Facebook page calls for American-only hours at U.S. Costco
Fed up with long lines, rude Canadians at Bellingham, Wash. store
CBC News
Posted: Aug 12, 2012 1:24 PM PT
Last Updated: Aug 12, 2012 1:23 PM PT
Related
Related Stories
External Links
(Note:CBC does not endorse and is not responsible for the content of external links.)
Many Canadians are taking advantage of the high Canadian dollar by shopping across the border — with cheap milk and gas being two of the big draws — but some Americans are fed up with the cross-border crowd.
Some Bellingham, Wash., residents started a Facebook page calling for American-only hours at the local Costco.
On the Facebook page "Bellingham Costco needs a special time just for Americans," residents write they have seen flats of milk stripped away in seconds.
Some write they have to wait in long lines at the Costco gas station as Canadians fill up first their cars, and then their gas cans.
Some Bellingham, Wa., residents are fed up with British Columbians that are crowding the local Costco, and parking badly in the store's lot.
(Facebook)Others have posted photos of cars with B.C. licence plates that take up more than one parking space.
Some just complain about Canadians being rude.
Ken Oplinger, president of the Bellingham/Whatcom Chamber of Commerce, is urging locals to have patience for their Canadian visitors. Without them, he says, the living situation in the city and county would be quite different.
"In the last two years, our sales tax generation has doubled or tripled the pace in the rest of the state, and it's almost entirely because of the Canadians coming south," he said.
The administrator of the Facebook page, which had over 2,000 "Likes" as of Sunday, posted a message earlier this week telling Canadians they are not being blamed.
"To our Canadian friends on here that think we hate you: You have to look at the root of the problem. Bellingham has laws that keep big box companies from expanding. The overcrowding in this small, slow paced town has agitated people," the note said.
A spokesperson for Costco said the Bellingham store is bursting at the seams, and the company would love to expand the Bellingham store.
It would also like to install more lines and pumps at its gas station, but there's no room to do so on the current property.
While the Bellingham Facebook community page implores Costco to set aside special opening hours for Americans, just as it used to do for preferred customers, some commenters want the Canadians just to go away.
A senior VP told CBC News the store isn't looking to change its policy on shoppers, which is that anyone with a Costco membership can shop at any Costco store in the world.
According to a report by Seattle's KIRO TV, Bellingham police said Costco is now paying for an off-duty officer to handle the parking lot crowd two days a week.
With files from the CBC's Kirk WilliamsShare Tools
Latest British Columbia News Headlines
- McDonald's CEO chastized by 9-year-old B.C. girl
- A girl from Kelowna, B.C., is making international headlines for chastizing the CEO of McDonald's during the corporation's annual shareholders meeting in Chicago on Thursday. more »
- Dog snared on baited hooks near Grouse Grind trail
- RCMP in North Vancouver have issued a warning after a dog was snared by a cruel trap set with baited hooks near the Grouse Grind Trail yesterday morning. more »
- Railway conduit planned to ship oilsands bitumen
- With massive pipeline projects mired in controversy, the need to move crude oil to market could mean a big new boost to Canada's rail sector. more »
- VIDEO: Cruise ship chaos kicks off season in Vancouver
- The unofficial start to the cruise ship season kicked off in downtown Vancouver on Friday as more than 11,000 passengers got on or off three ships docked at the terminal at Canada Place. more »
Must Watch
Top News Headlines
- Will Rob Ford's supporters leave Ford Nation?
- The growing controversy over a purported video alleging to show Toronto Mayor Rob Ford smoking crack cocaine may be testing the faith of even his most die-hard supporters. But experts say Ford's policies may trump whatever personal issues he's facing, and that his supporters may rally behind him. more »
- Royal Bank pledges not to outsource jobs for cash savings
- Royal Bank has promised it will never outsource a Canadian job to a foreign worker solely to save money. more »
- Neil Macdonald: How serious is Obama about curbing the drone surge?
- In a key speech this week, the U.S. president set out a host of supposed new safeguards for America's controversial practice of remote-controlled rough justice. But as Neil Macdonald writes, the underlying rationale for drone use has not fundamentally changed. more »
- Making The Mandela Tapes
- Producer Robin Benger describes how he obtained broadcast access to interviews Nelson Mandela recorded in the 1990s. A CBC Radio Ideas program on the Mandela tapes airs May 28. more »
- Toronto Mayor Rob Ford denies using crack cocaine
- The mayor of Canada's largest city told a packed news conference that he doesn't use crack cocaine and isn't a crack addict. more »
- Dog snared on baited hooks near Grouse Grind trail
- UBC student took 'nose dive into water' after bridge collapse
- Motorists warned to avoid Washington bridge collapse area
- VIDEO: Cruise ship chaos kicks off season in Vancouver
- McDonald's CEO chastized by 9-year-old B.C. girl
- Vancouver man abandons Porsche on B.C. ferry
- Railway conduit planned to ship oilsands bitumen
- Man 'lucky to be alive' after Washington bridge collapse
- Washington police blame bridge collapse on Alberta trucker

