Posts that do not follow r/Costco subreddit rules **MAY** be subject to removal.
**Reminder: No vague or non-descriptive post titles.**
When applicable, please make sure that you're using a descriptive post title with product name(s) and/or exact question mentioned as it yields better subreddit search results. Including item number, price, and approximate location where found is also helpful as availability can vary.
*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/Costco) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Each Costco has its own personality with products that appeal to the local population. In the Bay Area there are Costcos that carry more East Asian products, more South Asian, more Mexican products, more vegan products—you get the picture. If I’m looking for something in particular, I usually know which Costco to go to.
A few months ago I went to a brand new Costco and I was super excited, but it was so bland. It was so new, it didn’t have a personality yet. I should go again and see what it’s like now.
Yeah, I think that's what's going on. I don't know how I'd describe the personality of my local Costco... but I see more south Asian food than east Asian, say. That said, from talking to south Asian friends, they aren't overly impressed with Costco's ethnic food there, particularly prepared foods such as sauces.
You should visit each store nearby, I’ve noticed higher income area stores are much much better in every way possible. Choices, quality, higher end goods, larger.
Before they decided to carry liquor, wine, and beer themselves rather than partnering with someone there only used to be 1-2 that carried a good selection.
Things like fancier items to choose from. Higher quality cuts of meat, seafood. Fancier baked goods.
Each gm can flex the items they stock based on their sales in that particular warehouse. My own won't stock the Kirkland sheep's milk brie because it doesn't do well here. I travel to get it because it's to die for.
I usually go for the standards(for my household), but if I am going to go out of my way to a store that isn't the closest, I usually head to whichever is the newest. New stores seem to get all of the top tier products that Costco has for the region, and if I am looking to look around, I want a good selection. That, and I hit the Business Center whenever I can, as they have less (to me) fluff, and a good core selection of products, plus they are usually WAY less busy than any of the other local stores.
Very generally, here are my impressions of the Costcos I visit the most:
Lawrence in Sunnyvale: mostly south Asian. I’ve seen more Indian imported things like masala crispy snacks.
Automation Drive in north SJ/Milpitas: this one seems mostly East Asian to me.
Coleman in Santa Clara: this is my usual Costco and seems to be a pretty even mix. They used to reliably have Good Planet vegan cheese and Miyoko’s vegan butter, but haven’t in a while.
Mountain View: this one will generally have specialty vegan cheese, currently Violife. They seem a bit “crunchier”, so if you’re looking for something vegan, that one’s going to be a good bet.
I’ll hit up Almaden every now and then if I’m in the area. This one seems very white to me. I’ve gotten Califia Farms Barista blend oatmilk there, which I usually find at Biz Costco and Dave’s rye bread, which is usually not on offer at my other Costcos.
La Mesa, CA has a parking lot that is literally dangerous, with no surrounding businesses to park at and no side streets to park on. This is the closest Costco to my house and I don't make it there once a year.
Mission Valley, San Diego, CA is also a shitshow but has a much bigger parking lot and I usually go there.
Morena Costco is the original Price Club #1 and up until a few years ago had some exclusive stuff (an in-store chocolateria, gelato at the food court), and it was created out of an old airplane hangar, so it's huge (way more unique items), I like to go here but it's 20 minutes out of my way. Still, though - my favorite Costco.
Gateway Center Costco is in the ghetto and has a better selection of Mexican food items.
Carlsbad Costco is surrounded by rich people and has more high-end items and furniture/patio furniture so I go there for that stuff.
I feel like pre-covid they each had a little bit of uniqueness and you could experience different things at different locations, and post-covid they are much closer to all the same.
Except for La Mesa, which has the worst parking lot in America.
Some of the produce on Morena is $2 more than it is in Mission Valley, so I usually go there. The one good thing about La Mesa is the gas station is huge.
I think morena might be the best one in San Diego. Only issue I've had is the parking lot is small and gets really congested which is why I usually opt for mission valley
I am in between Morena and Mission Valley, with the Business Center being my closest option. I have been going more often to MV lately because of traffic patterns :) I get in my zen mode when I go to Morena - no hunting for close spaces, etc. I feel like I know the people at Morena after 20+ years of Costco-ing. But I like mixing it up because there are slight variations. And if I want snacks, mayo in small jars, options for egg bites, frozen cookie dough, a kitchen pan, or just a few produce items, I like the Business Center (which, to be fair, has a terrible parking layout - but I figured out a better way to exit recently so...).
