Only in Portlandia
Bike racks at Costco! Empty, of course.
Perfect for those big orders. Often there's a new car on display, with a dealer sticker in the window, out in front of the trash can.
| Posted at 10:44 AM | Permalink |
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This page contains a single entry from the blog posted on March 24, 2013 10:44 AM.
The previous post in this blog was The fix is *really* in on Washington side of the CRoCk.
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Comments (30)
Here's another one. The city required that they put in bike racks for the Jiffy Lube that was built on Sandy Blvd.
Posted by Dave Lister | March 24, 2013 11:10 AM
I thought the same thing when they built a MAX stop at IKEA !
Posted by PDX Grace | March 24, 2013 11:17 AM
Maybe the local version of the three wheeled delivery bikes can use them?
Posted by Portland Native | March 24, 2013 11:40 AM
I have a collection of similar photos of the electric car charging stations at Fred Meyer.
Posted by Garage Wine | March 24, 2013 12:10 PM
Is this the Costco out by the airport?
Posted by Steve Woodward | March 24, 2013 12:30 PM
This is prima facia photographic evidence of Costco's systematic discrimination against bicyclists. Taking a page from the Mayor Bloomberg doctrine, I expect the Office of Equity and Human Rights is considering an intervention to prohibit bulk retail packaging.
Posted by Newleaf | March 24, 2013 12:30 PM
Yes, it's the Vancouverite Tax Cheat Costco out by the airport. Where the vibrant bike lanes of death are going in on Sandy Boulevard.
Posted by Jack Bog | March 24, 2013 12:44 PM
Have you ever tried to carry 36 rolls of toilet paper on a bike?
Posted by Langston | March 24, 2013 2:12 PM
Langston-Does this work better than donning a bike helmet?
Posted by teresa | March 24, 2013 2:31 PM
Not even a cargo bike out there? Boy that sure is surprising. And where's the skateboard parking? Where's the equity in that? Skateboard rights now!
Posted by dg | March 24, 2013 2:40 PM
That place ought to be just teaming with cargo bikes. Why not?
Posted by godfry | March 24, 2013 2:43 PM
36 rolls of toilet paper? Not for long... toilet paper ban coming soon.
Posted by Anthony | March 24, 2013 3:39 PM
PDX Grace: the light rail line was there years before IKEA. That area was zoned as a "mixed-use" development - no parking, retail at ground level, condos/apartments above.
After remaining a vacant field for a decade, Portland re-zoned it to allow big-box stores with plenty of parking. IKEA jumped in, followed by Best Buy.
I have a photo of a coyote curled up on a seat in a light rail car - the trains stopped at the empty field ("Cascade Station"), opened the doors, closed them, and moved on. The coyote boarded during one such stop.
Posted by Max | March 24, 2013 4:18 PM
Any minute now and BOOM those racks will be full.
Posted by reader | March 24, 2013 4:56 PM
They are no good for customers, but they could be used by employees... HAHAHA!
Posted by Michael | March 24, 2013 5:08 PM
As I read the comments, the future flashed before my eyes. Regulations on sizes of packages and a requirement to use cargo bikes for short distant trips.... And fairness for skateboards.
Posted by Nolo | March 24, 2013 7:24 PM
"You never use the bike racks at Costco that were put there for you
Because you can't volume shop on a bike, so what can you do?
You're trying hard not to show it, baby, but baby, baby, I know it
You've lost that vibrant feeling, oh that vibrant feeling
You've lost that vibrant feeling, now it's gone, gone, gone."
Posted by Bill McDonald | March 24, 2013 8:50 PM
I can't imagine Costco volunteered to give up the space for bike racks that they knew very well would be little used, if at all. I'm betting there was an "incentive" of some kind or another involved.
Posted by Mr. Grumpy | March 24, 2013 8:57 PM
The bike racks are used by employees.
Posted by nick | March 24, 2013 10:14 PM
Max, I stand corrected. I do remember Wiley Coyote hitching a ride, without a paying a fare! It still struck me funny, imagining someone trying to haul a futon on light rail...
Posted by PDX Grace | March 24, 2013 10:30 PM
Costco does not do pedestrian flow very well around their stores - sidewalks too narrow and cluttered with carts, no pedestrian buffers, tire center back-up traffic too close and conflicting with pedestrians, chaos around the single store entryway, etc. The placement of these bike staples is going to make it all worse, as we'll be forced out into traffic lanes to get around them.
Posted by John Rettig | March 24, 2013 10:36 PM
Bill Mc....how perfect, your comment: I just finished watching HBO "Phil Spector"
Won't be able to get that outta my head the rest of the night.
Cheers!
Posted by veiledorchid | March 24, 2013 10:44 PM
The bike racks are used by employees.
And they're getting a real workout.
Posted by Jack Bog | March 25, 2013 12:10 AM
Just close your eyes and rub your temples. Think of all the bio-tech jobs at South Waterfront. Think of the tram as our Eiffel Tower.
Before long the bikes will begin to appear. Yes, there they are. The employees have brought their bicycles to work. I can see them right there in the pictures.
Posted by Bill McDonald | March 25, 2013 7:47 AM
Hey, where's the Equity with these bike racks. Where's the handicap bike racks?
Posted by lw | March 25, 2013 8:57 AM
The bike racks are used by employees.
So Cost-Co employees can park their bikes in full view of thieves, and with no cover to protect from the rain, for their full 8 hour shift? Gee, I wonder why no bikes are parked there.
Posted by Dave J. | March 25, 2013 10:16 AM
Those aren't bike racks, they're decorative bollards to stop errant motorists. In the second photo, notice how placid and serene the shopper is, walking behind the sturdy barrier.
Hey, if they were rusty steel instead of galvanized, could they serve double duty as public art? Like maybe at the east end of the Hawthorne bridge?
Or at that fitness-equipment dealer at the Burnside-Couch couplet where confused motorists keep crashing into the building.
Posted by ItsForTheKids | March 25, 2013 10:29 AM
We've got them at our local Costco here in NJ, and no one bikes here. My guess is that Costco just adds them in as a cost of doing business wether they're used or not.
Posted by canucken | March 25, 2013 10:35 AM
The bike racks are used by employees.
You should see the 15-passenger van they use to shuttle employees in from an off-site parking lot at the Clackamas warehouse. Wonder if something like that is even legal in Portland. Or how long it would be legal should anyone find out it was being used.
Posted by Bean | March 25, 2013 1:07 PM
That's okay. It's the good intentions that count.
Posted by MJ | March 25, 2013 2:16 PM