I thought to myself maybe it was my imagination or because people were smaller back in the 60’s and 70’s. But even the step seemed not as wide. Then looked on Ebay at the vintage Cosco step stools and they did have larger seats, and the bottom step was wider. Oh well, I like it anyway. I guess they are saving money by making them smaller and keeping the prices more affordable for the new ones. The boy spent an hour yesterday afternoon assembling it for me. He loves to put things together. I didn’t even ask him to, he just took over.