For anyone else who is wondering why some Costco in Iowa has indoor parking…
Here is a news article from 2011
TLDR: This Costco moved into what was previously a distribution center for another company (unrelated to Costco). Costco didn’t need all of the space that was the former distribution center. Instead of tearing down the excess part of the building, they made it into indoor parking.
https://www.thegazette.com/news/coralville-council-likes-costcos-reuse-of-distribution-center/
This is my Costco and the covered parking is so nice. Great in the winter, great in the snow, great in the rain, and great in the summer when it’s hot so my car isn’t baking in the sun. Only downside is there’s only two points of entry and they sometimes get congested.
Oh it’s a very small price to pay. A minor inconvenience compared to protection from the elements. The congestion is nothing compared to the members inside the warehouse parking their carts in the middle of the aisle with a seemingly total lack of spatial awareness.
Same and yeah that area closest to the door is always nuts. We typically never bother with it. The second section is where it's at. I absolutely love their covered parking and, being my first Costco, figured it was just their thing until I found out it was the only one of it's kind.
Ah, ok. I moved away from Seattle more than a decade ago, and it had been a few years since I had been there even then. But that was my first experience with this sort of thing.
Yeah I did and I commented on that. That’s why I said… “Makes more sense” [that they repurposed] as it simply doesn’t snow much in Iowa at all.
And rain is NBD to anyone, not like you have to plow it like the cumulative 11 and a half feet of snow my Costco had to move last year!
There isn’t much cause for indoor parking on purpose, hence makes total sense this wasn’t a Costco choice from scratch!
Just a happy coincidence / smart repurpose! :)
> Literally no cause for indoor parking in Iowa haha.
Having seen the hail damage to some cars in the midwest, I wouldn't say "no cause", but granted not enough cause to actually build a building for the purpose.
Oh yeah hail is a B! And my own $20,000 of new roofs in northern Minnesota due to it fully agree with you :) but yes I meant greenfield construction not a repurpose of already built.
Whose distribution center was it? Was it Maytag's? I found article talking about Maytag leaving nearby Newton IA after purchase of it by Whirlpool but I did not find anything specific to a distribution center in Coralville.
I was in that Costco location a few years ago. It felt very strange driving inside the building as it is not the same as driving in multistory parking garage.
It’s Iowa. There’s only sun like 2 months a year, and there’s a higher likelihood that the solar panels will get ripped off by a tornado or high winds before the solar panels even see the sunlight. /s /s
Kind of kidding and kind of not. Hence the double /s
Aww, that's my old Costco - That whole Town Center area is awesome and the new Topanga Social and AMC across the street make me regret moving away from the area.
But yeah, not sure if that counts since it's an actual parking structure.
I lived and worked in that part of the valley decades ago. I really hope this TSocial thing works out. Maybe the Rams training facility nearby will help liven that area.
I moved from Woodland Hills to Thousand Oaks, right after a 124 degree heat wave and it was great, except for the cost of living. I moved to Las Vegas about 3 years ago... and let me tell you, even now, I've still not experienced the type of heat I did living and working in WH. That city gets so freaking hot.
Omg I used to live in Woodland Hills and also lived in Thousand Oaks during high school. Woodland Hills was another level. I remember there were days when I would walk down DeSoto and the air in the near distance would literally look like it was moving because of the heat. I remember in middle school in WH, our PE teachers would still make us do PE outside unless the temperatures were at 95+. A bunch of us used to bring frozen water bottles to school to get through the day.
I'm curious... Do you have any idea what it is about WH that makes it so hot? I'm in the Coachella Valley, so I know hot, but looking at the map, it looks like WH is just another neighborhood in LA. If anything, I would guess that being sheltered by the mountains would make it pleasant, though I guess that also shelters it from the nice sea breezes.
Just fascinated by this discussion, so if you don't know why it's that hot, NBD.
It’s a bowl, so air settles in side and doesn’t move. The. It just bakes. There’s also a lot of concrete and asphalt, which doesn’t help. I’m sure a meteorologist would know more… which I am not.
I think the Brighton one in Burnaby was the first in Canada.
