I work out of the Villages (Ocala)...NOBODY will drive to the Villages from Ocala...NOBODY will drive from Clermont. FACT: In the 14 years, I have lived here, one constant complaint is the traffic. SAMS will never be outdone by Costco as the FAMILIES that live on the perimeter (Lady Lake, Fruitland Park, Leesburg, Summerfield and Bellview will NOT choose to join here instead of Sams because of the chaos the traffic will cause..YES, I am "DAILY" outside the bubble....I CHOOSE BJ's because with my RT sided gas tank, I am in and out in less than 10 minutes in high season and there is ONLY chaos getting in and out on the weekend.
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Originally Posted by thelegges
Apparently Costco and the developer have been in negotiations for locations in near and around The Villages for more than 3-7 years.
We are extremely happy for Costco to be built at this location. Big reason Not in our back door, but within 10 minutes. So blissfully we are still in the lack of retail traffic for hopefully many years to come. Will there be more traffic, yes. Will it draw customers away from Walmart, HL, Homegoods, probably not. The restaurants should see an uptick in customers. The only downside I see, is Fresh market. Costco meat prices may hurt them.
Costco would never build at a site that wouldn’t draw customers from 6am fuel station opening to shoppers at 9-10am. (Depending on site hours and membership status). Pretty sure traffic flow in-depth studies were done for years to maximize, customer base from outside the bubble.
Bonus Costco won’t have offer $25 memberships for new customers. So for a month or so most customers could be long standing Costco patrons, who will drive up to an hour to shop.
We have been Costco Business Members over 20 years, along with Sam’s. We didn’t renew Sam’s this year, and had a brief 3 month free with BJ’s.
Costco home delivery, along with Amazon, Kroger, Walmart+, takes care of 90% of our retail needs. We only fuel up very 30-45 days so one stop shop very early or just before closing. We will still shop Clearmont on our return from the parks, or want better dining options.
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