Villagers are overjoyed to learn that Costco Wholesale is coming to town.
News broke Monday that the wholesale retailer will be locating a store near Hobby Lobby in The Villages.
Damian Warther of the Village of Dunedin said he has lobbied long and hard for Costco to come to Florida’s Friendliest Hometown.
“I have been after Costco for almost 10 years to open a store here,” Warther said. “Located the guy who was responsible for choosing locations and bombarded him with all sorts of information about The Villages from multiple sources.”
Warther said he had almost given up hope. He was elated to hear the news about Costco.
Like many fellow residents, Virgil and Cheryl Lund have been driving to Clermont to shop at Costco. They said they are “absolutely excited” that The Villages will be getting its own Costco.
It was the same feeling expressed by many other residents of The Villages.
“All I can say is yippee! It’s about time,” said Richard Dankert, who lives in the Greenbriar Villas in the Marion County section of The Villages. “I can’t imagine why they waited so long.”
Meguel Anderson, a former Costco employee, also cheered the news.
“We are planning to move to The Villages in the very near future, that is great news,” Anderson said. “I worked for Costco in the 1990s and still love to shop there. Most folks don’t know that once they break ground it’s a little over three months they will be open, so I presume they will be open about October sometime.”
