Costco Border War in Washington is Heating Up
There is conflict building on America's border over groceries as our neighbors to our north flood wholesale stores in an attempt to save money, but it has some locals fuming.
Costco is one of America's largest wholesale chains, providing big savings to those who wish to buy in bulk, but inexpensive prices and a strong Canadian dollar are drawing large crowds of Canadians to a Costco in Bellingham, Wash.- only about 25 miles from the suburbs of Vancouver, according to CBC.
Given the state of the economy, some might expect shoppers to seek the best possible deals to save money. However, some Washingtonians are calling for "American only hours" because the large increase in shoppers is making it difficult to shop by flooding the parking lot with Canadian shoppers.
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"I'm like, look, Canadian, Canadian, Canadian plates," one shopper from Washington told KPTV, adding: "Costco is a nightmare, even on a Tuesday afternoon, when I'm like, 'don't these people work?'"
To deal with parking lot issue, Bellingham police revealed that Costco is now paying for an off-duty officer to handle the parking lot crowd two days a week, as reported by KIRO.
In addition the parking lot fiasco, a Facebook page has been set up for people to share their feelings with many sharing the sentiment that the store needs to expand.
"Costco and other big box companys in this area need to be allowed to expand or move to larger areas. Bellingham Coscto is in the top ten profitable Costcos but is still top ten smallest stores," read the Facebook page.
But Canadians are also voicing their side explain that saving money on groceries is a top priority.
"We shop regularly in the States, especially for groceries. I can advise that organic goods are pretty much the same cost as regular goods… On average, you're looking at saving about 50% in terms of groceries," Henry Tenby, of CrossBorderShopping.ca, told CNews.
