How Costco became a 'third place'
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Curious. I never thought of Costco as a “third place “. But I guess it works for some.
Did you see the article about the woman who set up a samples table at Costco and distributed free tequila shots in paper cups? She made a lot of people happy before she was discovered and escorted out.
My kind of lady!
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Sadly, the closest Costco is too far away from us so we don’t have a membership. We actually joined Sam’s Club this summer, one of those deals where the first year is like $10. After a year it goes up to maybe $50/year IIRC. We’ve already decided we won’t renew. There are hardly any products we want…
Anyway, the article mentioned malls, and it seems really sad, and somehow uniquely American, that “the mall” has been replaced by Costco as a gathering place.
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Mr wtg and I love shopping at Costco, so I totally get it!
On the surface, Costco is a popular spot for Americans to stretch their grocery dollar, but it also feeds a deeply human need. As physical community spaces disappear and social bonds fray, the warehouse giant has emerged as an unexpected anchor for connection.
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My uk summary:
Big & overly busy, crowded even despite size, always long queues at the tills, buy in bulk so need storage.Easy parking.
Good for food generally.
Some interesting products. Cheaper even after membership fees, yet I always come out having spent £100-300. So it encourages spending.
Very little seating in the cafe/takeaway, they want you to pay and go.I really dislike it, worst shopping experience in the UK
Ventosa viri restabit
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I don't think it would be the same here.
People here walk through places like Costco stone faced.
That's how everyone acts here everywhere in public.
I remember people being a little more outgoing but not much.
There are men who go to Costco to have sex in the bathrooms.
Either that or I've been misled.
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How useful is it for a couple? I associate it with bulk purchases.
From Costco, I still buy certain frozen treats and prepackaged drinks that has relatively long shelf lives that I can daw down slowly. But the savings from those purchases can hardly make up for the membership cost. Nay, getting gasoline from Costco (already cheaper than other gas stations) using its credit card (with 5% cash back for gasoline/diesel purchase) is what makes the Costco membership financially worthwhile for me these days,
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@jon-nyc - It depends on what you buy. For us...
It's one-stop shopping for us for a ton of stuff. As far as quantities, we have a basement with a freezer and a pantry area for the non-perishables.
Our shopping habits have definitely evolved as we've gotten older. We've shifted buying of perishables in the veg and fruit category to other stores because Costco quantities didn't make sense anymore; we just don't eat as much as we did in our younger youth and we don't entertain. We freeze butcher shop purchases like chicken and beef. Since Mr wtg's stroke I find I don't have as much time to cook, so we have turned to some of the prepared stuff, both the Costco products and other fresh and frozen entrees. Tinned fish (they even carry Fishwife now), chili, pasta sauce, Indian simmer sauces...they are constantly bringing in new items that we really like.
Not being fashion mavens, a lot of our wardrobe comes from Costco. Shirts, pants, socks, loungewear, and shoes are all from Costco. The step-in Skechers are $30. Such a deal!
I also order stuff from costco.com. All my raised garden beds came via Costco at a deep discount off regular retail.
We don't buy much in the way of electronics, but when we do, it's from Costco. Laptops, iPads, SimpliSafe monitoring system, TVs.
Also gasoline. Costco is usually 25 cents a gallon cheaper than other stations. The pharmacy is hard to beat on price, both for prescription and OTC products.
We have an Executive Membership which gives you 2 percent back. The annual check covers the cost of the membership and we get another hundred bucks in our pocket.
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My uk summary:
Big & overly busy, crowded even despite size, always long queues at the tills, buy in bulk so need storage.Easy parking.
Good for food generally.
Some interesting products. Cheaper even after membership fees, yet I always come out having spent £100-300. So it encourages spending.
Very little seating in the cafe/takeaway, they want you to pay and go.I really dislike it, worst shopping experience in the UK
My uk summary:
Big & overly busy, crowded even despite size, always long queues at the tills, buy in bulk so need storage.Easy parking.
Good for food generally.
Some interesting products. Cheaper even after membership fees, yet I always come out having spent £100-300. So it encourages spending.
Very little seating in the cafe/takeaway, they want you to pay and go.I really dislike it, worst shopping experience in the UK
Our warehouse is one of the smallest in the Chicago area and doesn't tend to attract as many people as a lot of the others do. Our store on a weekend isn't as busy as the others are on a weekday. A few months ago Costco initiated Executive Member hours; we can get in an hour before the warehouse opens to Gold Star members. I'm there at 9 and out by 9:30 (I do self-checkout and I'm wicked fast!).
We don't get stuff at the food court (portions too big, nutrition is lousy), so not an issue for us.
We've known some of the employees since this location opened 20-some years ago. Friendly folks.
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Oh yea...big draw is the optical department. I know some folks do online prescription glasses but I like the in-store model better. Decent glasses at a fair price.
And toilet paper and paper towels. Laundry detergent. Kitchen stuff like aluminum foil, parchment paper, Ziploc bags. Vinegar, which we use as fabric softener and for household cleaning chores.
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We buy wine there, but that too is reducing. I seldom buy meat there as their prices are not great any longer and whoever is butchering their stuff is pretty bad. Frozen shrimp, paper goods for sure, some supplements like collagen, etc. For gas we get a buck off from Kroger and Meijer points which beats Costco's prices. Inflation and tariffs have made it very difficult for them to still be the bargain they once were, plus the local groceries and got their number and are very competitive at smaller quantities.
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@wtg @mik
In London this is the trade off, of excellent optics & selection of booze, versus the crush of the unwashed hoards (there are queues to enter at 9.30).
Thank goodness for Waitrose, excellent coffee in a quiet cafe, but buy very little in there as it's pricey.I do like a Costco chicken bake. Gives me indigestion but
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@wtg @mik
In London this is the trade off, of excellent optics & selection of booze, versus the crush of the unwashed hoards (there are queues to enter at 9.30).
Thank goodness for Waitrose, excellent coffee in a quiet cafe, but buy very little in there as it's pricey.I do like a Costco chicken bake. Gives me indigestion but
the crush of the unwashed hoards
We go to a warehouse that is five minutes from our house, but there are a couple of others within 15 minutes or so that we go to occasionally because they do carry different products than our store does. Each warehouse has its own personality.
The one in the town where rich people live is our least favorite. The members and the employees all seem to have the same sour attitude and it's pretty unpleasant to shop there. People fight over parking spaces and the employees look haggard and are rude to customers.
There's another one in a middle class suburb where there are a lot of Indians and Pakistanis, and where we can get a wider variety of the food products from those countries. It's insanely busy but everyone is really nice.
The third one is in an area that is multi-ethnic, with lots of Southeast Asians and that is near a suburb that has a large Jewish population. They have the best selection of foods I'm not likely to see anywhere else. The place is crazy busy, too, and has the feeling of a market. But in a fun way.
Bottom line: The rich people are entitled snobs and make everyone else miserable.
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They have some pretty cool products in the UK. The deli platters look way more interesting than ours.
https://services.costco.co.uk/deli/
And look at this Hot Buy!
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I guess the variation of each costco is likely here too.
The London one always seems to have lots of small cafe and shop owners buying (eg.) vast amounts of bottled water and coke cans and paying hundreds of pounds, in cash. They then charge double/triple in their cafe.
And gallons of cooking oil, large plastic bottles for frying the all day English breakfast.I must try the Costco close to us now, near Newcastle, and compare.
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