"We're all anticipating going and shopping there, and changing our weekend routines." Georg Winkler, Camarillo's economic and business development manager, said that to the Los Angeles Times in September about the Costco warehouse opening on West Ventura Boulevard. He has a point. In the second half of October, Ventura Boulevard picks up a major draw at each end of town. Texas Roadhouse is scheduled to open Oct. 19 at the Camarillo Premium Outlets. Costco is scheduled to open Oct. 30 at 431 W. Ventura Blvd.
That gap is eleven days. Over the same stretch, the city's fall events fill up the weekends in between. A Camarillo weekend after Halloween will cover more of the boulevard than it did in September, so it helps to know how each new piece is set up before the crowds arrive.
The West End Lot That Waited Nearly Two Decades
The Costco site is not a new idea. The Camarillo Acorn reports the property was approved for a shopping center in 2007, but earlier versions of the project were never built. The road came first. The City's 2023 environmental document says the four-lane Ventura Boulevard extension was "completed in 2008." It connects Las Posas Road on the east to Central Avenue on the west.
The Costco chapter started in earnest in 2022, when the company applied to modify the earlier approved plans and build a 163,177-square-foot warehouse with a freestanding fuel facility. After that came several decision points:
- December 2023. The Camarillo Planning Commission approved the project 4-1. Residents had raised concerns about traffic, air quality and wildlife, including burrowing owls.
- February 2024. The City Council upheld the approval.
- 2024. Ventura County Citizens Against Mega Gas sued the city, arguing its environmental review fell short under the California Environmental Quality Act. A Ventura County Superior Court judge ruled for the city, and the group appealed.
- February 2026. A three-justice panel of the California 2nd District Court of Appeal upheld the city's approval. The group did not take the case to the California Supreme Court.
The original plan had the store opening in 2024, so Oct. 30 lands about two years after that. The gas station has been open since May 1, which means part of the site has been in use for five months already.
What Opens on Oct. 30
The warehouse is about 160,000 square feet. Costco director of real estate development Michael Okuma confirmed the opening date to both the Times and the Acorn. Here is what's on site:
| Feature | Detail |
|---|---|
| Location | 431 W. Ventura Blvd., south of Highway 101 near Springville Drive |
| Size | About 160,000 square feet |
| Services | Food court, bakery, pharmacy, optical center, hearing aid center, tire center |
| Fuel | 32-pump gas station, open since May |
| Parking | More than 877 spaces |
| Product extras | Freshly prepared sushi and other items not carried at older, smaller locations |
The opening date is one day before Halloween, and the Acorn noted that members stocking up for trick-or-treaters will have the warehouse's famously large candy bags to choose from.
Costco has not posted store hours for Camarillo yet. Its warehouse page lists the address and opening date only. The only hours on record come from the City's December 2023 planning document. It projected weekday hours of 10 a.m. to 8:30 p.m., Saturday hours of 9:30 a.m. to 6 p.m., and Sunday hours of 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Treat those as planning estimates until Costco publishes its own.
How the Site Is Built to Handle Ventura Boulevard Traffic
Traffic is the open question. One resident who signed onto the lawsuit told the Times she shops at Costco herself but expects the boulevard "is going to be packed." She also said most of her neighbors are excited to shop there.
The City's 2023 document shows how the site splits up its traffic:
- Shoppers come in through two driveways on Ventura Boulevard. A third connection reaches Overland Road at the northeast corner.
- Warehouse delivery trucks use Overland Road. Fuel trucks enter from Ventura Boulevard.
- Gas customers line up in the northwest corner. Besides the 32 fueling positions, there is room for 42 more cars to queue, which keeps gas traffic away from warehouse traffic.
- Truck timing. The document expects about 10 warehouse delivery trucks on a weekday, mostly before the 10 a.m. opening. Tire shipments typically arrive around 6 a.m., and fuel deliveries run three to five trucks a day.
In practice, most heavy trucks should be gone before shoppers show up, and the gas line has its own space instead of backing into the parking aisles. The planning record does not describe any new widening or signals on Ventura Boulevard for the opening. City and press materials have not published an opening-week traffic plan either. As of today, the road shoppers will use is the four-lane extension finished in 2008.
Why the City Wanted It
The City's argument rests on two numbers. Until now, Camarillo members drove to warehouses in Oxnard, Simi Valley or Westlake Village. The Oxnard store is under five miles away, but the Acorn reports that purchases there carry Oxnard's 9.25% sales tax rate, compared with 7.25% in Camarillo. Winkler told the Times the store "will help us recapture what we call retail leakage from the other cities, and keep the Camarillo residents in Camarillo." City Manager Greg Ramirez called the appeals ruling "a milestone moment for Camarillo."
The East End Gets Its Own Opening First
Eleven days earlier, the other end of the boulevard gets a new draw. Texas Roadhouse is scheduled to open Oct. 19 at 650 E. Ventura Blvd. in the Promenade section of the Camarillo Premium Outlets, near Finney's Crafthouse. It is the chain's first location in Ventura County, and the Ventura County Star reports it will employ 220 people. Both openings are still on the calendar, not yet in the rearview, so the dates could move.
Put the two together and Ventura Boulevard ends October with a new destination near the Outlets and another near the airport. The boulevard has been the city's main spine since well before either opening, and after Oct. 30 the two ends will pull more traffic than they did a month earlier.
The Rest of Late October, Mapped by Weekend
The new openings share the calendar with fall events that already have dates and addresses. Here is the run from mid-October through early November:
- Oct. 12 to Nov. 1. Camarillo Public Library at 4101 E. Las Posas Road is collecting photo copies for its Día de los Muertos community ofrenda. The display stays up through Nov. 3.
- Wednesday, Oct. 14, 5:30 p.m. Watercolor Wednesdays at the Camarillo Art Center, 3150 Ponderosa Drive.
- Saturday, Oct. 17, 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Pleasant Valley Recreation & Park District hosts Trail or Treat at the Camarillo Grove Park Nature Center, 6968 Camarillo Springs Road.
- Monday, Oct. 19. Texas Roadhouse is scheduled to open at the Outlets Promenade.
- Sunday, Oct. 25, 2 to 5 p.m. The Camarillo Ranch Foundation's Autumn Tea at the Ranch, 201 Camarillo Ranch Road.
- Wednesday, Oct. 28, 5:30 to 8 p.m. PVRPD's Halloween in the Park & Trunk or Treat at Community Center Park, 1605 E. Burnley St., with games, pumpkin painting and trick-or-treating.
- Friday, Oct. 30. Costco is scheduled to open at 431 W. Ventura Blvd.
- Through Nov. 20. McGrath Family Farms runs group fall tours, including Baby Root Regenerative Farm, the Organic Carranza Family Corn Trail and pumpkin picking.
McGrath sits at 4190 W. Ventura Blvd. on the same west end of the boulevard as the new warehouse, so a late-October Saturday could cover a corn trail and a bulk run on one road. Halloween in the Park falls two days before Costco opens. Trail or Treat comes two days before Texas Roadhouse. The openings and the city's own October calendar are spaced closely enough that the boulevard should stay busy all the way through the end of the month.
A lot that sat empty after its 2007 approval becoming a traffic draw also matters to homeowners nearby, especially along the Springville corridor and the west end. The Jenna Kaye Group tracks openings like this one because they change how a street gets used and how buyers see the homes along it. If you own near West Ventura Boulevard and want to know how the new traffic pattern fits into your plans, request a private consultation and tailored marketing plan.
This article is general information, not legal, tax or financial advice. Consult a qualified professional about your situation.
