Costco’s first store in China was forced to shut down early on opening day after swarms of shoppers descended on the retail giant, causing chaotic overcrowding, CNN reported.
“The store has been clogged up with crowds,” a message from the parent company sent to Chinese members read. “To provide you with better shopping experience, Costco will suspend business in the afternoon. Please don’t come.”
While American consumers are familiar with navigating a busy Costco, they probably haven’t seen anything quite like this.
Scenes of frenzied shoppers elbowing each other out of the way for rotisserie chickens quickly emerged. Those who did manage to grab what they needed off the store’s shelves faced up to a two-hour wait in the jam-packed checkout lines.
Meanwhile, those arriving late to the opening soon found themselves mired in heavy traffic.
The parking lot was so busy, the store posted a sign noting a three-hour wait for a spot. Cars waiting for parking created a traffic jam, causing a nearby school to warn parents that school pick-ups would be affected, NBC reported. “Please expect the student dismissal this afternoon to be severely delayed due to the grand opening of Costco Supermarket,” the message read.
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The police were forced to issue a statement about the crowding as well.
“For your safety, we hope citizens who want to go to Costco can maintain a rational attitude about consumption and avoid going out during rush hours. Those who have already gone there, you must follow orders,” the statement read.
Costco has promised to take some measures to try to “lessen the disturbance” in the future.
Police will be helping out with traffic flows around the store, and the company says it will only allow 2,000 shoppers in the store at any given time from now on. Costco will also alert its members via text message if the store is experiencing long wait times and when the store is nearing capacity.
Costco also issued an apology on Chinese social media platform WeChat.
“We’d like to apologize for the inconvenience caused to our members on our warehouse opening day in Shanghai,” the statement read.
