Costco Opens in Harlem

Manhattanites and other New Yorkers have a new destination for their warehouse club shopping needs -- Costco in Harlem. The 500,000-square-foot East River Plaza shopping center opened Thursday morning.

Costco occupies 110,000 square feet on the first floor. Target, Marshalls, PetSmart, and Old Navy are all scheduled to open beginning in the spring of 2010.

This Costco location employs about 400 people, many of whom are from the surrounding community. The store assumed a lease originally intended for Home Depot, which ultimately abandoned its plans to open there, according to reports.

The shopping center is located on 116th Street, adjacent to the FDR Drive. It features a paid parking garage, which annoyed some of the shoppers Fox 5 interviewed Thursday. A Costco manager pointed out that the garage is owned by a separate company, but even so, the rates ($4 for the first 2 hours; $9 for 3 hours; $15 for the whole day) -- are fair and reasonable for Manhattan.

To shop at Costco, you must buy an annual membership, which start at $50. The membership card gets you into any Costco in the nation, including the other three in New York City (there are locations in Brooklyn, Queens, and Staten Island).

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