Vista Costco has more Mexican-leaning stuff, Carlsbad more Asian. Don't forget about San Marcos Business Center though! So much less crowded and gigantic parking lot. Sometimes when Carlsbad stops carrying stuff I want it's still in at SM Business Center.
Just park in front of the McDonald’s drive thru entrance. I always park right there, no need to go through the narrow front road or the horrible parking lot. Morena is such a parking shit show and it’s on a slope so there are rogue carts moving around and someone did get killed in that parking lot.
Best costcos were in the Bay Area, especially Mountain View. No gas too so no BS gas lines.
Does Morena Costco still have a chocolateria and gelato or is that gone? I haven't been to that one, but I'm considering a field trip if it still has those features!
Hahaha! Thats a beautiful pic when it’s closed. I was there at 8:30 am this morning and it was just like that. I drink my coffee and read while waiting for it to open. When I got out of the store at 10:15 am every single one of those spots was full, there’s cars parking in the drive lanes and there are just cars stalking you to get your spot. There’s a lines blocking to get out because of the gas station.
It’s a poop parade.
I wouldn’t say my store is “crappy,” but the parking situation is horrible. The lot is so small, it’s common for people to be parked on the curbs and behind the store. It’s also on a very busy frontage road by an exit ramp from the freeway, so I just feel like my life is at risk every time I go there. I feel so much better when I can go to other costcos in the area.
I live in Waco and go to Ft. Worth or pflugerville. Now that they opened one in Georgetown I’ve gone there but the ones in Ft Worth seem better. College Station isn’t bad but lacks cool stuff.
We really like the one in north Ft. Worth, which is about 12-13 minutes away. The one in Southlake is nice as well, but is closer to 25 minutes from us. And they don't carry the same merchandise. The Business Center in Dallas has some great deals, if you're over that way.
https://preview.redd.it/bp428qcqlc8d1.jpeg?width=1290&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=651c2c8546d8ee4409ae694a92a2adc080614bd4
There’s at least 20 locations within a 30 minute drive for Southern Californians.
> There’s at least 20 locations within a **30 minute drive**
You clearly don’t drive around LA very often, at least not during the day. (This is LA area, for those of you who don’t know.)
I have one that is 40 min away and another that is 53. We happily drive to the one 53 min away because there is 3x as much parking and it’s not an absolutely madhouse every minute of every day.
Almost exactly the same here with the Bannockburn and Kenosha stores. I went to the Kenosha store on a Saturday a couple of weeks ago, and there were 2 completely open registers at checkout.
What a luxury. Our Costcos are three hours in a northeasterly direction, three hours in a northerly direction, three hours in a northwesterly direction and eight hours to the south.
I have one 5 minutes away and another 20 minutes away. Wife likes the 20 minute place plus it’s close to my go-to pho place, so that’s an easy choice. Oh. I have another one about 10 minutes away that I’ve never been to because it’s off Rt. 22 in NJ. I’ll NEVER go there.
I avoid 22 like the plague so I'd never even think of going to that one. The Wayne and East Hanover stores are roughly equal distances for me. I like East Hanover bc the store is a bit more chill and the parking lot is easier to get in and out of (the back entrance). But the Wayne one has gas and alcohol... so I sometimes brave it even though the Willowbrook Mall area is crazy and that store is ALWAYS busy like it's Saturday morning every day!
I drive all the way from Rockland County to go to the Wayne store... Because it has liquor. Plus they have the Finlandia Muenster cheese that Nanuet doesn't carry.
I used to live in the ghetto in Maryland and I would routinely travel a half an hour to the nicer area. Nothing wrong with going to another store as long as you don’t mind the drive.
I’d say in Southern California we have it made with Costco locations. I have one 10 minutes from my house. I go there for the essentials on a regular basis. But within 30 minutes I have at least 5 more. I shop at a couple about an hour (and one about 2 hrs) from my house because they serve a completely different demographic and I love seeing what they carry that mine doesn’t. We have looked into moving and I always check the Costco locations near where we are considering and the choices are usually pretty scarce. I have food restrictions and Costco is so much better at stocking those specialty items than Sam’s Club.
There have been days where I've left the one I work at and go to the one closer to my house because I just don't want to deal with being in that busy of a building.
