Canadians not loved!

[Guest American Woman]

Residents in a Washington Town Want to Stop Canadians From Shopping at Their Neighborhood Costco

Seems Canadians are overrunning the store - causing gridlock in the aisles. Some residents want "Americans Only" hours. There's even a Face Book Page with over 3500 "likes" - and some of the comments are pretty entertaining. Guess the lure of lower prices and lower taxes is just too much for Canadian shoppers to resist.

Anyway, I found this whole thing quite funny - "Americans only" hours.... no one with a mapleleaf on their backpack allowed. Evidently this is one place where Canadians aren't loved

Edited August 14, 2012 by American Woman

[guyser]

The whole thing is rather comical.

I bet Costco honcho's are in a boardroom yelling 'Noooooooooo you idiots, they are spending money!'

Dont people in Bellingham realize the benefits?

[Moonlight Graham]

I'm sure the Costco and gas station owners love us. I think the solution to make everyone happy might be to make a bigger Costco or open a new one in the area, and open more gas pumps at the stations or just more gas stations near the border. Capitalism should solve this problem by itself, supply and demand. American-only hours is a ridiculous idea because how do you enforce this? Many shoppers would go ape, both American and Canadian, if the cashier started asking for birth certificates and passports.

[Guest American Woman]

The whole thing is rather comical.

I bet Costco honcho's are in a boardroom yelling 'Noooooooooo you idiots, they are spending money!'

Dont people in Bellingham realize the benefits?

Evidently not. Hard to figure. Cities and towns spend big bucks trying to attract tourists to their area, hoping they'll spend their money. Looks as if Bellingham has a little gold mine there and residents are complaining about "gridlock in the aisles."

[Guest American Woman]

Many shoppers would go ape, both American and Canadian, if the cashier started asking for birth certificates and passports.

I suppose they expect the entrances to be 'policed' - show your American I.D., or out you go! Ridiculous. As I said, most (all other?) cities and towns would love to have such a 'tourist attraction' bringing business to their area.

I loved the pic of the Canadian shoppers .....

[guyser]

Here is a comment from one who gets it.

So Bellingham has the perfect tax. They get to tax foreigners and only have to provide them with a road to deliver the money and a door to slide it under. In the kitty also are jobs for otherwise unemployed US workers, better current accounts figures for the federal government. Let's see, what else can I think of? These people are idiots

[guyser]

I suppose they expect the entrances to be 'policed' - show your American I.D., or out you go! Ridiculous. As I said, most (all other?) cities and towns would love to have such a 'tourist attraction' bringing business to their area.

And somewhere in Bellingham soon youngster has the hamster wheels turning over on how to provide canucks with fake ID to get into the Costco...."only $8 Sir Canuck!"

ETA: Apparently Bellingham has bylaws that prevent Costco (and other bic box stores) from expanding to meet the demand. Kind of points the finger back at thier own, not the canucks.

Still damn funny though

Edited August 14, 2012 by guyser

[Guest American Woman]

Here is a comment from one who gets it. [...]

I'm sure that there are quite a few people who get it - and think this vocal minority (I hope it's not a majority!) are idiots.

And somewhere in Bellingham soon youngster has the hamster wheels turning over on how to provide canucks with fake ID to get into the Costco...."only $8 Sir Canuck!"

I love it! Suddenly 'Americans' in Wellingham are all saying "aboot" and "eh." lol

[Saje]

I love how someone on the group mused about how much money Costco was losing because it always so packed the locals were shopping elsewhere. ... Um ... huh?

[bleeding heart]

Well, the whole thing makes me smile, because it's a funny story, and because people are, well, quite funny sometimes.

[Guest American Woman]

I love how someone on the group mused about how much money Costco was losing because it always so packed the locals were shopping elsewhere. ... Um ... huh?

Proof that it takes all kinds of people to make a world.

[Canuckistani]

I love how someone on the group mused about how much money Costco was losing because it always so packed the locals were shopping elsewhere. ... Um ... huh?

Nobody ever accused Americans of being the brightest bulbs in the chandelier.

This happens basically in every tourist town. The tourists are sought after for their money, but not so much for the crowds they bring.

This stuff goes back years. I've been called a cheesehead there, and I don't even go to big box stores. OTOH, I've met lots of great Americans. Like everywhere else, there's all kinds. Just way more nuts than we have in Canada, or at least nuts with guns.

Edited August 15, 2012 by Canuckistani

[The_Squid]

Nobody ever accused Americans of being the brightest bulbs in the chandelier.

Yeah, cuz Canadians are never NIMBY about anything.

Your generalization is sheer stupidity.

[bleeding heart]

Yeah, cuz Canadians are never NIMBY about anything.

Gods, no!

Where are all these superior Canadians, anyway?

Maybe I just don't see them because I live in New Brunswick!

But I doubt it.

Your generalization is sheer stupidity.

