Glad you had such a good time!

Glad you enjoyed it.

My nearest Costco is about 20 years old and is about 10 minutes from home in the same center as Wegman's, Target and a mini Macy's. Very convenient for filling my gas tank or shopping but it doesn't sell alcohol which isn't a big deal but would be nice to have that option.

My other newer Costco opened about 3 years ago and is about 20 minutes away in a much larger shopping area.

I shop there about once a month.

Thanks for the follow up, and glad it was a good experience. I agree - freeze some of the cookies.

Freeze some of those cookies...:0) Glad you liked the place!

yes, I would like to see photos of shirts as well

There’s a joke online about when you get older and buying clothing at Costco.

A good friend bought some really good name brand items at Costco. But, she and her DH go weekly, I do not. I have been lucky to find Puma sneakers that I wouldn’t ordinarily think could work for me, but it.

Our local Costco doesnt sell gas. It is always a good deal. My DH will stop at a different one as he goes to and fro on the highway past it.

Yes to using their card to get money back.

Before jumping onto the Costco/Citibank train, let me share a recent experience. I'll spare the details but in a period of 6 weeks when I very coincidentally had direct dealings with 3 different card issuers, my experience with Citibank about a reissuance caused by a fraudulent charge I caught and they didn't, was absolutely the worst. The worst by a wide margin.

The Costco card isn't our primary card and it gets very light use. For whatever reason, my wife likes to have it for Costco purchases and uses it for nothing else. I don't myself carry this card. Our experiences with the bank that issues our primary card have always been terrific - with Citibank, always the opposite.

For those looking for a cash refund Visa card, there are far better choices than Citibank.

I don’t have a Costco CC but do have executive membership & do receive credit for purchases. Maybe it’s the membership level that gives the benefit of the credit for purchases & not the Costco CC? Or maybe it’s both? I could look it up but don’t care enough to - just wanted to point out there’s more than one way to get the rewards credits.

I did laugh at lily316 note about “ I wasn't expecting to buy clothes, but I did” - & foas reply “Their business model!” That’s the truth & I demonstrate it more often than I’d like to admit. For me it’s socks - I have a weakness for nice wool socks. But, I have to say that on my recent trip I saw really lovely Pendelton wool walking length zip up coats for $99. Sadly, the size S was still way too large for me. But, they also had DKNY hooded walking length zip up coat & in an XS size & color that I loved. $35 - score! And, even better, I stuck to my rule of ’something new added to closet something old removed from closet’. The biggest problem with buying clothing from Costco is that you will see your clothing on too many other people. But, for the price and usual ok quality, that’s ok too.

I just googled the Banana Republic shirts - they look too short for me. I'm a tall person at 5'7".

“Don't forget to apply for their credit card that gives back $$ for every purchase.”

Yes, we have it with Sam’s Club and it’s nice, especially for gas here in SoCal. I think we get 5% cash back for the first $6,000 spent on gas per year, then 1% after that. On my way now to get gas.

I love roaming around in Costco. Because they always have different things, when I go for regular items, I always end up with an impulsive buy of some sort 🤣

I was mistaken about the Banana Republic shirts. There were two, not three, in the pack: a white and a black. I got Small and just tried them on, and they are a perfect fit. They are lightweight, so I'll wear them when the temps are warmer, as I like 100% cotton LLBeans turtles in the winter. I like the merino wool socks, and love the PUMA joggers, which are part cotton and very heavy and warm. Again, Small and perfect fit. Underwear is nice too. I like the way they package clothing. I am very pleased with my purchases, and I will freeze some of the cookies. They are very tasty and big.

We have a Costco Citi card and Executive membership. We get a small check back from the Executive membership, which is for money spent at the store, and we no longer go to Costco as often as we used to. The second check is much larger and is for all purchases made on the Costco card, regardless of where. More than pays for the membership by a factor of 3 or 4.

This guy does great reviews of Costco food products. Ive even started a short list of his highly rated products that I may try some day. Mostly I watch for entertainment

Tik tok guy link

Im also a sucker for Costco clothes. Its the ”only $15” factor.

@lily316, you inspired me to go to Costco tonight. I don't go very often. I didn't check out the clothing because I don't need anything. I was surprised at the relatively small number of Christmas decorations, gift baskets and wrapping materials. I don't need any, but I always check those out because you never know what you might find.

They had the Catalina Crunch cereal that I eat for snacks. Sadly, they are discontinuing it so I picked up a few packets. They had microgreens in stock, too, which they don't always carry...yum.

We've had NO trouble with the Costco citibank card; we've had more trouble with the Chase Sapphire reserve. Christmas decorations/displays arrive in late September. That may be why there were few in the store; all sold out?