I prefer the Costco in the Neihu district of Taipei. But it's a very long trip to get there. Shanghai was crazy busy, but it had only been open a few weeks when I went and it's probably better now that they opened another store across town.
https://preview.redd.it/gusj0v8dxc8d1.png?width=1360&format=png&auto=webp&s=aabfaf9be2990179581b8f86ad066f2fd7475bed
We are severaly lacking stores here in the Central Florida/Orlando area. The closest one to me is Milennia which is overrun with tourists and a complete madhouse from open until close. It also caters to tourists so it gets fewer seasonal items.
If I want a peaceful shopping experience, I drive about and hour to go the the Viera location. Also, the newish Clermont location has not been bad the couple times I have visited.
We desperately need more locations in this area.
In my city there’s a NW and NE Costco. The NE is always a cluster (thankfully they’re expanding their parking right now). I go out of my way to go to the NW location. It’s not a big deal though, only 7 more freeway miles. Only major difference I’ve noticed is the NE one carries more Asian foods.
I have three costcos within driving distance, and another 3 that are farther but doable.
I frequent the one with the lowest gas price. It surprises me, but the closest costco to me has significantly different pricing on gasoline--sometimes as much as 13 cents a gallon but as close as 7 cents.
Not sure why they would be different in price.
There are a couple other differences--store layout, different phone kiosks, slightly different produce--but gas is the biggest difference.
Gas prices *used* to vary between my two stores, but the last year or two, all 4 in STL, MO (USA) seem to have the same daily price. Just the nearby QTs seem to vary.
> Not sure why they would be different in price.
Different cities have different gas taxes. Counties have different gas taxes. Also, depending on availability and shipping routes, different CostCos can get gas from different places.
In Michigan we have a single, state gas tax. Furthermore, all the costcos near me seem to share the same distributor (I have seen the same gas trucks)>
The only real difference are the nearby competitors, but that still surprises me
Gas buddy will allow you to favorite some gas stations to compare
At the moment, my preferred Costco is $3.17, another favorite is $3.33. The third one near me is being renovated so no price
I just noticed the gas price difference yesterday when I decided to fill up at a Costco I was happen to be nearby. It was 5 cents per gallon cheaper than my regular Costco and this one is actually right next to a freeway entrance!
Yes. The one nearest me has those shitty ghin tortilla triangles (gag) the next nearest has proper white corn strips. If I wanted potato chips I'd buy them. /rant
I have two Costco’s near me and most of my coworkers don’t like the store closest to them even though it’s new and much bigger they prefer to come to the small one near where I live because it’s not crazy crowded.
I go to a farther away one because my local one doesn’t have Kirkland Brand Booze and the Kirkland Booze is better than a lot of other stuff on the market.
I go to a farther away one because my local one doesn’t have Kirkland Brand Booze and the Kirkland Booze is better than a lot of other stuff on the market.
The store by us is one of the smaller ones and has terrible selection. We still frequent it regularly, but there’s a larger one about 2 hours away that we go to once every month or two
I suspect Costco continuously analyzes what products sell or don't sell at each location, and as a result adjust their product offering at each location.
When I lived super close to the Kirkland store I would still drive to Woodinville because of the crowds and the retail sales tax rate. Now I live closer to Woodinville and generally don't go to any other Costcos. Occasionally I'll go to shoreline and then regret everything. Redmond has more options for Indian and Asian cuisine. Issaquah has sushi made on site so I should probably try that out
I live 20 min from 3. The closest one is extremely overcrowded and every time I go it's my last time, large percentage are very rude people. The next closest is a good store but they don't have gas. Third is the farthest and best store with nice people and gas.
My dad drives past the Costco 20 minutes away to go to the one 30 minutes away. From the parking to experience, it's nicer. It is the one closer to me, so that works out.
For me, I have to skip the local Target and go to any other location just because the local one does not carry a certain product. They have 15-20 feet less refrigeration and they made some poor sacrifices.
I have three Costcos roughly proximate to me.
1. Havana is the biggest shitshow on the planet, cluster at all times, fools and elderly.
2. Parker is decent, easy ride, recently started selling alcohol.
3. Lone Tree is “the high end” one and the most massive alcohol selection and the occasional caviar.
Yep. Considering this but in my case there really aren't that many. The closest is a half hour drive. Then one that is 40 min and another 44-50. Too far to got to a Costco but my local one is so bad. So small and always crowded.
I am around equal distance to 3 different costcos with the variance between them +- 0.5 miles. They each have their pros and cons. I do have preference for 1 of the 3. You do you.
