Costco started opening early for executive members a month ago. Now I wish they'd done it sooner.

Business Insider's Dominick Reuter visited Costco several times in July when the store opened early for executive members.Dominick Reuter/Business InsiderCostco started opening stores an hour earlier for Executive Members to shop one month ago.Costco shoppers, including myself, welcomed the early hours, but I initially heard concerns from workers.Several visits by BI seem to show the strategy is off to a smooth start for the company — so far.When Costco said it would start opening early for executive members, bringing back a key perk, I had reason to be wary.As a dad of two toddlers, 10 a.m. is practically lunchtime, so the option to do my warehouse run an hour earlier was welcome news. But I've also been covering this business long enough to know that this change wouldn't be as simple as rolling open the doors.In June, workers told me that the company was making some adjustments in terms of daily scheduling and operations. They also said it wasn't investing in additional staff hours to handle the extra time.That raised some red flags."It's going to be an absolute nightmare," one front-end manager told me at the time.The checkout lanes weren't immediately open at 9 a.m.Dominick Reuter/Business InsiderBut as the weeks have gone by, it seems that the new hours are working reasonably well — for executive members and the company.UBS retail analyst Michael Lasser said in a note earlier this month that the move could give Costco a financial lift this quarter and beyond.A spokesperson for Costco did not respond to a request for comment on this story.My colleague Talia Lakritz and I each upgraded our Gold Star memberships specifically to take advantage of the perk.We both visited Costco several times this month during the new executive hours (she's in New York, I'm in Wisconsin) and found well-prepared stores and quiet aisles.Most recently, I arrived about 10 minutes before 9 a.m. Tuesday. By the time the doors rolled up, a dozen shoppers were waiting to get in.Costco shoppers wait to enter a warehouse in Wisconsin at 9 a.m.Dominick Reuter/Business InsiderThis Costco warehouse is the longest-standing of the three in my area. Even though it's usually very busy, it's still surprisingly quiet compared to other big-box stores, which often have music on the loudspeakers or customer chatter as background noise.The new executive hours are even quieter.There were a few signs that staff might have been unable to complete all their tasks prior to opening: a stray shopping cart full of baked goods, and a floor scrubber passing down the aisles.Other than those details, the merchandise was well stocked and pristinely organized — not the slightly disheveled look that pallets of goods can get when they've been picked over by bargain hunters.Neatly stacked loaves of bread at Costco.Dominick Reuter/Business InsiderBy 9:30 a.m., the self-checkout area and two open checkout lanes were doing brisk business, so it would appear that an extra hour of sales each day would be good for the warehouse's top-line results.The earlier opening could also alleviate the traffic that the company has said is a challenge for some stores by spreading visits across more hours.As 10 a.m. approached, I saw a few dozen shoppers waiting in the cart area until the regular member hours began.Two store employees told me that they hadn't noticed any major difficulties with opening the warehouse earlier and that executive members seemed to appreciate the extra time.One worker said some Gold Star members were less thrilled with not being allowed in, but that there was an "easy solution for that."Shopping this early can feel like having the warehouse almost all to yourself.Dominick Reuter/Business InsiderCostco says that slightly less than half of its members are executive-tier, which costs twice as much as the standard $65-a-year level, called Gold Star.Aside from the warehouse club's investment in some of the perks, those membership fees are almost pure profit, so it benefits Costco when members sign up at the higher level.Plus, executive members account for more than 73% of the company's total sales, according to the company. That represents a second win for Costco — higher fees and higher sales.In short, Costco seems to be sticking the landing with this change, which makes me wonder why they didn't do it sooner.Read the original article on Business Insider

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