[Annie66]

My sense is there a lot of people who overly exaggerate the impact of one or two stores coming to the area ..... The affective language being espoused has little to no impact on my life.

[Bill14564]

Originally Posted by MicRoDrafting

BASED on Career EXPERIENCE;
as part of the Preliminary Process (way before initial permit application), especially when State and County Roads are involved, Traffic and Environmental Impact Studies MUST be Submitted to the Associated Authorities.

AND
these Studies always include Recommendations for Solutions concerning Impact to the Increase of Traffic.

AND BETTER YET
All the Alterations to the Impacted Intersections, including but not limited to, Extending or Doubling Left Turn Lanes, as well as Traffic Signal Timing, are part of the New Facility’s Financial Responsibility, and MUST be Completed Before the Facility Opens for Business.

Appears by the Overall Size of this Building, and length of time required for the construction process, there is Plenty of Time before the Roadwork Alterations need to begin …

… this is not based on opinion

Interesting. Ten days ago the gas pumps were in and the building appeared to be complete. I don't recall the condition of the parking lot (leveled, smoothed, paved, ???) but remember thinking I would be surprised if the store wasn't open by the end of July. Is 45 days Plenty of Time for Roadwork Alterations?

[thelegges]

Originally Posted by Bill14564

Interesting. Ten days ago the gas pumps were in and the building appeared to be complete. I don't recall the condition of the parking lot (leveled, smoothed, paved, ???) but it remember thinking I would be surprised if the store wasn't open by the end of July. Is 45 days Plenty of Time for Roadwork Alterations?

Do you really think opening will be end of July? So far Costco coming soon website doesn’t list TV yet. Once it’s listed opening is usually 60 days ish.

They are just listing Costco openings in August. So far no active website for hiring, which for Costco is at least 40 days prior to open. One of lower management is leaving Clearmont to work in TV. He has zero insider information, but hoping for September Grand opening

[Bill14564]

Originally Posted by thelegges

Do you really think opening will be end of July? So far Costco coming soon website doesn’t list TV yet. Once it’s listed opening is usually 60 days ish.

They are just listing Costco openings in August. So far no active website for hiring, which for Costco is at least 40 days prior to open. One of lower management is leaving Clearmont to work in TV. He has zero insider information, but hoping for September Grand opening

I have nothing to go on other than how quickly they have gotten to this point. Your experience with the "coming soon" website is probably more accurate.

It could very well be that 80% of the work takes 20% of the time and what they have remaining, mostly the parking lot and all of the inside work, will take much longer.

[SoCalGal]

Originally Posted by jsa

^ This 100%.

On June 30, Costco will open its doors an hour earlier, at 9 a.m., for Executive members, giving them exclusive access before the regular store hours begin at 10 a.m. This change applies to all Costco locations, Monday through Friday, and on Sundays. On Saturdays, Executive members can shop from 9 a.m. to 9:30 a.m., according to Kiplinger.com.

[biggamefish1]

I am now in my tenth year living in The Villages and don't see any reason to move elsewhere. However, being kind, one might say that the story of what folks want and need is mostly the same. Like Costco, Costco, Costco. When are they coming to the Villages, and now that they are, it's Traffic, traffic, traffic. Why are they building here? Move it here, move it there, just move it anywhere besides here! LOL The Villages is always a chuckle of disputed opinions before and after the new news of what has been begged for.

[UpNorth]

On a positive note, you can order your coffin at Costco and get a great price. Just bring something other than a golf cart.

[thelegges]

Originally Posted by UpNorth

On a positive note, you can order your coffin at Costco and get a great price. Just bring something other than a golf cart.

They will ship directly to your mortuary. No cart needed. I know two different families who used Costco for their dirt box needs.

[Switter]

Originally Posted by Bill14564

Interesting. Ten days ago the gas pumps were in and the building appeared to be complete. I don't recall the condition of the parking lot (leveled, smoothed, paved, ???) but it remember thinking I would be surprised if the store wasn't open by the end of July. Is 45 days Plenty of Time for Roadwork Alterations?

I think you're right. I think it's very close. I drove by yesterday and the Costco signage is up on the side of the building now

[Topspinmo]

Originally Posted by Bill14564

Interesting. Ten days ago the gas pumps were in and the building appeared to be complete. I don't recall the condition of the parking lot (leveled, smoothed, paved, ???) but remember thinking I would be surprised if the store wasn't open by the end of July. Is 45 days Plenty of Time for Roadwork Alterations?

“45 days Plenty of Time for Roadwork Alterations?“

You’re kidding right? Have you been down 441 in last 10 years? Or down 484 to trunpike? 45 days be lucky to move stops signs around IMO

[MoeVonB61]

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.

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.

[CFrance]

I am looking forward to Costco because we could never take advantage of the frozen or chilled foods in Wesley Chapel. Our trips to Costco must, to make DH happy, include lunch at the Mediterranean Grill down the street. That makes keeping food frozen for that long of a time difficult.

For dry goods, I can always order delivery. But it will be nice to just run up there and see what's on offer in the fridge/freezer section. After the initial opening rush wears off a bit.

[Topspinmo]

Ok, looks like road construction through Summerfield done on 301. Still single lanes with middle turning lane. At 7am bumper to bumper traffic heading south and almost as busy heading north. Naturally little progress at 484 and 75 construction. Summerfield will be bottleneck if not 4 lanes like south of Summerfield. Not mention the bottle necks at 301 and 466 left turning lanes. So, yes IMO you can say there was NO planning. Naturally if you don’t live in area it’s not going to affect YOU, until you go down these streets mentioned. It don’t affect me till I go that way. Just wait till snowbirds return…

[Taltarzac725]

Originally Posted by Topspinmo

Ok, looks like road construction through Summerfield done on 301. Still single lanes with middle turning lane. At 7am bumper to bumper traffic heading south and almost as busy heading north. Naturally little progress at 484 and 75 construction. Summerfield will be bottleneck if not 4 lanes like south of Summerfield. Not mention the bottle necks at 301 and 466 left turning lanes. So, yes IMO you can say there was NO planning. Naturally if you don’t live in area it’s not going to affect YOU, until you go down these streets mentioned. It don’t affect me till I go that way. Just wait till snowbirds return…

I do think something needs to be done with that golf cart tunnel under CR101. It probably will not do well with heavy traffic. Maybe just a golf cart lane across CR101 and some stop signs before and after it .

[margaretmattson]

Big chain stores, like Costco, require a certain number of residents per mile. This demographic must include a range of age and income. Costco has a high volume of commercial, professional,
governmental, and church/charity buyers. I do not know the actual numbers, but I would not be surprised if these sales are much larger than personal. It is mandatory the site chosen is close to MANY as well as a variety of businesses, restaurants, offices, churches, schools, local and state government buildings. IMO, they did their homework.