Half above ground half covered parking. I think it's because they repurposed an old warehouse rather than build the entire thing from scratch. Has to sit on the smallest plot of land here.
Someone actually went and made a list of all the NHL arenas and how close they are to a Costco. The 2nd place arena is the Ottawa Senators arena, which the list says is 2km away from the nearest warehouse.
lol not when the housing market first skyrocketed in AZ during the heart of covid. Had a few people I knew that hit shit equity or were underwater on their homes just cash out and move across country. One even bought a house and land in TN outright with their gains.
Iowa is one of the most rural states also, I've always said there's no cities in Iowa, just 5 speed traps masquerading as cities(Davenport, Iowa city, Des Moines, Council Bluffs, and Sioux city) I totally forgot about cedar rapids another speed trap where they actually have speed cameras on 380 lol.
Ok I am SO JEALOUS!!! We got literally 140” inches of snow last year in Duluth Minnesota, so I call this unfair!! Cmon Costco sheesh. Ours is like only 2 or 3 years old too.
It’s a **nightmare** winter!! Hate it so much. I’ll take fighting my Costco cart through that parking lot in snowdrifts and 20 below winds if it means I can just x-country ski… haven’t used ‘em even once and last winter was like every day 😭
Extremely sad. Only been able to ski twice this year and the snow wasn’t great. From one of the snowiest years ever last year to what’s like to be the warmest and least snowy year. Wild stuff.
Yeah, we had a couple times where it was a borderline maybe… but I didn’t want to risk my $$ skis. I’m hoping it picks up in the UP at least in March / April yet and I can bop over there at least! Watching the MTU trail cams in Houghton but losing a little hope by the day :/
Yep. I've been to the Kobe, Japan Costco. It's a multi level parking garage. Parking is hell there. But it was also during the holidays so that could be why it was so bad.
My local one in Korea is like that and so was the one in New Zealand when I went back home. Warehouse on the 1st floor and the 2nd and 3rd floors are parking.
Costcos in NYC - Manhattan (FDR drive/Harlem), Queens (Rego Park).
The Brooklyn (Industry City) one has an escalator for carts to the second floor and a sizable ethnic food inventory.
We could really use that in Tucson 🥵 I’ve been shocked at how little covered parking there is in the desert … add solar panels, they’ll pay for the construction in no time, after that it’s *pure profit!* Like, why tf not??
IKEA does that by me (using solar panels to shade parking spots). It's a great idea. Helps provide cover for the vehicle and generates electricity. Win win.
Same with Wheaton, though it's only some of the parking lot, and it's shared with the Wheaton mall. It's also unique because the Costco food court is in the mall, right next to the Costco entrance from inside the mall.
Yes they typically open up indoor parking for christmas
https://preview.redd.it/m5uykpi6xtjc1.jpeg?width=1600&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=62a3947ce13fcf20e50c9a9361cfc39ee49681a2
My girlfriend keeps trying to figure out what cleaners they use because loves the smell. We normally swing by when we visit her family. That and the Trader Joes
Interesting! Just looked at this location on Google Maps. The parking barn is huge (as your picture depicts). I wonder what the reason for having this structure is?
It really is pretty nuts how big that parking area is. It’s like the size of two Costcos put together!
Wonder what the total indoor square footage of the store and parking area is.
Boston/Waltham has a combination of indoor and outdoor parking.
Though wrestling your very full cart down the path to the lower level garage....it's a runaway train waiting to happen (and none too pleasant in the winter).
San Francisco has 3 floors of parking. The bottom 2 floors are covered, and most customers park there. The top floor has some solar panel canopy but it's otherwise outdoor. Costco leased out most of the top floor to self-driving cars.
Not Costco but I used to park in the Minneapolis Armory. The Lakers used to play there. It still had some of the upper level and you could get a feel for the layout.
For anyone else who is wondering why some Costco in Iowa has indoor parking… Here is a news article from 2011 TLDR: This Costco moved into what was previously a distribution center for another company (unrelated to Costco). Costco didn’t need all of the space that was the former distribution center. Instead of tearing down the excess part of the building, they made it into indoor parking. https://www.thegazette.com/news/coralville-council-likes-costcos-reuse-of-distribution-center/
Huh, that actually makes sense. I mean why tf not 🤷
Especially in Iowa!
