Last Friday night Dallas still had his rental car from traveling on business that week so we went to Costco. The only time I’d been to Costco before was to get vacation supplies while in Kaua’i, which means we pretty much just hit up the liquor, snacks and local music sections. I’d never taken the time to really look through Costco or walk down each aisle. (See, Phil Ponce, I don’t lie!)
I don’t know how many times I said “Wow, that’s a lot of (fill in the blank)” that night. A lot. And not only did I buy industrial sized shampoo, a 3 pack of huge bottles of ketchup, and 8 5.5 pounds of stir-fry vegetables, but I also got a Kenneth Cole jacket for $30 and a newly-released paperback novel for $8. I think I like Costco.
7 responses so far ↓
1 Crissy // Oct 17, 2007 at 2:28 pm
You can’t survive in Hawai‘i without Costco. We go there ALL THE TIME!
2 Y // Oct 17, 2007 at 7:31 pm
Costco is definitely impressive when you look at the price of items at the store. The hidden cost is that you have to live in a large enough place to store everything. It means we have to live in McMansions to store 30 rolls of toilet paper, 6 boxes of cereal, or a dozen bars of soap. Also, people will drive from miles away to shop, ignoring the stores in their neighborhood. I can see the attraction of Costco but I am also wary of its impact to the city.
3 RachelleB // Oct 17, 2007 at 9:52 pm
It’s a stretch to say you have to live in a McMansion to shop at Costco. I for sure did not have space to store anything in the
apartmentcloset I lived in while in New York and most the time we bought our toilet paper by the roll from the deli downstairs. In my current Chicago apartment we have more storage space and can shove 30 rolls of toilet paper in a closet or put a ten cans of soup in our cupboard. It’s a challenge, but we can do it. And our apartment is no where near McMansion status. Oh, and Costco is in my neighborhood so I’m not driving far and we don’t even have a car, so we only go once in a while.4 Nancy // Oct 18, 2007 at 9:09 am
Costco is dangerous. I can EASILY drop hundreds of dollars there. EASILY!
5 Crissy // Oct 18, 2007 at 12:08 pm
Haha, I’m with Nancy. You start going, “Oooh, this is a GREAT bargain!” . . . which it is, but then, so is everything else there! Our AmEx bill (the credit card of choice at Costco) was way up when my office was temporarily relocated next to the busiest Costco in the world (the Iwilei store — seriously!). :o)
6 Mike W. // Oct 18, 2007 at 3:14 pm
Agreed on the dangerous. I’ve never left Costco with a receipt under $100. Gotta have someone to stop me whenever I go there!
7 Z // Oct 25, 2007 at 3:53 am
Y: I know plenty of students who manage just fine in their tiny apartments with a dozen bars of soap, etc. You must have a different idea than me of what a McMansion is. I guess my place would qualify (hard to believe!).
Boy, I love it when people start bashing Costco! Analysts have been telling Sinegal for years to pay his employees less, reduce their health plans and 401(k)s, drive up the margins. Sinegal refuses, because he considers happy employees and customers the core of his business success. I guess he hasn’t considered the environmental impact of all those people driving across the state to get to a Costco. Shame on him! Maybe we should start shopping at Wal Mart to show Jim Sinegal who’s the boss!
I don’t think my situation is unusual, but where I live, the “local” place to shop is Wal Mart, Target, or Rite Aid. Some people eschew these and go to Costco, but many people like the convenience of the local places. It’s not Costco that is causing the death of “Mom and Pop” businesses. It’s how our consumer culture is today. People would rather buy books off Amazon than their local bookstore. To blame Costco for having the best behavior of these large stores is pretty silly and sends the wrong message.
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