Franklin's Costco Opens the Day Before Thanksgiving. Here's What Fills the Weeks Leading Up to It.

Milwaukee County's first Costco opens at 8 a.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 25, at the northwest corner of S. 27th Street and W. Drexel Avenue. The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported that the date came from Franklin Mayor John Nelson's Facebook page, where his post got more than 400 reactions in its first four hours. The store opens the day before Thanksgiving. It also opens six days after FrostFest starts its run at Franklin Field.

So Franklin's busiest late-fall week now has two centers. One is Ballpark Drive, home to Franklin Field, the MOSH Performance Facility and the Milky Way Drive-In. The other is a new one on the city's eastern edge, at 27th and Drexel. The rest of this post sets out the dates so you can plan the stretch from Halloween to the holiday around both.

What's Actually Opening at 27th and Drexel

Until now, a warehouse run from Franklin meant leaving the county. WISN noted that the closest Costco stores were in New Berlin, Pewaukee, Menomonee Falls and Grafton, with another being built near Oconomowoc. The Franklin store will cover 164,000 square feet and include a 12-pump gas station.

It sits on 20 acres that used to belong to Northwestern Mutual. When the city announced the groundbreaking in May, its press release said the mayor hoped the store might bring other large tenants to the area. So far, no other tenant has been named for the parcel.

The Journal Sentinel reported that Franklin's Plan Commission approved four Costco-related items on Oct. 23, 2025. In April 2026, the Common Council took up a development agreement with Costco Wholesale Corporation for the address 7829 S. 27th St. That agreement covers a public water main, a traffic signal and improvements to W. Drexel Avenue, and it makes Costco responsible for installing or arranging them.

That road work matters for anyone who drives Drexel between 27th Street and the freeway. The agreement puts the grading and paving inside the Drexel Avenue right-of-way. It gives no completion date or lane-closure schedule, so plan on Drexel looking different in December than it did in the spring.

The Calendar From Here to the Holiday

By the time this post is up, the library's Trunk or Treat and The Hill Has Eyes are over. What's left of October is mostly on Halloween weekend, and November builds toward FrostFest. Most of these events are within a few minutes of each other along Ballpark Drive and W. Ryan Road.

On Halloween, the timing works out neatly. The city's trick-or-treat hours end at 7 p.m., which is when Buffalo Bill's Haunted Trail opens its last Saturday of the season. The trail stays open until 11. If you have older kids who have aged out of the candy route, you can hand them off at seven. Fright Nights at the Milky Way Drive-In also wraps up its Halloween double features that weekend, and it runs Sunday screenings for families.

November's first big weekend is Nov. 13 to 15, and it's a crowded one. Snowvana fills the MOSH Performance Facility with a ski-equipment swap, exhibitors from regional ski areas, films, music and deals. The re:Craft & Relic Holiday Market overlaps on Nov. 14 and 15 at the Milwaukee County Sports Complex. It brings artists and makers, live music and food, and it charges admission with separate hours for Saturday and Sunday. With the two overlapping, you can fit the ski swap and the market into the same Saturday.

The Week the Two Anchors Overlap

The seven days from Nov. 19 to Nov. 25 are when Franklin's two late-fall centers run at the same time. Ballpark Drive is in full holiday mode for the first time this season, and the new store at 27th and Drexel opens its doors.

FrostFest opens on Thursday, Nov. 19, according to the city's Engage Franklin listing, and runs 26 select nights. Franklin Community News reported that the season goes through Dec. 27. "Select nights" means FrostFest is not open every night, so check the dates before you load the car. Ballpark Commons' own event page features Saturday, Nov. 21, from 3:30 to 9:30 p.m. It lists holiday light displays, Santa and holiday characters, entertainment, a holiday marketplace, and optional extras such as snow tubing, a Ferris wheel, a carousel and the Cocoa Cup Ride.

Here's one way to lay out the week:

1. Thursday, Nov. 19. FrostFest opening night at Franklin Field, 3:30 to 9:30 p.m.
2. Saturday, Nov. 21. The FrostFest date Ballpark Commons features, with the same 3:30 to 9:30 p.m. window, if a weekend visit works better for your household.
3. Sunday, Nov. 22. Handmade Holidays at the Franklin Public Library, 1:30 to 3:30 p.m., an indoor afternoon between two busy weekends.
4. Wednesday, Nov. 25. Costco opens at 8 a.m., the morning before Thanksgiving.

The Journal Sentinel joked that Franklin can get "ready to eat some hot dogs before Thanksgiving turkey." Opening day falls on the last shopping day before the holiday. If you're hosting, it's simpler to shop before Wednesday and save the new store for a quieter day.

The library keeps going into December. The city newsletter lists Gem Stone Holiday Art on Dec. 8 from 4:30 to 5:30 p.m. and an Ice Skate Decoration craft on Dec. 9.

Where 27th Street Goes After Opening Day

Opening day is the first step for the corridor, and more work is already moving. The Oct. 20 Common Council agenda included a cost-sharing agreement with Oak Creek for WisDOT engineering work. That work covers a planned signal at WIS 241 and S. 27th Street, plus related work at the I-94 ramps on W. Drexel Avenue. This agreement pays for engineering, so the signal itself is a later phase. Franklin and Oak Creek would share the cost.

Oak Creek is part of the picture because the corridor also grows on its side of 27th Street. In 2025, BizTimes described "The Prairie", a project proposed by Wangard Partners and Siepmann Realty across from the Costco site. It calls for a retail center of about 82,500 square feet and 9.4 acres of outlots. The BizTimes report listed possible store categories, not signed tenants, so for now The Prairie is a plan.

The eastern edge of Franklin now has in the works a 12-pump gas station, a new signal and Drexel improvements under the Costco agreement, engineering for another signal near the freeway, and a proposed retail center across the street. Ballpark Drive will still run Franklin's seasonal calendar. What changes is the everyday errand route, which now ends at 27th and Drexel.

If you'd like to know what your home might be worth as the corridor fills in, Blue Violet Group can walk you through it. Request a free home valuation, and we'll talk it over without any pressure.