The first Costco store in New Zealand has opened, and on the opening day it was a huge success, with hundreds of people lining up.
Costco was founded in California in the United States in 1976 and is a membership-based warehouse-style wholesale and retail mega chain with 31 stores in Japan.
Since the decision to open its first store in New Zealand was made, it has been much talked about, and in August this year, prior to its opening, Prime Minister Ardern and the Minister for Commerce and Consumer Affairs visited the store to inspect it.
Huge queues on opening day
The first Costco store in New Zealand opened in West Auckland. It cost about NZ$100 million (about 8 billion yen at 1 NZ$80 exchange rate) to open. This store is the 829th Costco store in the world.
When the store's location was announced in 2019, it was scheduled to open in 2021, but was later postponed to 2022. The planned opening of August 2022 was also pushed back to September. The reasons for this were said to be a shortage of building materials and labor due to the impact of COVID-19. The opening date was only announced two weeks before the store was due to open.
The line started forming the night before the opening day, and some people even spent the night in tents. The line was so long that the store opened earlier than 8am. However, the line continued to grow, and the area around Costco became extremely congested. In the afternoon, the police even issued a warning to Costco.
How did the Kiwis react?
Costco sells some products in bulk, which means they are nearly 30% cheaper than regular supermarkets. Some say that Costco's presence will encourage other stores in the area to lower their prices, and Kiwis who have been struggling with the recent price hikes have high hopes for it.
Here are some comments about Costco on a New Zealand social news site:
"Electronics are cheap. Meat is cheap. But the meat is in bulk. But that's Costco."
“There were American foods for sale that I had never seen in NZ. I bought a big jar of dill pickles and I was excited. The food court was incredibly cheap. The pizza was delicious. The whole roasted chicken seemed to be popular, and there were a lot of people lining up. Gasoline was also cheaper than I've seen in a while.”
"A kilo of (Australian-raised) Wagyu breast was $20 compared to $30 for regular beef at my local butcher!"
And generally it seems to be well received.
In addition, many of the fresh foods, including bread, meat, fish, and fruit, are produced in New Zealand.
No alcohol for sale!?
When Costco opened, the thing that caught my attention was the wine selection. Costco in Japan also has a wide selection of wines from around the world, and they even have New Zealand wines on display.
Naturally, local supermarkets in New Zealand stock a wide range of New Zealand wines. I looked into Costco to see what they had...
Surprisingly, there was no alcohol for sale!
Costco is located in West Oakland, where there is a public body that regulates alcohol sales, and it appears that Costco was unable to come to an agreement with that body, leading to the decision to not sell alcohol.
In New Zealand, the sale of alcoholic beverages was prohibited or regulated until the 1940s. Even though these restrictions have been gradually relaxed in modern times, there are still some areas where the custom of controlling alcohol sales remains due to concerns about the impact alcohol has on society.
In West Auckland, an association was established in the early 1970s to manage the liquor license. A portion of the profits from alcohol sales is returned to the community to support various activities. In the 2003 election, many residents voted to keep the association.
Costco plans to increase the number of its stores in New Zealand in the future. It is interesting to wonder whether alcohol sales will be allowed when they open in other regions.