I'm not a fan of gigantic financial banking institutions, but have the Costco Citibank card solely for the ease of using it at Costco gas stations. I use it at my very infrequent trips to Costco and because of the rewards $ I will use it for high ticket items elsewhere. I used it recently toward a car purchase and some expensive body shop work on my other car. I have had no problems with Citibank card and I get several hundred dollars in rewards each year. I prefer to bank with a credit union and use my credit card through them for most other things.

maddie260, I don't follow your comment about Sapphire Reserve, what you were describing with Christmas decorations. Do you expand it a tad please?

Sapphire Reserve has been our primary card for nearly 10 years. Dealing with the issuer is a dream, everything is always possible and always quick and easy. They've just boosted the price but also the bennies.

An incident with them was one of the incidents I alluded to when contrasting with an abysmal multistep interaction for Costco Citibank.

" I'm not a fan of gigantic financial banking institutions ........I prefer to bank with a credit union"

I don't think the criteria should be whether you like an institution or not, more relevant is whether it offers the services and the experiences you want. Choosing based on size isn't sensible - some larger X are terrific and some smaller X can be incompetent.

To add my own experiences, I have a card with a credit union, for a reason that doesn't matter, and they are like children trying to get by on their own in a world of grown-ups. Terrible services, terrible policies, and terrible website. My reason for staying with them overrides the pain of doing so, but not by much.

Generalizations don't apply

I guess you're not so good at picking a credit union, if that was your experience.

" I guess you're not so good at picking a credit union, if that was your experience. "

The credit union was chosen because at the time, it was one of few institutions in the US that offered European-style Chip and PIN cards. There were places and situations abraod where the US Chip and Signature cards weren't usable or willingly accepted, so getting one solved the problem. It was free from this credit union, and up to $100 (which was a lot then) from the other maybe 2 issuers.

As I first said, it was for a reason that doesn't really matter. Now you know the reason.

I guess you're not so good at guessing what may have been involved. This was another of your frequent failed attempts to be insulting. You don't seem to mind embarrassing yourself. Better luck next time.

Edit to add - I see my mispelling above, it's ok to remain

@Elmer J Fudd, @maddie260's comment about Christmas decorations was a response to my comment about the paucity of selection I experienced and was unrelated to her credit card comment.

Thanks Fun2BHere!

“Edit to add - I see my mispelling above, it's ok to remain”

🤠 This is why I love KT.

misspelling

I have come to rely on Costco for my sneakers. I think in the past year, I've bought at least 2 pair of Pumas there. I'm with you eld, they fit me nicely and cannot beat the price. A few weeks ago I was noticing that my pair had really gotten worn ( I use them for every day and gym and walking and you name it)... and thinking I would start looking for a new pair. Of course, I happened to go to Costco and there was a new supply of Pumas. They agree with me and for $27, can't beat it.

Yes, I see it.

I had a recent fun experience with one of my grandkids. I looked up interesting word definitions and we went through them. Things like:

Autological words. Words which ARE what they define

Examples are the words word, short, hyphenless, visible and very interestingly, pentasyllabic (having 5 syllables)

And the opposite, heterological words. Words that AREN'T what they define. Like long, monosyllabic, misspelled

DH did a Costco run yesterday, mostly for gas and *candy*. He commented on the lack of Christmas gear. I remember seeing a few bits in late September. We had their ravioli lasagna for dinner. (I freeze two-thirds.) I used to buy some casual clothing there before I shrank; they seldom offer XS, at least in our market. (Now I'm wondering if Costco buyers planned for the weight-loss meds and reduced orders for the really large sizes. Do demographers track things like that?)

Glad you enjoyed your new resource, lily! (Glad your dermo visit was uneventful, too.)

All this talk about the paucity of Christmas decor this year in Costco —- could it possibly be another effect of tariffs? Costco might’ve canceled orders for items not meeting their pricing structures.

An interesting observation. My wife's attitude about Costco is "if you see it, you should buy it, because it may not be there the next time".

Aside from basic, vanilla staple items from established suppliers that sell in volume and always will, I've always had the sense that Costco's attitude is decidedly "NOT" to carry a predictable variety of products such that when a customer wants something specific, they'll find it at Costco. Maybe the attitude is that that's not it's niche, that's what grocery stores and other retailers are for.

You may or may not find what you're looking for. But most will usually find (and buy) what they didn't come in looking for. Costco seems to unapologetically offer a changing selection of items and at prices people will be impulsively attracted to. Or, items they're testing in limited quantities for such customer reactions. Items that don't sell get dropped, never to be seen again.

Costco also has a practice of moving items from one place to another, such that when you go back to find a prior purchase on another visit, it may not be where it was before. Thus, customers have to wander around looking or to ask, resulting in seeing new (to them) items offered, or items in areas they don't normally go to.

Costco has a VERY successful business model.

I thought you don't like big companies?

I choose where I shop based on what it offers that I want to buy. Whether or not a business model is successful mainly affects its owners, not its customers at all.

Costco's "business model" can't hardly be described as being "customer centric" and also not "customer friendly", because of how it operates. In this sense - if when you go there to buy something you bought before and you can't find it, or they don't sell it anymore, then I'd say the customer has had a negative experience from its MO. Not a positive one.

Costco does a good job of passing out Kool-Aid lulling people into thinking their policies always put customers first. That's clearly not the case across the board. Lots of people drink it and ignore or excuse them for experiences to the contrary. I don't and don't, having had a number of unsatisfactory experiences with them over the years.

Another thing I think I know: Costco makes its money on the memberships.

" Costco also has a practice of moving items from one place to another, such that when you go back to find a prior purchase on another visit, it may not be where it was before. "

I find that the very opposite of my Costco experiences, with a very rare exception. In fact, its set up is so regimented, no matter which Costco I go to, the layout of products is virtually the same (although sometimes it's a mirror image).

They do definitely stop carrying some items for a while, and I presume they can't access it at a price they find acceptable. Then it may return. I don't mind - it's not as if every other store carries the same products all the time either. There's no Kook Aid involved - some people like the poking around to discover new things type of shopping experience (though I don't), and other people like the easy return policy and competitive prices. And some people develop favourite items that they will buy as long as they are available. I used to buy awesome long peppers from there that they no longer carry - but it doesn't make me think Costco has been fooling me or luring me in with my favourite peppers, only to pull a bait-and-switch.

" I find that the very opposite of my Costco experiences, "

You're in a different country than I am, might that be why? I've been in two Costco locations abroad (not in Canada), their layouts were quite different from what I was familiar with. And certainly in more than a dozen in my state, as I "live" in different and geographically separated but both well populated areas of it.

Also, when I say a different location, I don't mean across the store. If, for example, on one visit salmon is in the left-most row of display fridges, on the end closest to the front of the store, on the next visit, it will be two rows over on the end farthest from the front of the store. In the produce cooler, if on one visit, the artichokes are directly to the left of the entry way, the next time, they'll be at the far end on the right. Same with freezer sections and stuff on the tall shelving racks - at one end of a section or the other, sometimes low, sometimes high, sometimes on the facing side.

Do no other people in the US experience this?

No other people in the US get as worked up over it as you do.

sushipup, I'm not worked up or annoyed. It was a needless, pointless, and uninformed disagreement from someone who likes to do that. Especailly the uninformed part.

No, I'm not looking in a mirror right now but if I were, the uninformed part wouldn't apply to me. I don't pretend to know or be familiar with what I don't know or am unfamiliar with. As this person does.

Well, obviously you think all the people here who have been singing the praises of their costco experiences are just a bunch of lemmings who’ve drunk some costco koolaid. Nice way to insult a whole group of people at once. With your superior tact and interpersonal skills, I am not surprised that you’ve had a different customer service experience than the rest of us. It’s not difficult to imagine why.

Ick. Wayyy too much mansplaining in this thread 🙄

I love Costco! And I’m not a keen shopper at all. Lily, I’m glad you had a positive experience.

I’ve been a Costco member since 1986 and an executive member since 1989. Remember when one employee at the till would read the product number out loud, and then the cashier would enter it repeating the number out loud?

Overall, my shopping experience has been positive, and any issues have always been dealt with to my satisfaction. I like their return policy.

I’ve been to three Costco stores in the USA and have found them to be almost carbon copies of each other and of the stores in my province in Canada. One exception is the one I went to in Hawaii but only because the food court was outdoors.

Of course the products carried are different depending on the location, time of year, and the labelling is different.

The store layouts seem to follow the same formula.

I have read that companies pay extra to have their product featured on an endcap or on the long wall at the entry way for certain periods of time.

And yes KW, my wardrobe is Chez Costco. The price is right. 🤠

" Well, obviously you think all the people here who have been singing the praises of their costco experiences are just a bunch of lemmings "

I expressed only my own opinion. Those who can express their own without including childish and bigoted insults are welcome to say what they want. That leaves you out, as usual.

Another blind spot of yours, among so many, is assuming I'm ever impolite or disrespectful to people at businesses I deal with as a customer or otherwise. That's never happened but hey, you like to assume things and usually don't get it right.

" I'm not worked up or annoyed. "

Yeah, you are. You accused people who like Costco of drinking the Kool Aid and fooling themselves. No one says things like that unless they're annoyed.

