Luna Wang
Google
As usual, I took my babies and my friend to shop at Costco like any other day on Wednesday, September 3rd, 2025, in the afternoon. I first stopped by the return register while in line for my turn – this is what my friend and I have witnessed. There was in line an Asian lady with barely half a cart full, followed by a white, white, white…customers waiting to have their receipt and cart checked and counted to leave, later followed by a black couple customer…
A Costco staff member wearing a floral blouse with yellow/blonde short hair, counting the customer’s items, was taking her time counting every single item in the not even half-full cart of a young Asian lady with black hair, blue pants and eyeglasses. We saw that she took her time counting down every single item on the receipt and in the cart. The Asian lady pulled her cart over behind me to do a return, meanwhile adjusting her pizza box from the baby seat to the front cart area. We saw that the white floral-bloused lady took the receipts of the white customers and gave them a check with barely even looking at the receipts or carts of the white customers. As the Asian girl pulled her phone out to have a look at it, the Costco staff member with a floral blouse asked what she was doing and if she needed help. It was then that the Asian lady replied that she needed to do a return and showed her her phone. After looking at the Asian lady’s phone, she pulled away and gave her one of those unpleasant stares.
She continued to check the receipts of the white customers with the same consistency she gave to the first batch of white customers.
At this point, my friend and I looked at each other and had a small chat amongst ourselves about what was obviously happening. I lost track of what happened as I was processing my return, but my friend kept her eyes on her being. After turning around from finishing my return, we noticed the same floral blouse lady handled a black couple with the same temperament as she did with the Asian lady.
As we started walking over to the entrance, we saw her still taking her sweet time with the black couple. We saw the dismay on the black couple’s faces, and we saw Gary, a black staff member, taking over her position, waiting for her to be done with the black couple.
In the store, my friend and I cross-checked references for what happened from each of our angles and confirmed amongst ourselves that racism was racism. As I exited, I saw Gary swiping the floor near the exit. I went over to tell him what had happened and how unprofessional and unfriendly she was to people of colour, different from the white customer, and how disgusted we felt.
We would like to give her the benefit of the doubt and be proven wrong. Until then, we truly believe this is racism in broad daylight. Being a customer of Costco for over 20+ years, I have shopped at Costco across the country, and in other countries; this is the first time I've witnessed such an event.
Side thoughts: You won’t notice (or maybe if you're sensitive enough) while being in line that you are being cherry-picked until you observe from the side quietly…