Costco opened its first China flagship store \u2014 and things got crazy
It was an open-and-quickly-shut deal.
China’s flagship Costco outlet opened its doors Tuesday morning in suburban Shanghai, only to close them several hours later after the store became swamped with mobs brawling over discounted items, Bloomberg reported.
Clips circulating on Weibo and other Chinese social media show customers crammed in aisles, playing tug-of-war with raw poultry and elbowing other shoppers out of the way.
“There’s no other word to describe it but crazy,” marveled one Weibo poster.
Shoppers queued in checkout lines for over half an hour received messages from Costco — first warning them to avoid the store during peak hours, and then at approximately 2 p.m. to avoid coming altogether, according to news blog Shanghaiist.
The American retail giant chalked up the temporary closure to “heavy traffic and customer flows,” according to BNN Bloomberg.
It was unclear if the store would open Wednesday.
People visit the first Costco outlet in China on the store’s opening day in Shanghai.
AFP/Getty Images
AFP/Getty Images
AFP/Getty Images
AFP/Getty Images
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