If you've been taking advantage of pandemic-related special operating hours at Costco, your days of nearly empty stores and short lines are coming to an end.
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Costco has announced that after April 17, it's ending its special shopping hours for members over 60, healthcare workers, first responders, and members who are immunocompromised or have disabilities. All Costco locations in the U.S. and Puerto Rico will return to regular hours on April 18.
The special operating hours, currently from 9 a.m. to 10 a.m. on Tuesdays and Thursdays, went into effect in March 2020 at the start of the pandemic. They were meant to offer those who were the most vulnerable to COVID-19 or more at risk because of their job a chance to shop in a largely crowd-free warehouse.
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Costco first offered the special shopping hours five days a week, but reduced them to two days in July 2021. The company initially wanted to drop them entirely at that point, but nixed that decision when infections started to rise, reports USA Today.
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