" It was a needless, pointless, and uninformed disagreement "

My comment was none of those things. It wasn't uniformed, it was my personal experience. It wasn't needless or pointless, it was sharing different experiences, which is what these pages are about - remember if me sharing my experiences are "needless" and "pointless", so is you sharing your experiences.

I don't know why it bothers you so much when I share my experiences that are different than yours, but it really seems to set you off into complaining.

" I have read that companies pay extra to have their product featured on an endcap or on the long wall at the entry way for certain periods of time. "

It's been that way in all stores (like supermarkets and drugstores) for a long time. They also pay extra for shelf space at eye level vs upper or lower.

@Toronto Veterinarian please don’t feel singled out. There are a number of us who set him off, regardless of what we post. It’s laughingly predictable and transparent that he almost immediately posts a counter to anything we post There seems to be no criteria but being female (the there are a couple of men in our group), having had the audacity to disagree with him at least once and that we dare to state OUR opinions. You have the bonus of being from Canada, which really riles him up. Tho having an opinion in the UK or Australia is also a flash point. We really can’t do much but laugh at the ridiculousness if it all.

So reading this safety warning today and thinking of the Costco members on this board:

2 Popular Costco Deli Products Recalled for Potential Contaminant

"...A select lot of Costco’s Caesar Salad and its Chicken Sandwich with Caesar Salad are being recalled because the salad dressing may contain plastic material.

Costco alerted its members regarding the recall on Nov. 7, and the items are no longer available for purchase at the club store. Additionally, the sell-by dates of the deli items have passed; however, some consumers may still have the contaminated dressing packet in their refrigerators.

To identify the recalled salad and chicken sandwich with salad, you can look for the item numbers and sell-by dates.

The recalled Caesar Salad has the item number 19927, and the recalled Chicken Sandwich with Caesar Salad bears the item number 11444.

All the recalled products have best-by dates between Oct. 17 and Nov. 9.

What To Do if You Have the Recalled Costco Deli Products

If you have the recalled Caesar Salad or Chicken Sandwich with Caesar Salad—or more specifically, the Caesar dressing packet—still in your refrigerator, you should not consume it. The dressing itself may contain plastic fragments, which can lead to internal injury if consumed.

Instead, return it to your Costco store for a full refund. For any questions, you can reach out toCostco’s customer service department online. ..."

https://www.allrecipes.com/costco-caesar-salad-recall-november-2025-11849559

And FWIW, another reason for pointedly insulting language choices is a desire to antagonize and provoke for one's own amusement.

" There are a number of us who set him off, "

" here seems to be no criteria but being female "

" You have the bonus of being from Canada, which really riles him up. "

You are very, very, very far off the mark. And seemingly always belligerent to those who disagree with you. Find someone to talk to, to help you through your biases and tendency to misunderstand comments and situations.

No Fudd, I think she hit the nail on the head.

I find it very entertaining!

Thanks for that warning, Carol. I appreciate you posting it here. I was just at Costco last week but didn't buy anything on that list.

I don't do my weekly shopping (though for me it's several times a week because Kroger is literally 2 minutes away) but I do like to go and see what they have. I have a friend that also goes and sometimes she lets me know what good things she has found. Those Ghirardelli peppermint bark squares are definitely worth the trip. I haven't found things moved around in a different area at my location. Those bakery goods are always calling my name. Sometimes I give in and sometimes I don't. My main purchases are usually the paper goods, like paper towels and toilet paper so I don't need to replace those very often. I find the people who work there to be very friendly and helpful and one of my new favorite things is getting pre-scanned for checkout. While waiting in line, an employee comes over and scans all my stuff and when I get the register, I just pay!!! Really streamlines the process of checking out.

All in all I have had nothing but positive experiences at Costco.

A disagreement isn't a personal attack. Yet around here, that's a common response.

Jack, be happy.

" Costco alerted its members regarding the recall on Nov. 7, and the items are no longer available for purchase at the club store. "

That's kind of a bonus of a membership store - Costco knows precisely who bought the products and can contact them.

" That's kind of a bonus of a membership store - Costco knows precisely who bought the products "

I disagree, there's nothing exceptional about this.

Most retailers in the US of all kinds have some kind of customer ID program. Grocery stores, drug stores, home improvement stores, etc. For me, the incentive to getting a customer number is that discounts are provided automatically, with no further action needed on my part. It doesn't seem to be a way of getting a discount from the normal price, rather, many stores seem to markup product prices for non-card holders and automatically take off the unnecessary mark-up for those who have cards, to pretend they were offering some kind of benefit.

Almost all stores, with just a few exceptions, know what I and the majority of their customers have purchased and have contact information to alert us to a problem with a purchase, should the need arise and if they choose to.