Eager shoppers surge to new Costco

It was a big day for the City of Weatherford, the Weatherford Chamber of Commerce, and aficionados of Costco as the major retailer held its grand opening at 7 a.m. on Saturday, March 15.

The day started much earlier not only for the staff of the store, but for would-be customers who began lining up during the night to be among the first to enter the store when it opened.

Rosendo and Rebecca, residents of Fort Worth, arrived about 1 a.m. to be the first in line.

“She loves Costco,” Rosendo said of Rebecca. “She’s never been to a grand opening, and we only live about 30 minutes away, so we thought we’d make the trip.”

It took a couple of hours for the next couple of places in line to fill up, but about 3:30 a.m. Nancy and Samuel Linguist took their place in line. They live only a half a mile away, so the trek wasn’t difficult.

When asked why they decided to go to the opening at 3:30 a.m., they replied simply “something to do.” Though not previous Costco customers, they obtained a membership card the previous Wednesday.

Just before the 7 a.m. ribbon cutting festivities, a line of eager customers snaked around the building as, in the parking lot, members of the Weatherford Chamber of Commerce and Weatherford city officials awaited their roles in the event.

Weatherford City Manager James Hotopp told The Community News that a development like Costco is a huge event for the city.

“It's a signal of the strong local economic growth that we've got here in Weatherford and Parker County, and we' super happy to have it,” Hotopp said. “Putting a store like Costco on the ground is a huge effort on a lot of people's parts.”

Hotopp pointed to Parker County’s extension of Clearfork Road and TxDOT’s improvements to the highway.

“Those are all things that go on behind the scenes, but that's what allows Costco to locate here.”

As the local business crowd gathered for the ribbon cutting, Weatherford City Council member Matt Ticzus welcomed the crowd and spoke. 

“Today we celebrate a big win for our local economy,” Ticzus said, “especially the more than 200 high-paying jobs that this store brings to this community.”

Ticzus spoke about the three “Ps” related to Weatherford: peaches, partnerships, including partnerships with Parker County and TxDOT, and people.

In relation to partnerships, Ticzus pointed out that the store was built out in 140 days.

“Although we are growing, we treat each other like family,” Ticzus said.

Costco General Manager Dan Rioux told the group “of all the municipalities we have partnered up with, this has by far been the most supportive that we’ve ever encountered.”

Rioux pointed out that the Weatherford store is the 50th opening in the Texas region.

Tammy Gazzola, president of the Weatherford Chamber of Commerce, said “we are proud to have Costco as part of our Weatherford community.”

With that, chamber members, Costco staff, and city officials gathered while Rioux cut the ribbon.

Once the cut ends of the ribbon fluttered to the ground, the waiting customers were formed into two lines, and in something akin to the loading of Noah’s Ark they began their entry of a new shopping journey.

“It came together really well wi support from the city and support from the county — this has been a great team effort all around.,” Rioux told The Community News after the ribbon cutting. “We’re very happy to be here.”

For Rioux, this is his fifth Costco store opening. He is relocating to the area after a stint in Oklahoma City.

Costco is the third-largest retailer in the world.