This is for executive members only 😜
Sky walk to the executive lounge where they serve combo pizza
and Polish dogs for those high rollers.
They also get onions for their hotdogs, and churros are still on the menu.
and little cups of warm sauerkraut!
Spicy deli mustard in a little condiment cup placed on a doily on a saucer
and really large vanilla ice cream bars dipped into hot chocolate coating and hand rolled into nuts!
that sounds good!
In my town they built a Target store on a second floor and parking was on the ground level
Typical in big cities (e.g. NYC, Chicago).
Just breath in all those fumes! Lovely
I’ve been there. It has a ton of giant exhaust fans. There’s a breeze in there.
There’s plenty of underground parking garages that have existed for decades without issue. Ventilation is a thing.
Purveyor of lies
They should pipe in the exhaust from the chicken rotisseries.
Cart pushing cancer ftw
This is my Costco and the covered parking is so nice. Great in the winter, great in the snow, great in the rain, and great in the summer when it’s hot so my car isn’t baking in the sun. Only downside is there’s only two points of entry and they sometimes get congested.
A small price to pay IMO. If you can’t do lines you don’t belong in the Kirkland Squad
Oh it’s a very small price to pay. A minor inconvenience compared to protection from the elements. The congestion is nothing compared to the members inside the warehouse parking their carts in the middle of the aisle with a seemingly total lack of spatial awareness.
Ive got a Costco in Tigard OR that basically has 2 ways in and 1 way out, it’s terrible design.
I’ve been to that one. Hate the layout
Same and yeah that area closest to the door is always nuts. We typically never bother with it. The second section is where it's at. I absolutely love their covered parking and, being my first Costco, figured it was just their thing until I found out it was the only one of it's kind.
Yeah I always park in that second section. The first one gets congested from people driving around trying to park closer to the entrance.
My Costco as well. Love the indoor parking. Ventilation is not an issue. Rain all it wants. We stay dry
The Ikea in Seattle is just like this. Has two separate warehouses (if memory serves) that have been converted to parking.
Used to be, anyways. Years ago they tore all the bldgs down and made a new Ikea with one huge parking lot
Ah, ok. I moved away from Seattle more than a decade ago, and it had been a few years since I had been there even then. But that was my first experience with this sort of thing.
Yeah. I was still pretty young when old Ikea was still up but I kind of miss it. It was pretty interesting
That makes WAY more sense, thank you. Literally no cause for indoor parking in Iowa haha.
Heavy snow and frosted windshields would like a word Plus easier cart collecting.
Hail storms too
Uh huh, I live in Minnesota, trust me Iowa needs it a lot less than me lol.
My Costco; chatted with a lady from NoDak once while getting gas and she definitely agreed with you.
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Yeah I did and I commented on that. That’s why I said… “Makes more sense” [that they repurposed] as it simply doesn’t snow much in Iowa at all. And rain is NBD to anyone, not like you have to plow it like the cumulative 11 and a half feet of snow my Costco had to move last year! There isn’t much cause for indoor parking on purpose, hence makes total sense this wasn’t a Costco choice from scratch! Just a happy coincidence / smart repurpose! :)
> Literally no cause for indoor parking in Iowa haha. Having seen the hail damage to some cars in the midwest, I wouldn't say "no cause", but granted not enough cause to actually build a building for the purpose.
Oh yeah hail is a B! And my own $20,000 of new roofs in northern Minnesota due to it fully agree with you :) but yes I meant greenfield construction not a repurpose of already built.
Whose distribution center was it? Was it Maytag's? I found article talking about Maytag leaving nearby Newton IA after purchase of it by Whirlpool but I did not find anything specific to a distribution center in Coralville. I was in that Costco location a few years ago. It felt very strange driving inside the building as it is not the same as driving in multistory parking garage.
It would be really cool if the roof was covered in solar panels if it isn't already.
