iStock.com/JeJim
June 30, 2025
Will Costco’s New Hours for Executive Members Drive Growth or Create Headaches?
Costco announced earlier this month, via a June 11 email, that as of Monday, June 30, it would be introducing exclusive daily shopping hours for its Executive-level members. And while operating hours vary from market to market, the move has stirred controversy among shoppers.
According to a breakdown of the news by Axios, the early shopping hours available to Executive members are:
- Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 10 a.m.
- Saturday, 9 a.m. to 9:30 a.m.
- Sunday, 9 a.m. to 10 a.m.
In instances wherein locations were already opening at 9 a.m. for all members, Costco also announced public-facing remarks on that issue.
“Our U.S. locations that currently open at 9 a.m. will transition June 30th to limiting access to Executive Members only during the times outlined,” the warehouse club indicated.
Also, according to the outlet, several Reddit commenters had stated that certain Costco locations had already been opening at 9 a.m., with a note indicating that “a grace period for Gold Star and Business members will be in effect through August 31.”
Costco’s New Hours for Executive Members: A Wise Move, a ‘Money Grab,’ or a Headache for Workers (and Shoppers)?
Logically, the move might make sense — after all, Executive members comprise nearly three-quarters (73.1%) of Costco’s sales despite representing just under half of its total membership base (around 47%).
In conjunction with recent price hikes that took effect Sept. 1, 2024, which saw Gold Star and Business memberships tick upward to $65 annually (from $60) and Executive memberships rise to $130 (from $120 previously), there can be little doubt that Costco is banking on more customers trading up to a higher-tier membership based on the exclusive shopping hours.
On the other hand, social media commentary was decidedly mixed over the move.
“Corporate announcing this with 3 weeks notice, while in the middle of a hiring freeze, AND severely cutting hours? Costco is not the same company it once was,” said one user in an r/Costco thread on the subject. “Non executive members are just going to bully themselves in and we will be told to do more with less, as we have been.”
On a second thread, the top-voted comment (attracting over 900 upvotes) was negative in nature, although a nested reply (garnering nearly 500 upvotes) rebutted it.
“Wow never expected they would do this. My Costco is often too crowded so it may be a benefit even if it feels like a money grab. Also happy to see them open later on Saturdays,” the top comment read.
“It’s history. This was how Costco was when I joined. That little extra hour in the morning is amazing and totally worth the cost,” the reply read.
On a more recent thread, home to more users claiming to be customers rather than Costco employees, a few more positive comments appeared — although commentary was still divided.
“Can’t wait for this, I like popping in and out as quick as possible, and this should be easier,” one user wrote.
“[Forty-seven percent] of memberships are executive. If we all show up at 9 a.m., it might not be as carefree as you think,” a second warned.
Whether the bid for Costco to swell the ranks of its Executive cardholder member base will pay off remains in question, but the notion of expanded operating hours has many people talking — whether they work for the warehouse club or simply love the idea of coming in early to snag a deal.
Discussion Questions
Will Costco’s strategy tied to exclusive hours increase sales and drive profit through increased executive memberships? Why or why not?
Will any discontent surrounding the new operations continue to make waves on social media, or will it evaporate over time as the standard becomes the new norm?
How can Costco best leverage these earlier hours in order to further incentivize Gold Star or business members to buy in?
Poll
Loading …BrainTrust
Warren Shoulberg
Senior Contributor, The Robin Report
Scott Benedict
Founder & CEO, Benedict Enterprises LLC
David Naumann
Marketing Strategy Lead - Retail, Travel & Distribution, Verizon
Recent Discussions
More Discussions
Is Cyber Week Set To Smash Sales Records This Year, as Salesforce Suggests?
Salesforce suggests that Cyber Week will set records in terms of sales this year. Is this…Should Target Associates Be Mandated To Smile?
Target’s 10-4 plan calls for associates to be much more involved in greeting customers, as part…Will Target and ChatGPT’s Team-Up Actually Improve the Retailer’s Fortunes?
The Target app is hitting ChatGPT soon. Will it move the needle in Target’s favor?
The earlier hours add another benefit to the Executive tier of the membership program. Yes, it may cause a little confusion (and even resentment) but it may also encourage some people to trade up to a higher tier. It’s not as if other tiers lose anything as the opening hours will remain the same as they are now.
Google is now paying $300 to $500 per hour for doing work online work from home. Last paycheck of me said that $20537 from this easy and simple job. Its amazing and earns are awesome. No boss, full time freedom and earnings are in front of you. This job is just awesome. Every person can makes income online with google easily….
.
More Details For Us→→→→ https://tinyurl.com/googlejob6
Exclusive hours may appeal to some customers seeking a more personalized service, but they may also alienate others who are inconvenienced by the restricted access. This limitation may deter potential executive members from shopping during the designated times, potentially resulting in a loss of sales. Furthermore, managing these exclusive hours could entail additional operational costs, which could offset any potential profit increases.
This is yet another brilliant move by Costco, which continues to run rings around most other retailers. By treating its best customers best it reinforces why you should be a best customer. Remember the supermarket chain that set aside a checkout lane for shoppers with more than 25 items while the competition was doing less-than-ten-item lanes? Reward your best customers and you’ll get more of them. Not rocket science… not even retail science.