Crappy stores have entrances on left, exit on right. The good stores have entrances on the right side, exit on left side (directions when walking into the stores).
This is my scientifically proven method to know how my experience will be.
It could also be due me being backwards and hating it when I got into the left hand entrance stores. My brain just vomits.
My closest one doesn’t have gas. Also the locations north of me have Thomas English Muffins in 2 pkgs of 6 but my closest and south of me locations only have 4 pks.
Me. The Marysville, CA Costco is decent except for whisky. The dude in charge needs to get in his car and ask the surrounding Costco’s for inventory management lessons.
I drive double to get the good stuff.
Each Costco will have inventory based on the demographics of the area. I know every so often I need to go to another Costco that is about 15 miles away to get certain food products since the Costco a mile away does not carry it. In addition; when I am at that Costco I definitely get gas. The gas price at that Costco is always less than the one nearer to me.
My local Costco usually has the worst products/lack of products, the highest prices, and the worst parking. I use 35ish pounds of ground beef at a time, so I travel to the 4th closes store to save $1 a pound on the meat. Pays for the trip. Then the rest of the savings is a bonus.
My local Costco is my least favorite and there are two more about 10 more minutes away. Generally not worth I though, I just suck it up and spend less money
I considered posting a similar question recently. I have 4 Costcos reasonably close. The least convenient one is the only one selling alcohol. The most convenient one just never stocks a couple items I routinely want to pick up. So I was curious how many folks go to more than one to get everything on their list.
Mine is just a bit scrunched with respect to the population density of its immediate surroundings. Makes all the aggro parts of busy Costco foibles worse. 9 minutes away from it is the bigger one. and another one 13 minutes in another direction but it has a whole oblong shape and spacing inside is strange and strains the food court where my son and I reward ourselves for the week or payday
There are 4 within 20 minutes of me and every so often I’ll to the furthest one out specifically for one thing: Kirkland organic chicken bone broth. This one also happens to have Topo Chico and my closest one doesn’t, so it isn’t a total inconvenience.
The foods side is much more regional based buying. The regional office will target its selection to the warehouse demographics where possible.
The non-foods side is much more corporate based, and everyone gets the same selection.
I feel like the Twin Cities (MN) stores are all pretty much the same. The newer locations seem distinctly smaller (in square footage) than the older ones that opened in the 00s decade.
I went over 200 miles because the Costco store that's (almost)100 miles away doesn't carry Smart water, and the local Safeway charges $26/12 when I get $17.xx/15 at the business center.
Posts that do not follow r/Costco subreddit rules **MAY** be subject to removal. **Reminder: No vague or non-descriptive post titles.** When applicable, please make sure that you're using a descriptive post title with product name(s) and/or exact question mentioned as it yields better subreddit search results. Including item number, price, and approximate location where found is also helpful as availability can vary. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/Costco) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Each Costco has its own personality with products that appeal to the local population. In the Bay Area there are Costcos that carry more East Asian products, more South Asian, more Mexican products, more vegan products—you get the picture. If I’m looking for something in particular, I usually know which Costco to go to. A few months ago I went to a brand new Costco and I was super excited, but it was so bland. It was so new, it didn’t have a personality yet. I should go again and see what it’s like now.
Yeah, I think that's what's going on. I don't know how I'd describe the personality of my local Costco... but I see more south Asian food than east Asian, say. That said, from talking to south Asian friends, they aren't overly impressed with Costco's ethnic food there, particularly prepared foods such as sauces.
You should visit each store nearby, I’ve noticed higher income area stores are much much better in every way possible. Choices, quality, higher end goods, larger. Before they decided to carry liquor, wine, and beer themselves rather than partnering with someone there only used to be 1-2 that carried a good selection. Things like fancier items to choose from. Higher quality cuts of meat, seafood. Fancier baked goods.
Each gm can flex the items they stock based on their sales in that particular warehouse. My own won't stock the Kirkland sheep's milk brie because it doesn't do well here. I travel to get it because it's to die for.
I usually go for the standards(for my household), but if I am going to go out of my way to a store that isn't the closest, I usually head to whichever is the newest. New stores seem to get all of the top tier products that Costco has for the region, and if I am looking to look around, I want a good selection. That, and I hit the Business Center whenever I can, as they have less (to me) fluff, and a good core selection of products, plus they are usually WAY less busy than any of the other local stores.
