Hongkongers Swarm Costco

Massive crowds waited over an hour to get into Costco

Costco has just opened its first location in southern China in Shenzhen, and on the first day, it was overwhelmed mostly with shoppers from Hong Kong. The pictures of the massive queue of people made the Hong Kong news.

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The most popular items? Boxes of 30 strawberries for 95.90 yuan (US$13.50), 2.5kg of Chilean cherries at 249.90 yuan, and a box of 30 eggs for 1880 yuan.

Many shoppers bought boxes of strawberries

Also a good deal was the two-piece of hard-sided Samsonite luggage at 769.90 yuan at Costco, which costs between HK$1,888 and HK$1,980 in Hong Kong. The luggage was snapped up within minutes of the store opening and would be very useful carrying purchases later.

Another popular item was a giant stuffed Disney teddy bear called Lotso from the animated movie Toy Story. 

Shoppers who were interviewed all said they would come back probably once a month because of the good deals. One reported they enjoyed the shopping experience on the mainland compared to Hong Kong, saying it was "livelier"... does that mean shopping in their hometown is depressing?!

Did it ever occur to the Hong Kong government that it should try to lure Costco or Sam's Club to set up shop in the city? Or its hands are tied because billionaires like Li Ka-shing would threaten to retaliate if it did?

Giant Lotso from Toy Story was also a big seller

Either way Hong Kong is losing out on its status as a shopping mecca...