Costco makes unusual store-closure announcement

The early 2020s may be come to be known as the era of great consolidation.

In the retail space, many specialty or legacy stores have closed thanks to a decline in interest, foot traffic, sales or all of the above.

And while plenty of these stores have left behind empty lots, a number of shopping centers now feature discount big-box stores, like Walmart, Target (TGT) , Costco, BJ's (BJ) and TJ Maxx (TJX) .

Many customers love these stores because they offer a little bit of everything, typically at big discounts. And since they're large companies with pricing power, you can usually pick from a broad selection of both brand names and generic, in-store labels that save you even more money.

Another point: Since none of these stores are mom-and-pop shops, many of us have gotten used to dashing out to them at a moment's notice.

Gone are the days of stores closing at 7 p.m. and shuttering early on the weekends. Now, many of these large-scale corporate stores host early and late hours in an effort to accommodate as many busy schedules as possible and capture sales.

Customers shop in the packaged snack aisle at a Costco store.

Customers expect convenience over everything

To this end, many U.S. consumers have come to increasingly rely on the near ubiquity of convenience stores and big-box retailers.

A lot of us take for granted that these stores are open practically all day, every day — even during some of the biggest holidays. After all, Black Friday beckons retail stores to open just hours after Thanksgiving Day dinner in the hopes of attracting huge crowds of shoppers in search of early holiday sales.

Especially once things reopened following covid, practically nothing — from inclement weather to bad news to holidays — could shut down a major operation like Walmart (WMT) or Costco.

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And people came back to in-person shopping in droves. Many of us also came to expect the availability of fast shipping from the big companies. Thanks largely to Amazon's (AMZN) trailblazing efforts, we now think of one- or two-day shipping as the norm. Which means fulfillment centers and delivery drivers must also keep longer hours to keep up.

Costco will close stores this May

That breakneck pace, however, can drain employee morale. Worker attrition became a big issue during and immediately after the pandemic, as a crush of foot traffic resurged and increased theft made stock keeping more trying.

So some retailers have curbed their all-day operating hours in an effort to attract and keep their workforces. Walmart has begun scaling back certain operating hours and even closing on some holidays.

And now Costco (COST) has followed suit, announcing it will shutter on Memorial Day 2024, which falls on Monday, May 27.

While Mondays are typically one of the busiest shopping days of the week as folks procure groceries and other supplies for the week ahead, the retailer said it would shutter completely for 24 hours.

Memorial Day is one of just seven days Costco closes entirely. The others are:

New Year’s Day
Easter Sunday
Independence Day
Labor Day
Thanksgiving Day
Christmas Day

But Costco is largely an exception this Memorial Day, as plenty of other big-box stores will remain open for last-minute barbecue and summertime needs.

Some of the other stores staying open on May 27 include:

Albertson’s
BJ's
Fresh Market
Kroger
Publix
Safeway
Target
Trader Joe’s
Walmart
Wegmans
Whole Foods

Costco will reopen on Tuesday, May 28, running its regular hours, which are typically from 10 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. on weekdays, and 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on weekends.

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