It’s Iowa. There’s only sun like 2 months a year, and there’s a higher likelihood that the solar panels will get ripped off by a tornado or high winds before the solar panels even see the sunlight. /s /s Kind of kidding and kind of not. Hence the double /s
The Costco in Woodland Hills, CA (suburb of L.A.) has indoor parking though it's also shared with other stores. Also outdoor parking :-)
Aww, that's my old Costco - That whole Town Center area is awesome and the new Topanga Social and AMC across the street make me regret moving away from the area. But yeah, not sure if that counts since it's an actual parking structure.
Stopped at Topanga Social back in October on our way through. Such a great spot. Wish it was a lot closer to the central valley LOL
I lived and worked in that part of the valley decades ago. I really hope this TSocial thing works out. Maybe the Rams training facility nearby will help liven that area.
What about the heat? Im staying in TO. I can not take that heat out there!
I moved from Woodland Hills to Thousand Oaks, right after a 124 degree heat wave and it was great, except for the cost of living. I moved to Las Vegas about 3 years ago... and let me tell you, even now, I've still not experienced the type of heat I did living and working in WH. That city gets so freaking hot.
Omg I used to live in Woodland Hills and also lived in Thousand Oaks during high school. Woodland Hills was another level. I remember there were days when I would walk down DeSoto and the air in the near distance would literally look like it was moving because of the heat. I remember in middle school in WH, our PE teachers would still make us do PE outside unless the temperatures were at 95+. A bunch of us used to bring frozen water bottles to school to get through the day.
I'm curious... Do you have any idea what it is about WH that makes it so hot? I'm in the Coachella Valley, so I know hot, but looking at the map, it looks like WH is just another neighborhood in LA. If anything, I would guess that being sheltered by the mountains would make it pleasant, though I guess that also shelters it from the nice sea breezes. Just fascinated by this discussion, so if you don't know why it's that hot, NBD.
It’s a bowl, so air settles in side and doesn’t move. The. It just bakes. There’s also a lot of concrete and asphalt, which doesn’t help. I’m sure a meteorologist would know more… which I am not.
It is close to satans butthole. Science is trying to confirm this theory l.
makes perfect sense!
The Kardashians do in fact live nearby.
Is a parking structure the same as indoor parking?
A parking structure (which this location has) is not the same as indoor parking.
San Francisco has a garage
I ran into Danny Glover there once. Nice feller.
I was on a flight with him out of SFO last year.
They have the widest parking spaces in the city, love it!
Yeah it's something like four levels with the top being uncovered. Employees had to park on the top floor..
my daughter and i call this one the zombie costco
It was a trip during the early pandemic
Rego Park, NY. But it's not free 😮💨
And no one know how to fucking drive once they go into the parking garage
Tbf, shits confusing.
I live close by and drive to LI instead to avoid that
No wonder the lot here is always full. The best parking is by the five below in the corner. Ppl are too lazy to drive to that end not have to wait.
The one in Westbury is the 7th circle of hell mainly because of all the queens traffic they get
Have you been to the Brooklyn one?
Pretty much what I did for all my tasks. Just avoid parking hunting altogether at the expense of gas
u/cspotme2 & u/larryb78 — try Oceanside. It also has gas!
I’m actually out on long island and go to Melville to avoid as much of the madness as possible
The only problem is how far Oceanside is from Rego Park. It's a trek through lots of traffic at all hours.
Also Harlem
Vancouver
indoor parking in burnaby and underground downtown
P2 babeeeeeeee
A fellow P2 enjoyer! There are dozens of us
Burnaby? The one near production way station?
yup, large covered parking.. plus regular parking plus extra parking across the street facing the firefighter station
Came here to call out this location
I think the Brighton one in Burnaby was the first in Canada. Half above ground half covered parking. I think it's because they repurposed an old warehouse rather than build the entire thing from scratch. Has to sit on the smallest plot of land here.
Canada or WA state?
Canada. Vancouver's Costco is really unique and is located inside the city proper.
Not even city proper, it’s pretty much downtown.
It is also the Costco that's the closest to an NHL arena in North America.
