Inside China's first Costco, where crowds forced the store to shut down shortly after its grand opening

STR/AFP/Getty Images

The calm didn't last long at Costco's first store in China.

• Costco opened its first warehouse in China on Tuesday.
• The Shanghai location was forced to close early after it became too crowded.
• Business Insider spoke to one shopper who described the chaotic scene from within the warehouse.
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

Costco's first ever Chinese warehouse opened its doors for the first time on Tuesday. A few hours later, the Shanghai warehouse had to shut those same doors early, due to the massive turnout that the warehouse's grand opening attracted.

The company's entry into the Chinese market has been long-awaited. The international retailer operated 762 warehouses located across 11 countries as of 2018. That same year, PwC described China as a "must play, must win" retail market, with brick-and-mortar and e-commerce sales that exceeded US retail sales.

But Costco has avoided jumping straight into China's retail scene until relatively recently. Costco began offering online delivery options to China around five years ago, according to local media.

Read more: Costco workers reveal 33 things they'd love to tell shoppers, but can't

Costco's senior vice president for Asia, Richard Zhang, previously told the AFP that positive online sales convinced the company to bet on opening an actual warehouse. The company's newest warehouse began signing Shanghai locals up for memberships in April.

And, as it turns out, anticipation for the new warehouse really built up.

Here's a look inside Costco's chaotic and crowded grand opening in Shanghai: