More than 1,000 people stood outside for hours waiting for job interviews for the new east Windsor Costco on Wednesday.
The lengthy and ever-growing line began at the front door of the Serbian Centre, where the job fair was held, and snaked along two sides of the venue’s large parking lot and up hundreds of metres of sidewalk on Catherine Street.
“It’s crazy how many people showed up here,” said Tom Quy of Windsor. Shortly before noon and after five hours in line, the 30-year-old stood near the front of the pack.
A lineup of job seekers snaked along the street outside of the Serbian Centre in Windsor to apply for a job at the new east Windsor Costco on September 23, 2026. (WINDSOR STAR – DAN JANISSE) Dan Janisse
Near the end of the line stood Salah Alawdhan, 53. He saw a post on social media about the job fair and was undeterred by the number of people waiting for a shot at employment with the popular wholesaler.
“There aren’t a lot of jobs in the city in this sector,” he said. And with roughly two decades in the customer service industry, he thought, “I’ve got to give this a shot.”
Windsor’s second Costco location at 6630 Tecumseh Rd. E. — directly behind the east-end Home Depot — is expected to open on Nov. 20. Construction on the $130 million project began in June 2025.
Aaron Fauteux, service innovation lead with Workforce WindsorEssex, was part of the team helping Costco run the job fair. He said people began lining up as early as 3:45 a.m., even though the fair didn’t start until 7 a.m.
More than 1,000 people lined up outside of the Serbian Centre in Windsor to apply for a job at the new east Windsor Costco on September 23, 2026. (WINDSOR STAR – DAN JANISSE) Dan Janisse
“We always expect long lines,” Fauteux said. “But today . . . we were surprised by the sheer number this morning. We knew there would be hundreds, but we’re easily over 1,000.”
One hundred people were let inside the job fair every 45 minutes, he said.
With so many people looking for employment, even those who’d arrived when doors opened at 7 a.m. were still waiting at noon. Several people who declined to share their names said they were technically on the clock at their current jobs while they stood outside the Serbian Centre.
“I’ve heard Costco is a decent place to work,” said one man. “It’s hard finding a good job.”
John Adams, 49, said he works for Canada Post but is years away from a permanent position with the organization and had no pension or benefits. He had several dozen people in line ahead of him at noon.
“I took the day off, so I might as well be here,” he said. “If I can get in here and make not as good money, but close to as good, with a pension and benefits, that’s a big difference.”
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Job-seekers were required to apply online ahead of time, said Fauteux. Those who made it to the door were asked a few screening questions to ensure they qualified for an interview. After that, they received a numbered card and waited to hear their number called.
Then came the interview. If it went well, the candidate would participate in a second interview with Costco managers. Fauteux said some people were hired on the spot that morning, but that process took too long. Most of the successful participants were expected to instead receive phone calls with offers of employment.
Fauteux did not know exactly how many people Costco was hiring but said there were somewhere between 200 and 400 positions to fill.
The store is 158,000 square feet and includes a gas station with 16 pumps, plus more than 1,000 parking spaces.
Fauteux encouraged anyone looking for employment to visit the Windsor Regional Employment Network’s website, wrenetwork.ca. His organization, Workforce WindsorEssex, partners with the service system manager for Employment Ontario across Windsor-Essex, Chatham-Kent, and Sarnia Lambton.