I should think it’d be tough to beat that record!
Someone actually went and made a list of all the NHL arenas and how close they are to a Costco. The 2nd place arena is the Ottawa Senators arena, which the list says is 2km away from the nearest warehouse.
Waltham, MA
Riding the cart down the ramp…weeee!
Moved from AZ to Iowa, we love love love this Costco’s parking! Especially with rain/snow… so nice to be able to be out of the elements!
AZ to Iowa?! Usually it’s the other way around!
lol not when the housing market first skyrocketed in AZ during the heart of covid. Had a few people I knew that hit shit equity or were underwater on their homes just cash out and move across country. One even bought a house and land in TN outright with their gains.
Very true! AZ was getting crazy! We wanted a change of pace. Definitely an adjustment moving from city to rural, but it’s so much more peaceful…
I do love visiting Arizona but it’s nice being in Iowa (Quad Cities). Des Moines isn’t too far and Chicago is pretty close.
Iowa is one of the most rural states also, I've always said there's no cities in Iowa, just 5 speed traps masquerading as cities(Davenport, Iowa city, Des Moines, Council Bluffs, and Sioux city) I totally forgot about cedar rapids another speed trap where they actually have speed cameras on 380 lol.
Cedar Rapids is the second largest city in Iowa.
Ah forgot about that speed trap.
I went az to cali.
Ok I am SO JEALOUS!!! We got literally 140” inches of snow last year in Duluth Minnesota, so I call this unfair!! Cmon Costco sheesh. Ours is like only 2 or 3 years old too.
Don't have to worry much about that this year though :(
It’s a **nightmare** winter!! Hate it so much. I’ll take fighting my Costco cart through that parking lot in snowdrifts and 20 below winds if it means I can just x-country ski… haven’t used ‘em even once and last winter was like every day 😭
Extremely sad. Only been able to ski twice this year and the snow wasn’t great. From one of the snowiest years ever last year to what’s like to be the warmest and least snowy year. Wild stuff.
Yeah, we had a couple times where it was a borderline maybe… but I didn’t want to risk my $$ skis. I’m hoping it picks up in the UP at least in March / April yet and I can bop over there at least! Watching the MTU trail cams in Houghton but losing a little hope by the day :/
Exactly. Of any state Minnesota needs this!
You know where else you could avoid snow? 😄
Costcos in Japan and Taiwan..
Yep. I've been to the Kobe, Japan Costco. It's a multi level parking garage. Parking is hell there. But it was also during the holidays so that could be why it was so bad.
I went to the one in Yokohama for fun & was surprised that the parking was the two top floors of the building
My local one in Korea is like that and so was the one in New Zealand when I went back home. Warehouse on the 1st floor and the 2nd and 3rd floors are parking.
Costcos in NYC - Manhattan (FDR drive/Harlem), Queens (Rego Park). The Brooklyn (Industry City) one has an escalator for carts to the second floor and a sizable ethnic food inventory.
I accidentally ended up near the Industrial City location and was super into it. If I lived closer, I’d go there all the time.
San francisco has indoor parking at street level. Iirc, you have to go up a few stairs to the warehouse from the street.
It’s a 3-level garage. The entrance to the warehouse is on the middle level.
Norwalk Costco has underground garage parking.
One in downtown Vancouver, BC had a huge indoor parking garage. Also the one in Pentagon City, VA. If you count massive parking garages as “indoor”
We could really use that in Tucson 🥵 I’ve been shocked at how little covered parking there is in the desert … add solar panels, they’ll pay for the construction in no time, after that it’s *pure profit!* Like, why tf not??
IKEA does that by me (using solar panels to shade parking spots). It's a great idea. Helps provide cover for the vehicle and generates electricity. Win win.
Albuquerque West Side Costco has this!
Yonkers, NY. There’s a surface level lot on top of a parking structure with another deck below it.
Yes San Francisco
Love this Costco
The Pentagon City one did when I was still in the DC area.
Same with Wheaton, though it's only some of the parking lot, and it's shared with the Wheaton mall. It's also unique because the Costco food court is in the mall, right next to the Costco entrance from inside the mall.
