A new Costco opened for business on Hartford Road in New Britain o on Thursday morning.
The store offers a variety of items and services, including food, electronics, a pharmacy, a gas station, a hearing aid center and eye exams.
This was a project more than four years in the making.
Costco originally planned to build the warehouse across the street, but environmentalist convinced city officials to preserve the forest.
So the store was built on the Stanley Golf Course and the city of New Britain gave Costco $2.1 million in tax credits.
New Britain Mayor Erin Stewart said they will still collect half a million dollars in tax revenue every year.
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"We thank Costco for sticking around. It certainly was not an easy process getting this store built, but this is going to be one of the most popular stores in the state, I know it, I feel it today," Mayor Erin Stewart New Britain said.
Hundreds of people arrived on opening day.
"We are members of Costco up in Enfield, but that is a long way to drive. So when we heard they were going to open down here, we live in West Hartford, this is great," Rosemary Wall, of West Hartford, said.
The store sells yearly memberships. During opening weekend, store managers said they will give new customers $20 in Costco cash and $30 in coupons for free merchandise for the $110 executive membership.
For the $55 gold star membership, new customers can get $10 in Costco cash.
Prior to opening, Costco representatives said they signed up thousands of new customers at a temporary storefront in New Britain.
Paula Wilcox, of West Hartford, was enticed by the deep discounts on electronics and decided to buy a flat-screen television. Once she was inside, she said she was impressed by the store.
"It is amazing. It is huge, it is clean, you know the people are so nice, the staff, as soon as you walk in everybody is like, ‘Good morning, welcome.’ It is a really nice store," Wilcox said.
This is the sixth Costco warehouse in the state.
In addition to the New Britain and Enfield locations, there are also Costco warehouses in Brookfield, Milford, Norwalk and Waterbury.
