Costco magic may be melting away amid rush and crush of Covid-19 panic shopping

LINING UP TO SHOP: This morning, I stood on one of 3 lines split off from a fourth line of Costco Wholesale members who showed up at the warehouse in Teterboro, N.J., during the hour reserved for people 60 years old and older like me.

 Why isn't the special hour 

for seniors in force every day? 

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

HACKENSACK, N.J. -- My decades-long love affair with Costco Wholesale was sorely tested today.

I showed up at the Teterboro warehouse during the special hour reserved for shoppers 60 years old and older (like me) in response to the Covid-19 pandemic, hoping the line would be shorter.

Instead, I found a long, serpentine line and no signs to help me navigate.

I had to ask employees in the parking lot where the line began, then show my I.D. to a police officer, before realizing to my horror that the line I was on was being split into 3 other lines. 

I asked Costco

Checkout went much smoother, but I question why the special senior hours (8 a.m. to 9 a.m.) are available only on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays.

Aren't seniors one of the biggest, if not the biggest, slice of the membership in the warehouse club?

When I posed those questions in an email to a spokeswoman at Costco headquarters in Issaquah, Wash., she replied:

"As you can imagine, Costco has received several requests from the media for more information about how Costco is handling the surge of interest in response to the coronavirus as well as our measures to provide a safe environment.

"Costco is not staffed to respond individually to all those questions."

First day?

When I saw so many older members like me on the line this morning, I thought this was the first day the special hours went into effect.

In fact, an employee in the parking lot using a bullhorn apologized for the long line, saying Costco didn't anticipate such a robust turnout.

But when I called the administrative staff later, a woman told me the special senior hours have been in effect for "weeks."

Organics

An increasing number of organic products at great prices have made me a loyal Costco shopper in recent years, including the items I purchased today:

Kirkland Signature Organic Quinoa from Peru (4.5  pounds for $10.89), Earthbound Farm Organic Spring Mix (1 pound for $3.89, 10 cents less than in 2005), Earthbound Farm Organic Spinach (1 pound for $5.49), Organic Kiwis and Organic Bananas (3 pounds for $1.99).

Other great items in my cart included a tray of fresh, wild-caught Monkfish, harvested in the United States ($6.99 a pound), Polish Sausage made with 100% grass-fed beef; and a bag of raw, sodium-free, steam-pasteurized California Almonds (3 pounds for $12.79) that I roast in the oven and dust with Vietnamese cinnamon (another Costco product). 

Out of stock

But in recent weeks, Costco hasn't been able consistently to keep a large number of other items in stock.

For example, no toilet paper was to be had today.

But the warehouse offers other items of only limited appeal, including a 1-pound package of dried Sea Cucumber from Canada ($44.99) that I saw today. 

Even more annoying than that during the pandemic is that Costco continues to move items around in the cavernous warehouse to create what is referred to as a "treasure hunt." 

That ensures members have to walk every aisle to find items on their shopping list and in the process, Costco hopes, discover and purchase impulse items.

Today, as in previous visits to the Teterboro warehouse and the Costco Business Center in Hackensack, I haven't been able to practice the social distancing recommended during the pandemic, even though aisles are wider than in a traditional supermarket.

It would help to make aisles one-way, as they are at the ShopRite in Paramus.

Read: Grocers aren't always ready

 for early business

SOCIAL DISTANCING: At checkout, a Costco employee enforced social distancing, but even the wide aisles in the warehouse make keeping 6 feet apart difficult, because members are searching for their favorite items, which aren't always in the same place.

FOR SEA CUCUMBER FANS: The warehouse was out of toilet paper, but offered a 1-pound package of dried Atlantic Sea Cucumber for $44.99.

PLEXIGLASS BARRIERS: Costco has done an excellent job using plexiglass barriers to separate employees of the membership and returns desks, above, as well as those at registers and at exits, from shoppers.