For fans of Costco
With my experience, different Costco stores have different experience. The closest store to me is small and messy, and SKUs are too limited so I had to go to other supermarkets after checkout. However, another store (10km away) is neat and clean. Although crowded, the checkout process is very smooth.
If the Costco you visited made you disappointed, I'd suggest to refund the membership. We're paying to shop in Costco, and it's fair to expect good shopping experience.
Yeah, I partially-refunded the membership, downgrading to the normal membership. I've been ok with going only about a third as frequently as the grocery store. But the lady who sold me the membership said that Costco would be usable as a full-service grocery store, which is definitely false, even after visiting two locations. I think I'm going to keep the normal level membership, though.
They will refund your membership if it's not for you.
Even if you never shop there, the membership is worth it for the gasoline savings alone. It pays for itself after only 6-8 fillups, depending on the size of your tank.
They stock a lot of junk, which I don’t buy. And a lot of healthy, high quality items at unbeatable prices which I do buy. If you’re never coming back because of the junk, I guess 🤷♂️
I get a lot of my produce, dairy, and meat there, along with batteries, paper products, aluminum foil, and cleaning supplies.
Clothing often has some good deals. Same with seasonal items, I've gotten good deals on camping and hiking stuff, coolers, gun cases, and gardening stuff like potting soil.
I mostly avoid the center snacks but occasionally do pick up snacks.
For appliances and TVs, they extend the manufacturer warranty by an extra year for free.
I agree with you, they stock a ton of non-food items I rarely care about. If you mostly buy food items check to see if there's a Costco Business Center nearby.
Going to the business center does not require a special Costco membership, they're open about the same hours, and some have gas stations available. Mine does not have a food court, and the non-food section is limited to restaurant supply stuff. The physical store is the same size as my normal Costcos, so the food selection is increased substantially.
These are probably only available in major metropolitan areas, so you might be out of luck. I only go to my normal Costco for gas now (the line is shorter than at the business center).
That's good to hear about the business centres, closest is an hour away at the best of times, if it's like a regular Costco but better produce selection then I'm excited that the new one will be one of them.
Be sure to check their website when you need a new major appliance. Installation and haul away is included in the price, and they add an extra year to the warranty.
I primarily go there to get a few things. The frozen meats (chicken breast, wings and goat) are well priced, the paper goods are cheaper (paper towel, shit tickets, napkins), tortilla, seaweed snacks (I actually prefer theirs to the Asian grocers ones), flour and sugar, eggs (cheapest around, but usually sell out fast), cherry tomatoes and mixed salad, and a few other things my hungover brain can't recall.
You gotta do some research to see what's actually a bargain and know you're gonna get some stuff elsewhere. I usually avoid the snacks and processed foods and goods. But I get most of my produce from the Chinese or Indian grocers nearby. They're cheaper and better quality than American supermarkets.
Oh, the gas is a good price. And so are the tires. I think they rotate and rebalance your tires for free for the life of the tire if you buy a full set there.
If you have one that sells booze, those are good for stocking up on "well liquor" for parties. They don't have my booze of choice, but I'll buy a cheap vodka for batch cocktails or something or a few bottles of $3 wine for a party or sangria.
But yeah, it's organized like crap specifically so you spend more time there and impulse grab shit. Idk why their baggers are set up this way, but whatever.
Costco also has great prices on nuts/dried fruit, protein/workout supplies, canned goods/pasta sauces, OTC drugs and sundries like soap/shampoo/razors.
It's a great place to get a lot of "fundamentals." They mostly sell at cost, as the bulk of their profit comes from subscriptions, not markup.
Ahhh thank you! I knew I was forgetting something.
Personally, I get my nuts, dried fruits, dried beans, lentils, etc. from the Indian grocer which is far cheaper, but that is not something everyone would have access to.
That said, if there is one near you, I recommend checking there for those goods and comparing.
But yeah, it's organized like crap specifically so you spend more time there
That's probably also why they're always moving stuff around too.
Yeah, pretty standard grocery store tactics. Costco puts the meat/produce/dairy/eggs at the far end of the store on the edges just like every other chain.
I belong to Costco for a mere handful of reasons:
All that for like $75 a year? Hell yeah. And that $1.50 hot dog and soda is unbeatable. Also, they have a great return policy.
They could totally prioritize more healthy options, they go through their inventory fast enough for it to not be a problem finding fresh groceries
That said, the other points are part of why Costco's model works. They have a limited number of items at a time, priced much lower than other similar stores, and they have a fixed max profit that they allow themselves to make on them. The kirkland branded stuff is intended to be as good as the other brands in quality, and all the items are supposedly selected to be "good"
So people show up often to see what new items they're currently carrying and grab the things that they need. For a lot of people, the membership is worth it. Then they might go to other stores for any remaining items they couldn't find at Costco
Everything there is such a disorganized mess. Most of the aisles are incoherent.
Agreed. There's a general pattern to some of it, but I usually wander through most of the aisles as I work my way through
Note that Costco also offers some banger deals on prescriptions and contacts and such, and apparently has a great tire service as well although I’ve personally not used it before. They also offer great deals on car rentals, among other things I’m sure. I just bought contacts 3 days ago and ended up paying $450 to get them through Costco as opposed to $750 to get them from anywhere else.
Costco is where we get meat, cheese, paper towels, various cleaning supplies, occasional office supplies, and a bag or two of something snacky. Ours is laid out in a pretty logical way and I don't remember it having been different at the locations I went in the US. I had to stop eating bread so I can't speak to that, but my wife does love their bagels. There are no bags but they sometimes have boxes lying about that you can use. I seem to recall that someone to put things in the cart was a floating position that would bop between cashiers as the cart went full, not an assigned employee who would stand idle at each register.
I tend to go to the Costco Business Center the most, they have a great meat selection.