We know Costco’s profit model is based on its annual membership fees. My math isn’t fully accurate, but if roughly 5% of 2024 73,000,000 current Gold Star members buy up to Executive Level, a nice $234,000,000 drops directly to the bottom line.
Like Disney parks and ski resorts with premium tiers for first entry and shorter lines, this will interest some customers in seeing if it saves time, hassles.
In the club world sometimes membership fees are the difference between making a profit and not. It is a fine balance between driving sales and Memberships. The extended hours are a great benefit for both in-store shopping and BOPIS to have the extended hours and less shopper competition for the higher tier which is often hard to show value to. Form a club operations point of view it should not be a major lift as there are already employees in the store replenishing the clubs.
Without a doubt, Costco has excelled at developing its Executive Membership penetration. It has also shown value in its membership programs for decades, which has underpinned its success. Sam’s Club has offered early access to its Clubs to Plus Members for years, after initially only offering it to Business Members.
However, taking away access to a part of its member base that has historically had it seems like a questionable approach. Adding value to a membership is always a winner; taking benefits away from some members…not sure about that. Time will tell…
Yes! Sample size of 1, me. Kudo’s for giving everyone the opportunity at the additional hours, by just buying up in customer tier. Also, this is not taking away anything from other tiers. A Win-Win for sure!
Keeping the executive shopping hour windows relatively short is a smart strategy. Plenty of Costco members travel from afar to make dedicated stock-up trips. To unknowingly arrive at 9:00 and be refused entry would be annoying or infuriating depending on the shopper. Maybe taking Costco’s infamous hot dog and beverage deal out to the parking lot will help take the edge off.
Love the hotdog in parking lot thought!
It is a smart strategy to offer Executive-level members an additional perk with extended hours. The only concern, may be the hassle it will create for employees at the front door enforcing the rule and potentially dealing with angry customers. As Costco looks to expand the benefits of its Executive membership, there may be other ways to offer limited products or exclusive discounts that would help entice customers to upgrade their membership.
Gee! a whole 30’…good grief I’m sure every issue, however trivlal, someone will (try and) make a cause….this strikes me as that.
It’s the retail version of Disney’s rope drop. LOL
The policy itself I don’t really have an opinion about; what annoys me, is RW’s (continued) describing as “controversy” the fact that someone somewhere doesn’t like something and wrote a post about it…the storming of the Bastille this ain’t!
This is about membership optimization. Costco is simply returning to a proven differentiation model that worked for decades (Price/Costco and later as Costco) before it was abandoned around 2005. This creates a clear financial win with minimal operational costs and easy tech-enabled enforcement, rather than requiring new infrastructure.
The social media backlash is a temporary case of loss aversion among Gold Star members who benefited from an unintended upgrade for two decades. Meanwhile, Executive members who remember the original model will welcome its return.
Terrific and overdue additional benefit for Costco Executive members. Matches what Sam’s Club has done. Paying double for an Executive membership should earn members perks like this.
This is all about retention and giving more value to their most valued customers. Curious if internal data indicates that the existing hours were being underutilized? Either way, Costco is a brilliant operator; they have a knack for doing the right thing, and I’m sure this will be in line with their brand from that perspective.
This is a smart strategy. Giving early access to Executive members adds real value without taking anything away from others. It will likely encourage more members to consider an Executive upgrade, strengthen loyalty, and recognize high-value customers. With clear communication and smooth in-store execution, this can lead to meaningful growth in Executive memberships.
Despite some pushback & confusion, this represents Costco’s attempt to add a potentially desirable benefit to executive members, who generate nearly three quarters of Costco sales. This is really a ‘no brainer’.
Costco’s membership fee is one of the best vaules in retail. Arguably #1 or #2 against Amazon’s Prime fee dpending on your perspective. And now Costco will add a little more value to that segment of their shoppers that does a disproportionate % of their sales. Smart, and high incentive to move up the membership ladder. If you have ever shopped at Costco at a high traffic moment, this might actually change your shopping plan for the day.
It is amazing what passes for news these days. I remember when their competitors had exclusive hours for businesses and after a few months, nobody cared and doorcheckers wouldn’t enforce it anyway. I expect a lot of members will just blow off the checker and see if they are willing to be confrontational. I doubt it. This is just a made for press release event that successfully got Costco attention in the press and (foolishly if you fall for it) upsales for a “deluxe” membership that promotes overspending and overconsumption. My spending at all warehouse clubs has dropped significantly in this economy and being willing to seriously comparison shop. Groceries are often cheaper elsewhere and I frequently find better rated products at lower prices online. Their bakery is pretty good and when they have exactly what I want I will buy it there if the price is right, but those around me with top tier memberships also seem to be buying a lot just to buy. That can save you right into the poorhouse.
Early access for Executive members is a perk. For those members who aren’t at the Executive level, this is an incentive to upgrade them to a higher membership. I can’t see this as a problem. After all, it is a club, even if they are considered a retailer.
I get paid over 220 Dollars per hour working from home with 2 kids at home. i never thought i’d be able to do it but my best friend earns over 15k a month doing this and she convinced me to try. it was all true and has totally changed my life. This is what I do, check it out by Visiting Following Website
HERE—————⊃⫸ Www.Work44.Com
Benefits should be additive. Keeping others out is neither inclusive nor much of a benefit. Costco can do better.