I feel the same way OP. Haven't had a membership for years.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It’s the snow and the semi-holiday week, plus Gaithersburg. Normal weekday at Wheaton is fine.

People don’t work in Gaithersburg?

The Gaithersburg Costco is generally more hellish than the Wheaton Costco.

My experience too. The Gaithersburg one seems to have a lot of East and southeast Asian families who shop together. And by together, I mean grandparents, parents and three kids. It’s hard to maneuver around all of them.

Snow is coming, OP! This isn’t the time to go to Costco or even Giant!

Right before it snows is NEVER a good time for Costco. Let alone most people still are not back to work from the holidays. You picked a bad day to go.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It’s the snow and the semi-holiday week, plus Gaithersburg. Normal weekday at Wheaton is fine.

People don’t work in Gaithersburg?

The Gaithersburg Costco is generally more hellish than the Wheaton Costco.

The only time I enjoy the Gaithersburg Costco was when my son had soccer practice nearby from 7:30-9pm and I'd go right before they closed on like a Tuesday.

Sunday mornings DURING church time can be counterintuitively good (I think there's a lot of overlap between Costoco families and church people).

Fairfax is equally bad. It's a DMV costco thing.

We've been to others out of state and down south and they're much more navigatable.

You just have to mentally prep for it - crowds, slow people, big carts, and block off 2 hrs of your day (depending how far of a drive it is).

You picked the absolute worst possible Costco location on earth to visit. The Gaithersburg store was a disaster 20 years ago when I went there for the first time after moving to the area. I never returned until 2 weeks back and it was like deja vu. I usually go to the Wheaton Costco which is a lot better. And everything that I can get shipped I do.

omg this post is so timely! we JUST joined Costco today mainly for upcoming international travel but I've been itching to join and the travel put the decision ahead. Was thinking, hey let's take a little evening field trip to Costco to check it out. The weather is bad-maybe people will be choosing to stay home but after reading this, maybe we should rethink it. lol So, what are everyone's favorite Costco items??

Anonymous wrote:It’s the snow and the semi-holiday week, plus Gaithersburg. Normal weekday at Wheaton is fine.

People don’t work in Gaithersburg?

It’s the snow and the semi-holiday week, plus Gaithersburg. Normal weekday at Wheaton is fine.

Lol. Yeah -- don't go on a Saturday afternoon, lol.

This is why I get things shipped from Costco instead. It is worth it based on the time saved and aggravation avoided. Congrats on your membership, now make your shopping list online!

Ha ha. I just got home from the Gaithersburg Costco. Yes, it was a zoo today. Like you, I didn't think a Friday mid day run would be too bad but I was wrong. Guess everyone is stocking up for the snow storm.

For parking, just park under the covered area and wheel your cart down to unload. The top lots are crazy. The bottom area, while a bit more inconvenient, usually has spaces and it's not like playing frogger.

If someone took your half full cart, they just made a mistake. People will take an empty cart if they need it, but not a 1/2 full one.

Overall I agree. Gaithersburg is one of the worst locations. My son has a weekly activity in Glen Burnie and I enjoy shopping there so much more.

I am a foolish, foolish person. I decided to join Costco, and picked today to go and do it, thinking mid-morning on a weekday while people were at work would be smart. I went to the Gaithersburg location. OMG. It’s like if Gladiator and Squid Game were documentaries. The parking lot must qualify as one of the top 5 most populated cities in the U.S. just getting into the store— across the cross walk and through the entrance— required feats of aggression and a willingness to sacrifice elderly parents, young children, your limbs. Eventually I did make it inside with a cart and did some shopping, only to have my cart “taken” when I turned my head to look at something (or maybe they just took all the stuff in it, as there was an empty cart where my half full one had been when I turned back around).
To sum up: Costco has Kerry Gold butter for a good price, but I can’t imagine how I will ever succeed in buying it.