Costco remains one of the biggest warehouse chains in the U.S., with more than 600 domestic locations listed by the company in 2026. After visits across 10 states, three warehouses in California, Hawaii, and New Jersey stood out because routine shopping took far longer than usual.
The visit across 10 states
The trip covered 10 states and included Costco warehouses in California, Nevada, Arizona, Texas, Florida, Georgia, New Jersey, Virginia, Washington, and Hawaii. In each stop, the same basic factors were checked: parking flow, cart traffic, checkout speed, and how easy it was to move through core sections like produce, meat, and prepared foods.
Three locations stood out during those visits: the Costco in Inglewood, California; the Iwilei Costco in Honolulu, Hawaii; and the Costco in Teterboro, New Jersey. Those sites were not identified by Costco as problem stores, but the conditions observed during separate visits were noticeably more difficult than at the other seven warehouses on the same trip.
The scale matters because Costco warehouses are built for volume. Costco said in its recent company materials that a typical warehouse carries about 4,000 active stock keeping units, far fewer than a conventional supermarket, which is one reason crowding in high-demand zones can have an outsized effect on the shopping trip.
What was confirmed at the 3 locations
At the Inglewood, California, location, the biggest issue was vehicle backup. During the visit, the parking lot lanes near the gas station and main entrance created a slow-moving bottleneck, and carts were backed up near the front doors while shoppers waited to enter checkout lines.
At the Iwilei warehouse in Honolulu, Hawaii, crowding inside the store was the main problem. The location has long been known locally for heavy traffic, and the visit showed especially tight movement near prepared foods, bakery, and refrigerated cases, where shoppers often stopped in two or three rows at once.
At the Teterboro, New Jersey, warehouse, the challenge was the checkout area. Multiple lines stretched deep into the main aisle during the visit, and movement near the front end was slower than at the other East Coast locations on the trip. Costco has not released any public list ranking these stores by congestion, so these observations reflect on-site conditions during those visits rather than a companywide designation.
Why these warehouses felt harder to shop
Each of the three locations sits in a dense, high-traffic market. Inglewood serves a large Los Angeles County customer base, Iwilei is one of the best-known Costco locations in urban Honolulu, and Teterboro draws shoppers from Bergen County and the wider North Jersey area, where weekend retail traffic can be intense.
Costco’s business model also adds pressure in busy stores. The company relies on high sales volume, limited item counts, and destination shopping trips, according to its public investor materials, so congestion can build quickly when parking, food courts, gas stations, and bulk grocery runs all peak at the same time.
For customers, the practical takeaway is simple: these three warehouses may require more time than a typical Costco stop, especially during peak afternoon and weekend hours. Costco has continued expanding and updating operations in the U.S., but the company has not publicly identified these California, Hawaii, or New Jersey locations for specific operational changes as of July 7, 2026.
