Costco customers camp out a week before grand opening of Napa store
For those who've never shopped at a Costco before, or even for those who are just casual Costco shoppers, it might be a little strange to hear that people have been camping outside the new location in Napa for close to a week, waiting for its grand opening this Friday.
For Allen Le, the man second in line at the Napa location, this is more than a choice. It's a lifestyle.
"This is my third one, officially. I went to Loomis and Riverbank," said Allen Le, who drove to Napa from Sacramento.
Le said he has been camping in the new Costco's parking lot since Sunday. He says he's here for one thing and one thing only.
"Liquor. Whatever I can find in there," he told CBS News Bay Area
Le said during every Costco grand opening the store stocks a limited amount of rare alcohol.
We met a group of guys just a few places behind Allen in line who told us they flew all the way out here from Hawaii for a special brand of bourbon.
"Stuff that we're just not going to find in Hawaii. It's pretty competitive over there to find anything bourbon-wise," said Jaison Lee.
Lee said he and his buddies have been planning this trip for months. They drove straight here from the airport on Tuesday and have been camping out ever since.
"We got lounging chairs. We got cots. We have you know sleeping bags that are all put away in the car already but. We've been sleeping on, I sleep on the chair, they got the cots. You'll see just a bunch of guys in sleeping bags out here," said Lee.
Dave Sanchez is one of Jaison's buddies camping out with him.
Sanchez is from nearby Rocklin and said he's not as obsessed about Costco as his friends are. He's really just out here to have a good time.
"Okay, so I'm a little older now but it reminds me of standing in line for concert tickets back in the day when we used to actually have to stand in line and buy a hard copy when one of our favorite bands was coming into town. Plus you get to see all these people all from different walks of life and you make friends and you learn other experiences and I happen to love people and love to learn about them and interact with them so that's part of the excitement," Sanchez told CBS News Bay Area.
For guys like Jaison Lee and Allen Le though, they're here on a mission. A mission that will begin at 8 a.m. sharp Friday when the new Costco's doors officially open.
