giant Strawberry Bear priced at ¥1,999.9 each. Many customers took photos with them, some couldn’t resist hugging them, and a young man even bought two at once. Staff mentioned that the “Strawberry Bears” were being restocked continuously as soon as they were put out for sale.
Reportedly, the gold counters were also crowded, with gold prices ranging from ¥630 to ¥680 per gram. “Gold is currently priced at ¥700 per gram, so it’s a bit cheaper here,” said a staff member.
Additionally, the popular ¥39.8 roast chicken, along with items like ¥99.9 cherries per box, ¥145.9 golden pillow durians each, ¥51.9 blueberries per box, Australian steaks, and Australian black tiger prawns, were among the fresh and cooked foods that many citizens placed in their shopping carts.
Ms. Hong and her daughter specifically drove from Qinhuai District to shop, filling their carts with pork belly, chicken legs, broccoli, and pea shoots. “There’s quite a variety of items here, and we have a family of five, so we’re buying a bit more.”
It was reported that Costco Nanjing’s opening days (May 28-30) implemented a reservation system with different time slots, allowing 7,000 reservations per time slot from 9:00-13:00, 13:00-17:00, and 17:00-21:00, aiming for a maximum of about 20,000 daily footfall. Members could make reservations through the official Costco app.
The app showed that all time slots for the 29th and 30th were fully booked.
Member Wang had booked early for the first batch of entries. He told Times Finance, “I’ve been seeing a lot of advertisements for Costco lately, so I felt curious and excited before the opening.”
Costco didn’t offer him many surprises. He mentioned that while some international brands had discounts, they weren’t particularly attractive to him. He planned to observe after the initial excitement of the opening wore off before ultimately deciding whether to keep his membership. Wang is also a member of Sam’s Club and has made multiple purchases at Sam’s before.
The opening of the first Costco store in Nanjing came just three days after the opening of Sam’s Club in Jiangbei, Nanjing.
Two membership store brands with close opening times are now competing in various aspects such as hardware and products. With the increasing overlap in site selection between Costco and Sam’s, they are facing more stringent evaluations and choices from consumers.
According to sources close to Costco, as of the opening day, the number of cardholders had exceeded 100,000. This means that based on the lowest membership fee (¥299, discounted to ¥199 for the opening), Costco had already recorded at least ¥20 million before the opening.