Camarillo's Costco Is Finally Open. What Changes About Your Weekly Errand Run?

The Oxnard Costco is less than five miles from the new Camarillo warehouse, so saving drive time is the smallest part of what changed on Oct. 30. The bigger changes are on the receipt and the clock. Camarillo's sales tax rate is two points lower. The gas station opens hours before the warehouse doors. And the site was planned to keep fuel traffic and shopping traffic in separate lanes.

Costco Wholesale #1680 sits at 431 W. Ventura Blvd., at the west end of Camarillo Town Center, south of Highway 101 near Springville Drive. The Ventura County Star reported that on opening morning, hundreds of people waited in a line that wrapped around the building. Doors opened shortly before 8 a.m. after a ribbon-cutting with local dignitaries and the Camarillo High School cheerleading team.

A lot that waited almost two decades

The ground under the warehouse was approved for a shopping center in 2007, but earlier versions of that project were never built. According to the Camarillo Acorn, Costco applied in 2022 to modify the approved plans and build a warehouse with a freestanding fuel facility. The Planning Commission approved it 4-1 in December 2023, and the City Council upheld the approval in February 2024.

Ventura County Citizens Against Mega Gas then sued under the California Environmental Quality Act. A Ventura County Superior Court judge ruled for the city. In February, a three-justice panel of the California 2nd District Court of Appeal upheld the approval, and the group did not take the case to the California Supreme Court. Opponents had raised concerns about traffic and air quality around Ventura Boulevard and Springville Drive and about wildlife, including burrowing owls.

That history matters for day-to-day use because the traffic debate shaped the layout. Where the cars go and when the pumps run were settled long before the doors opened.

The pumps run on their own clock

The 32-pump gas station opened in May, five months ahead of the warehouse. Since then it has kept hours very different from the store's. Here is the schedule on Costco's Camarillo warehouse page:

On weekdays, the pumps open four and a half hours before Gold Star members can walk in, and they stay open ninety minutes after the warehouse closes. That means a 6 a.m. fill-up before a 101 commute and a 6 p.m. shopping run are separate trips, and the hours suit both. The station is members-only.

Executive membership gets an hour of shopping on weekdays and Sundays before other members are let in, and thirty minutes on Saturdays. At this warehouse, the extra time comes mostly on weekday mornings.

A site drawn to split those two trips

The project plan the city approved in December 2023 puts the gas station in a remote corner of the site. It has stacking space for 42 waiting vehicles, which is meant to keep the fuel line out of the warehouse parking area. The same city planning document shows two customer driveways on Ventura Boulevard and a connection to Overland Road. Warehouse deliveries come in from Overland, and fuel deliveries use Ventura Boulevard.

The plan also puts a large share of the lot toward electric vehicles: 181 EV spaces, with charging equipment in 46 of them at first occupancy.

So a gas-only stop and a full shopping trip use different parts of the property. Visiting the pumps at 7 a.m. and the warehouse after work is the pattern the layout was built for.

Two points off every taxable dollar

Before Oct. 30, Camarillo's Costco members shopped at warehouses in Oxnard, Simi Valley or Westlake Village. The tax table on the California Department of Tax and Fee Administration's rate page, effective Oct. 1, 2026, lists Camarillo at 7.25% and Oxnard at 9.25%.

The math is simple. On every $100 of taxable purchases, the Camarillo receipt carries $2 less sales tax than the same purchase in Oxnard. Bigger buys like a set of tires, a television or a patio set add up faster than a pantry restock. City officials have pointed out the other side of this: they expect the warehouse to keep more retail spending, and the sales tax revenue that comes with it, inside Camarillo. This is general information rather than tax advice. If a large purchase depends on the rate, check it against CDTFA's current table.

The inside covers the old cross-town stops

The warehouse is roughly 160,000 square feet. It has a bakery, a pharmacy, optical and hearing aid centers, a tire center and a food court. The tire center and pharmacy matter most here, because those are the services that often meant scheduling a separate visit to another city's warehouse. The warehouse phone number is (805) 465-2881.

The rest of the errand list is already next door

The location puts Costco next to errands Camarillo already runs. Camarillo Economic Development's listing for Camarillo Town Center names Target, Walmart, Ross, HomeGoods, Michaels, Petco and Shell, plus Applebee's, Wendy's and Del Taco. Camarillo Town Center West, anchored by Home Depot, sits next to the project.

With Costco in place, one west-side loop can cover a lot. Here is one way to put it together:

1. Fuel at the Costco pumps any morning from 5:30 a.m. on weekdays.
2. A hardware run at Home Depot in Town Center West.
3. Pet supplies at Petco or craft supplies at Michaels.
4. The bulk shop at Costco once the member doors open.

Farther east on the boulevard, Texas Roadhouse is now open at 650 E. Ventura Blvd., beside the Promenade section of Camarillo Premium Outlets. It is the chain's first Ventura County restaurant and runs a waitlist instead of taking reservations. The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf opened at the outlets on Sept. 12.

The first holiday season on the new schedule

The warehouse and the gas station are both closed on Thanksgiving Day. That makes the day before the holiday the last chance for a fill-up or a holiday stock-up before the long weekend.

December brings Camarillo's own events to the other end of Ventura Boulevard. The Old Town Glow Holiday Walk runs Saturday, Dec. 5, from 5 to 8 p.m. in Old Town, with holiday drinks and treats, a lighting contest, Santa, music and carolers. On Saturday, Dec. 12, the free Camarillo Christmas Parade & Santa's Village runs from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. The parade goes from Temple Avenue and Las Posas Road to Community Center Park at 1605 E. Burnley St. That evening, the Old Town Glow Pop-Up Holiday Village runs from 4 to 9 p.m. at Studio Channel Islands Art Center, 2222 Ventura Blvd., with vendors, food trucks, live music and a ticketed snow village.

On Dec. 12, the warehouse's Saturday hours of 9:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. leave time between the parade and the holiday village for a supply run. That covers a full Camarillo Saturday without leaving the city.

If you'd like to talk about how the west end of Ventura Boulevard fits your own routine in Camarillo, Jodi Sells the Coast is happy to help. Let's Connect.