A line of shoppers braving cold morning temperatures wrapped around the Costco warehouse in Yorkville as the store celebrated its grand opening on Wednesday.

Hundreds flooded the entrance at the strike of 8 a.m.

The highly anticipated members-only shopping warehouse is already creating a large footprint in the community.

Yorkville Mayor John Purcell was impressed to see around 500 people in line. He said even at the 7:30 a.m. ribbon-cutting, the parking lot was already 80% full.

He said some people excited for the rare Pokemon cards that were offered camped out over night.

“It’s just amazing, bringing all these people, not just from Yorkville but from all over,” Purcell said. “The tax dollars we are going to generate from people shopping that live in other communities is amazing. It’s already created interest in some of the surrounding properties for business and restaurants. Also, every employee I talk to says they’re an amazing company to work for.”

City Administrator Bart Olson previously said Costco is expected to generate as much as $1 million in sales taxes annually for the city.

In addition to the 160,000 square-foot shopping warehouse, the site also features 16 gas pumps, with plans to expand to 20 gas pumps.

Yorkville resident Lynn Wolfe said she used to drive to the St. Charles’ Costco.

“The idea of having one so close to home is very exciting, I’m a die-hard Costco member, I love the Kirkland brand, it’s outstanding,” Wolfe said. “Especially buying in bulk, you save money and save in time. I was counting down to opening day. People are coming from Plano, Sugar Grove, Oswego and Montgomery, there’s a lot of buzz in the community.”

Wolfe said she’s also excited for the growth in the city that will be spurred by Costco and for the tax generation that will help the whole community.

Two shoppers, John and Linda McGuire of Oswego, even had Costco CEO Ron Vachris sign a U.S. map of all the Costco locations the couple has visited – 240 to be exact. The couple said Yorkville location’s grand-opening has been on their calendar for months.

Vachris said shoppers love the “treasure hunt” experience, coming in for a few things and then “finding the items you never knew you couldn’t live without.”

“We’re very excited to be part of the community,” Vachris said. “We’ve had a great turnout of our members. We’re supportive of local community. Costco was born on supporting small businesses and communities and we still do that today. We provide great wages in the community. It’s a very vibrant, exciting growing community. We’re glad to be a part of its future.”

Costco is selling green pesticide-free produce grown locally by BrightFarms in Yorkville.

“We feel it’s very important to support local commerce, and we work with local vendors, growers and farmers,” Vachris said. “We also export those goods around the world.”

In addition to BrightFarms’ produce, the store will sell local-brewed seasonal beers and other home-produced items to support the area’s economy, said Steve Ftacek, general manager of the Yorkville Costco.

The store hired 180 new employees as the site transformed from a field of dirt in early September to a fully-stocked shopping mecca in just a few months, he said.

“Everybody helped put this place together,” Ftacek said

Claudio Adama, executive vice president of merchandising, said Costco has local buyers go throughout the area to find local flair to offer shoppers.

“It’s been fun to see all the unique items to the area, it’s great because the community has been so excited,” Adama said. “Even at the entrance, the large wreaths and large planters are all brought in locally. There’s unique items here you don’t find in all Costco locations.”

A special moment was shared when Ftacek presented the Northern Illinois Food Bank with a $1,000 giant-sized check.

Summer Zhao, with Northern Illinois Food Bank, said each dollar donated generates $8 worth of groceries.

“Their donation is worth $8,000 worth of groceries, this is very helpful during this time of uncertainties regarding SNAP benefits and the increase in need we are experiencing,” Zhao said.

“We partner with Costco Yorkville for food donations too. Anything they can’t sell, through their food recovery program we receive food donations that go out to Kendall County neighbors,” she said.

Locally, the Kendall County Community Food Pantry is an agency food partner with the Northern Illinois Food Bank.

Overall, the non-profit serves 14 counties with more than 300 food pantries, in-addition to soup kitchens and homeless shelters.

Costco Yorkville also features a pharmacy, an optical department, a hearing aid center and a tire service center. They also have an expanded online inventory.

Costco is hosting a “special offer” until Dec. 14 giving new members gift cards for enrolling.