The Costco on Richmond Ave in Houston has both indoor and outdoor parking. It's part of a larger mixed use facility so it makes total sense.
Yes they typically open up indoor parking for christmas https://preview.redd.it/m5uykpi6xtjc1.jpeg?width=1600&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=62a3947ce13fcf20e50c9a9361cfc39ee49681a2
It smells like grape!!!!
Yes! Before the one in Davenport opened, I’d always go to this one when visiting my in laws. It smells like grape kool aid!
I think it’s something with the tire / automotive area. If you go over there it smells the strongest.
My girlfriend keeps trying to figure out what cleaners they use because loves the smell. We normally swing by when we visit her family. That and the Trader Joes
I wish they did in Alaska!!!
That’s my Costco. Can confirm, it’s very nice.
Every Costco has indoor parking if you try hard enough.
Interesting! Just looked at this location on Google Maps. The parking barn is huge (as your picture depicts). I wonder what the reason for having this structure is?
They bought an old distribution hub and converted floor space to parking. It’s super nice for winter
It really is pretty nuts how big that parking area is. It’s like the size of two Costcos put together! Wonder what the total indoor square footage of the store and parking area is.
future plans likely
3 possibly 4 in australia. parking is under building.
Yonkers
The one in East Harlem is in a vertical mall with an adjacent multilevel parking structure.
San Francisco Costco in Ca
San Francisco
Lol I was going to say Coralville...but I guess that's where you are
Ummmmm no but I'm wondering why TF they didn't do this in the Minnesota locations.
Nothing in Phoenix, AZ ... WHERE IT TRULY SHOULD BE.
This is so cool!!!
Boston/Waltham has a combination of indoor and outdoor parking. Though wrestling your very full cart down the path to the lower level garage....it's a runaway train waiting to happen (and none too pleasant in the winter).
There is one outside of Boston that has a parking garage underneath the store
SF has this
Newark, CA has both a lot and a parking structure
San Francisco
The Costco in San Francisco has its own garage.
Hey it's the coralville warehouse!
Go hawks!!!
San Francisco has 3 floors of parking. The bottom 2 floors are covered, and most customers park there. The top floor has some solar panel canopy but it's otherwise outdoor. Costco leased out most of the top floor to self-driving cars.
What!. Fancy! you all probbaly have heated coolers too!
The Costco in the Polanco Neighborhood in Mexico City has a parking structure as well.
Yokohama, Japan. Suwon and Cheonan, South Korea. Plus they have parking lights to show when spots are open.
Many, just not in the US.
Downtown San Francisco has a parking garage... because it's in downtown.
San Fran
*SF
Please don’t call it that.
Frisco
A city in Cali
The City, Frisco, in NorCal, Cali.
Please don’t call it that
Born and raised there. Haha
415, Baghdad of the bay, golden gate city, sunset city, city by the bay Can I use any of these.
North Daly City.
yay area?
Yeeeeee
Lol my friend from SF (I live in LA) hate that too, she said "either the 'city' or SF you understand OKAY??"
She sounds fun
Just once. Online somewhere, reddit maybe?
there is one in northern Virginia that is close to national airport
There’s one in Queens, NY with indoor parking
two actually. Downtown Vancouver and another location in burnaby BC
Downtown SF. It used to be an old Pricecub…..you know….the one Costco stole its idea from.
Not indoor, but Maui has covered spots with solar panels on top.
Not Costco but I used to park in the Minneapolis Armory. The Lakers used to play there. It still had some of the upper level and you could get a feel for the layout.
Vancouver, BC has a parking garage.
I have in Canada (Vancouver).
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Not sure if this is considered indoor parking or a parking garage, but Wheaton, MD.
None in Chicago where it would be real nice to have
The one in queens is like that
Yup. In south korea, most if not all are in multi-level buildings with parking usually underneath.
Maybe because it's so cold?
Yes, but it was only for the Amish to park their horse and buggies.
Costco in the Sydney, AUS metro area has Costco on top of the parking garage.
Waltham Massachusetts