Costco Shopper Asks 'Who Else Has a Terrible Entrance?' The Horror Stories Are Unreal
It is a truth universally acknowledged that certain grocery stores are notorious for having terrible parking lots (Trader Joe's, I'm looking at you), but not enough is said about store entrances that are so terrible, you're tempted to just turn around and go home.
For some reason, Costco is infamous for this issue, thanks to commonly sharing a retail cluster with other stores and restaurants. For example, my local Costco complex in Marina Del Rey, CA, has a Valvoline, gas station, and In-N-Out all essentially sharing the same entrance and exit, which makes shopping at peak hours… challenging. But that's nothing compared to other Costcos across the nation which appear to have been designed for maximum chaos, if certain customers are to be believed.
One Costco member from Robinson, Pennsylvania shared a picture of their local Costco in the same shopping complex as an Aldi, Taco Bell, Valvoline, and Goodwill, all sharing the same entrance and exit. "Who else has a terrible entrance? I avoid this place on weekends. It gets absolutely ridiculous. I'm sure you can imagine," the Redditor said. Hundreds of responses indicate yes, almost every Costco has an issue with their parking and entrances but if you read on, some are clearly worse than others.
Marina Del Rey Costco
It looks like I'm not the only one frustrated with the Marina Del Rey Costco layout. "The one in Marina Del Rey shares the lot with In-N-Out. Big mistake. Parking is all but impossible," one Redditor said. "The one closest to me has nothing next to it and is not super crowded and very easy to get in and out so I got really lucky. The other two near me are always super packed and hard to navigate. I hate going to them."
Monterey Park Madness
It turns out things could be a lot worse than just having an In-N-Out next to your Costco. "Have you been to the one in south Monterey Park?" one member said. "The Costco there shares a lot with In-N-Out, Chick-Fil-A, and Home Depot, among other establishments. And there are only two bottleneck routes in and out of the lot. It's a nightmare." Another responded, saying, "Yup! I hate how they planned it for optimal businesses but not for flow or direction. And that Costco entrance is a death trap."
Mountain View Mayhem
One Redditor from Mountain View mentioned how terrible their local Costco setup is. "There's one in Mountain View that's close to that, In-N-Out is across the minor road from Costco and there's a McDs and Krispy Kreme in the Costco lot. It's a mess," they wrote. "Lol good times in college when I'd get stuck parking between McDonald's and Krispy Kreme just so I had to walk across the parking lot dodging multiple cars to get into Costco," another member responded.
Everett, MA Costco
One Redditor called the Everett, MA, Costco something akin to purgatory. "Was going to say this! Target/Home Depot/Costco plus a bunch of other stores/restaurants in one place with ONE exit/entrance. Thank exits one lane into a round about. People have been trapped in that parking lot for over 6 hours trying to leave. It's crazy!" another agreed.
Christiana, Delaware
One Redditor mentioned the Christiana, DE, Costco's "horrible entrance". "I came here to say this. Everything about the Christiana Mall and surrounding area is such a poorly planned nightmare," another shopper agreed. "Went there once on my way from PA. Never again. That whole tristate corner is a NIGHTMARE. But also anything even mildly urban in Delaware is a nightmare. It's like they only want farmers so they make everything else as punishing as possible," another commenter shared.
Almaden, San Jose
One commenter threw Almaden, San Jose's hat into the ring. "The primary entrance/exit bisects a four-lane freeway offramp. Rush-hour is chaos," they said, sharing a picture. "That is diabolical," an appalled Redditor responded. "I jump on the bus from SJ downtown to the Senter Road Costco primarily so I don't have to deal with parking there. All the Costcos in the south bay are nuts. I think most people circle in the parking lot looking for a space longer than it takes me to get there on the bus," another said.
Teterboro, New Jersey
One Redditor shared details of a nightmare Costco setup in New Jersey. "Teterboro also shares a parking lot with a strip mall, Chick-Fil-a, BJ's brewhouse, and a Walmart. Though there are multiple exits, every one of them funnels out to the same highway (route 46). Gas lines are easily 7-8 cars per pump at Rush hour, which happens to be by the main exit."
Tukwila, Washington
Costco shoppers really do not like the Tukwila, Washington, setup. "Tukwila, WA entrance is awful," one Redditor said. "Literally was going to reply with Tukwila says, 'Hold my beer'. Costco is my happy place, but I will drive 15 miles further to avoid both the parking lot and the interior that can best be described as a labyrinth," another agreed.
Arlington, Virginia
Arlington, Virginia has a Costco shoppers call "the worst." "I lived next to it and didn't even wanna walk through traffic to get to it," one Redditor shared. "Yup – the backup to even get into the parking lot is awful. Battling with the people looking for a surface spot isn't fun either when you're innocently trying to go to the parking garage of doom and get into the store. I'd drive the 45 minutes to Leesburg sometimes to just avoid it," another agreed.
Niles, Illinois Is "Absolutely Loathed"
Shoppers have very strong opinions about the Niles, IL Costco. "Niles, IL is pretty horrible. At least Costco gas pumps are located south of actual Costco," one customer said. "We must be neighbors. I absolutely loathe this entire development. Whoever planned this should be jailed," another agreed.
St. Louis, Missouri
The Costco in St. Louis, MI, is not for the faint of heart. "South St. Louis County MO. Costco, Target, hotel, Ulta, tire shop, Hobby Lobby, bank, ATT, 3 restaurants and a furniture store all share the same entrance and exit," one shopper posted, sharing a picture.
New Orleans, LA
Costco shoppers at the New Orleans location mention the incredibly difficult design of the entrance and lot. "The Costco in New Orleans is pretty bad. There are no left turns out of the parking lot, it's bordered by three one-way streets and a highway overpass. There's a weird cross-street (with a stoplight!) that limits the size of the lot but separates the gas station from the rest of the store, and getting out heading towards the middle of the city means at least one U turn and involves the busiest street in the city," one customer shared.
Norwalk, Connecticut
Several Costco members mentioned the Norwalk, CT, location.
"Norwalk CT was bad before but with the current construction it's horrible. Can't wait for it to be completed," one member said. "Fellow Norwalker here and yeah, the combination of the Exit 13 northbound exit dumping into Rt 1 right before the Costco entrance with no dedicated right-turn lane into Costco, the other small plaza with AT&T, the one-lane in/out, the narrow lot, the basement lot having only one way in/out, the tire center…" another agreed.
West Plano, Texas
The West Plano Costco is "terrible", according to shoppers. "It's along a highway and feeder road but if you want to go the other direction, you have to cut through a Home Depot parking lot to get to Park Blvd," one Redditor shared. "There's a traffic light there but there's no road and so you have people merging from different sides around the Crumbl Cookie store to get to the street."
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