Shoppers notice it immediately. Longer lines at checkout. Aisles jammed with carts. Parking lots that fill up fast. Data confirms the impression. Visits to Costco warehouses have jumped 18.1% between the first quarters of 2019 and 2026. Yahoo Finance reported the surge. The increase stems from more than simple population growth. Value draws people in. And they stay loyal.
Gas prices tell part of the story. Members save about 34 cents per gallon at Costco pumps compared with local averages. That adds up quickly for households filling multiple vehicles. Groceries deliver even bigger relief. Costco prices run roughly 21% below the national average according to Consumer Reports data cited in the same report. Families stretch budgets further here. They buy in bulk. They return often.
But higher membership fees have not slowed the rush. In September 2024 Costco raised annual charges. Gold Star memberships moved from $60 to $65. Executive tiers rose from $120 to $130. The adjustment hit about 52 million accounts. Many grumbled. Yet paid membership counts kept climbing. Total cardholders reached 147.2 million in early 2026. Executive members alone drive over 74% of sales.
Traffic Keeps Rising Despite Policy Changes
Crackdowns on membership sharing added friction. Food courts sometimes close early. None of it has dimmed enthusiasm. Placer.ai tracked the patterns closely. The analytics firm recorded 6.0% year-over-year foot traffic growth for Costco in Q3 2025. The chain led mass merchants in September and October that year. Placer.ai noted the gains. Warehouse clubs as a group outperformed many big-box rivals. Sam’s Club rose 3.2%. BJ’s climbed 5.9%. Walmart managed only 0.4%.
Costco responded to congestion with a practical move. Many locations now open an hour earlier for Executive Members. The program began in summer 2025. Data shows it worked. Peak afternoon and evening crowds thinned. Visits spread more evenly across the day. Shoppers lingered in the 30-to-45-minute range more often. Fewer rushed under 30 minutes or stretched past 45. The change created breathing room for everyone. Elizabeth Lafontaine, Placer.ai’s director of research, pointed to the strategy. “Costco has centered its in-store experience on meeting shoppers’ needs, which has increased loyalty and attracted new, younger members,” she told Moneywise via Yahoo Finance.
Lila Margalit, another Placer.ai analyst, offered a sharper view on fees. Raising the cost of commitment “may be discouraging casual or opportunistic users while deepening engagement among shoppers who do the math and shop more frequently to justify the fee.” The math favors frequent trips. Bulk buys. Gas discounts. Those elements compound. So traffic builds.
Longer stays compound the density. Costco shoppers average 37 to 40 minutes inside according to earlier Placer.ai findings. That exceeds Walmart and most grocers. Treasure-hunt merchandising encourages browsing. Rotating deals pull people deeper into the warehouse. Pallet displays and high racks create an industrial feel. Yet the experience lands as calming for some. One shopper called her local Costco a “safe space.” Comedian Sheng Wang captured the hassle in a 2022 routine. “If I can’t find parking in under eight minutes, I drive away.” The New Yorker explored these contradictions in October 2025. Shoppers complain about crowds. They keep coming back.
Costco executives view the pressure as a sign of strength. CFO Gary Millerchip addressed expansion directly. In comments tied to second-quarter results showing 9.1% sales growth to $68.24 billion and 14% net income increase, he outlined plans. The company intends to open 28 new warehouses in fiscal 2026. Half will land in the United States. The rest spread across Canada, Mexico, Europe, Asia and Australia. One confirmed site sits in Port St. Lucie, Florida. Millerchip emphasized long-term thinking. “We tend to look five to 10 years out in terms of our real estate plans, and we would still see a really good roadmap for 30-plus warehouses a year, which is the goal that we have at least achieving 30 new warehouses a year.” Inc. covered the remarks in April 2026.
Average annual sales per U.S. warehouse reached roughly $260 million to $279 million in recent tallies. Productivity per square foot lands near $1,700 to $1,800. Those figures dwarf typical big-box metrics. Lean staffing helps. One employee per 416 square feet. High throughput from pallet sales and limited SKUs keeps labor costs in check. Members accept the no-frills format. They expect to navigate crowded floors. Many treat the trip as routine.
Ron Vachris, Costco CEO, has called the membership card the most important item sold. The New Yorker captured that line. Word of mouth powers much of the brand’s pull. No heavy advertising. Just consistent value. Hot dog and pizza prices that refuse to rise. Kirkland Signature products that deliver quality at scale. These details build identity. They also build volume.
Yet the model faces tests. Inflation data shows food prices still rising, albeit slowly. CPI for all items gained 3.3% in the year to March 2026. Consumers hunt bargains. Costco captures them. Younger members join at higher rates. The chain’s digital sales grow too. E-commerce traffic jumped in recent quarters. Same-day delivery partnerships expand reach without adding warehouse density.
Even so, physical stores bear the load. New openings aim to redistribute crowds. Existing warehouses see interior upgrades and occasional relocations. The goal remains clear. Protect the treasure-hunt feel without losing efficiency. Spread traffic. Maintain high sales per square foot.
Analysts watch renewal rates. They remain strong. Membership income grew double digits after the fee hike, with organic gains still in the 7% range excluding the increase. That revenue stream funds lower merchandise margins. The formula holds. But sustained 5% to 6% traffic growth strains capacity in mature markets. Hence the accelerated build plan.
Shoppers adapt. They arrive early. They shop midweek. Some avoid weekends entirely. Others accept the chaos as part of the deal. Bulk purchases mean fewer total grocery trips. One crowded visit replaces three or four runs to conventional stores. Time saved elsewhere. Money saved overall. The value equation persists.
Costco’s scale reinforces advantages. Supplier terms improve with volume. Kirkland products undercut national brands while preserving margins. Gas margins stay thin to drive memberships. Every piece connects. Crowded aisles signal success. They also signal limits. New warehouses will test whether the model scales cleanly into the next decade.
For now the warehouses stay full. Lines form. Carts bump. Receipts grow. Members calculate their savings and renew anyway. The data shows no slowdown. Visits rise. Sales rise faster. The formula that built Costco keeps delivering. Even when the aisles feel tighter than ever.