It's borne of nationalist sentiment, so is, at least arguably, bad by definition.

Edited August 15, 2012 by bleeding heart

[Canuckistani]

Gods, no!

Where are all these superior Canadians, anyway?

Maybe I just don't see them because I live in New Brunswick!

But I doubt it.

It's borne of nationalist sentiment, so is, at least arguably, bad by definition.

You guys are taking this way too seriously.

[bleeding heart]

You guys are taking this way too seriously.

Or you're taking my response way too seriously. Who knows?

[Wilber]

Tempest in a teapot. We have some rec property in the area and frequent this store often during the summer. They do sell a ton of milk and the gas lines are long but we don't buy either there. Plenty of other places to shop in Bellingham.

We always find a parking spot but may have to walk a little but the same can be true at the Abbotsford Costco

Bellingham and other border towns do very well from Canadians when our dollar is high and suffers when it is low.

[Canuckistani]

Tempest in a teapot.

Of course it is. Vancouver earns a good chunk of its wealth from tourism as well, and we don't always embrace them. Of course with the Americans we're afraid to, since they probably snuck guns across the border and are as touchy as Ocifer Wawa.

[Guest American Woman]

Of course with the Americans we're afraid to, since they probably snuck guns across the border and are as touchy as Ocifer Wawa.

Be afraid. Be very afraid.

[Canuckistani]

Be afraid. Be very afraid.

I am. Seizure from one American: My link

Edited August 16, 2012 by Canuckistani

[TheNewTeddy]

There is lots of "empty land" between Bellingham and Vancouver. Why not build a new Costco there?

There are examples on the border of NC and SC in the US of gas stations setting up on one side of the border for customers on the other due to taxes.

Here in Toronto, where you have a municipal boundary (like Steeles Avenue) you often have residential buildings on one side and shoppes on the other, again, due to taxes.

So why not an entire "Canadian Shopping Centre" right on the border?

[Saje]

There is lots of "empty land" between Bellingham and Vancouver. Why not build a new Costco there?

There are examples on the border of NC and SC in the US of gas stations setting up on one side of the border for customers on the other due to taxes.

Here in Toronto, where you have a municipal boundary (like Steeles Avenue) you often have residential buildings on one side and shoppes on the other, again, due to taxes.

So why not an entire "Canadian Shopping Centre" right on the border?

I don't know if that would be sustainable in the long run. What about when the American dollar has more value and prices go up? Also, I think Costco only builds in places with a 50,000 population and they don't build two in one area.

[Guest American Woman]

From what I've read, there's no room to expand the current store, but Costco is looking for property to build a bigger store. It does sound as if it's a real problem the way things stand; Costco has hired off-duty police officers to patrol the parking lot because it's so difficult to find a parking space that people sometimes fight over them. The lines for gas average about a 30 minute wait, as Canadians not only fill their vehicles, but fill containers to bring back for later use. 172 gallons of milk were grabbed up in less than a minute, the workers not even bothering to put it on the shelves. There's video of one Canadian woman buying 19 gallons of milk. So it's not just the wait, but there is a shortage of some products, or the store sells out completely. I'm guessing there would be some Canadians who were a bit peeved, too, if it were the other way around, but most Americans are saying that they are upset with Costco for not dealing with the situation; not Canadians. A couple of dairy outlets have set up stores near the border to take advantage of the number of Canadians coming to Costco to buy milk. Seems to me dairy farmers in Canada would be upset at the loss of business since the U.S. subsidizes dairy farmers and the Canadian government does not.

Read more: http://newsfeed.time.com/2012/08/15/americans-and-canadians-fight-over-washington-costco/#ixzz23jUMn2FG

[Canuckistani]

There is lots of "empty land" between Bellingham and Vancouver. Why not build a new Costco there?

There are examples on the border of NC and SC in the US of gas stations setting up on one side of the border for customers on the other due to taxes.

Here in Toronto, where you have a municipal boundary (like Steeles Avenue) you often have residential buildings on one side and shoppes on the other, again, due to taxes.

So why not an entire "Canadian Shopping Centre" right on the border?

No business case for it, or it would have already been done. It is happening with milk in Lynden, where a dairy opened an outlet right by the border just for the Canadians. I believe this is for prime quality milk, not the antibiotic laden crap that Americans usually like to drink. But big diff in investment in a milk store and a Costco.

[Canuckistani]

Seems to me dairy farmers in Canada would be upset at the loss of business since the U.S. subsidizes dairy farmers and the Canadian government does not.

Read more: http://newsfeed.time.com/2012/08/15/americans-and-canadians-fight-over-washington-costco/#ixzz23jUMn2FG

Canadian dairy farmers are part of a cartel, it's a license to print money, profits are guaranteed. They're not worried, since you can only bring back $20 of milk at one time. Plenty of Canadian milk being sold in BC.