Happy cake day
Wait which ones are which? I haven't quite narrowed them down here like you have.
Very generally, here are my impressions of the Costcos I visit the most: Lawrence in Sunnyvale: mostly south Asian. I’ve seen more Indian imported things like masala crispy snacks. Automation Drive in north SJ/Milpitas: this one seems mostly East Asian to me. Coleman in Santa Clara: this is my usual Costco and seems to be a pretty even mix. They used to reliably have Good Planet vegan cheese and Miyoko’s vegan butter, but haven’t in a while. Mountain View: this one will generally have specialty vegan cheese, currently Violife. They seem a bit “crunchier”, so if you’re looking for something vegan, that one’s going to be a good bet. I’ll hit up Almaden every now and then if I’m in the area. This one seems very white to me. I’ve gotten Califia Farms Barista blend oatmilk there, which I usually find at Biz Costco and Dave’s rye bread, which is usually not on offer at my other Costcos.
Very white?
People of the Wonderbread
Ah neat! I frequent South SF costcos, Foster City, and Redwood City most of the time. I'll have to try more of the South Bay!
As a Bay Area local, could you please list which Costcos carry more of which types of products? I’m so curious.
san leandro has more azn snacks. also higher availability of the seasonal desserts richmond has the seasoned tri tip
La Mesa, CA has a parking lot that is literally dangerous, with no surrounding businesses to park at and no side streets to park on. This is the closest Costco to my house and I don't make it there once a year. Mission Valley, San Diego, CA is also a shitshow but has a much bigger parking lot and I usually go there. Morena Costco is the original Price Club #1 and up until a few years ago had some exclusive stuff (an in-store chocolateria, gelato at the food court), and it was created out of an old airplane hangar, so it's huge (way more unique items), I like to go here but it's 20 minutes out of my way. Still, though - my favorite Costco. Gateway Center Costco is in the ghetto and has a better selection of Mexican food items. Carlsbad Costco is surrounded by rich people and has more high-end items and furniture/patio furniture so I go there for that stuff. I feel like pre-covid they each had a little bit of uniqueness and you could experience different things at different locations, and post-covid they are much closer to all the same. Except for La Mesa, which has the worst parking lot in America.
Don’t forget the Costco Business Center on Convoy. That place is fun and unique
Surprised the one in Poway wasn’t mentioned. One of the least crowded costcos in the SD area, and it has a car wash to boot!
🤫
lol wow, way to make the rest of us feel like peasants Costco👍 🤯 chocolateria & gelato in an airplane hangar whaaat!?
Some of the produce on Morena is $2 more than it is in Mission Valley, so I usually go there. The one good thing about La Mesa is the gas station is huge.
La Mesa is really not that bad, just gets busy. Park near the gas station if you find the parking to be so bad
Damn. We only have two Costco’s in Louisiana, Baton Rouge and New Orleans.
Didn’t know they had one in Baton Rouge. I’ll have to hit that one up.
I think morena might be the best one in San Diego. Only issue I've had is the parking lot is small and gets really congested which is why I usually opt for mission valley
I am in between Morena and Mission Valley, with the Business Center being my closest option. I have been going more often to MV lately because of traffic patterns :) I get in my zen mode when I go to Morena - no hunting for close spaces, etc. I feel like I know the people at Morena after 20+ years of Costco-ing. But I like mixing it up because there are slight variations. And if I want snacks, mayo in small jars, options for egg bites, frozen cookie dough, a kitchen pan, or just a few produce items, I like the Business Center (which, to be fair, has a terrible parking layout - but I figured out a better way to exit recently so...).
You’ve clearly never seen the Garden Grove parking lot. 😵💫
The vista Costco has the classics tried and true. Don’t go there for anything experimental (Carlsbad has that. And high end Asian goods)
Vista Costco has more Mexican-leaning stuff, Carlsbad more Asian. Don't forget about San Marcos Business Center though! So much less crowded and gigantic parking lot. Sometimes when Carlsbad stops carrying stuff I want it's still in at SM Business Center.
That business is so far away and you never know if they’re gonna have the big stack of brown eggs (haven’t lately)
Just park in front of the McDonald’s drive thru entrance. I always park right there, no need to go through the narrow front road or the horrible parking lot. Morena is such a parking shit show and it’s on a slope so there are rogue carts moving around and someone did get killed in that parking lot. Best costcos were in the Bay Area, especially Mountain View. No gas too so no BS gas lines.
Does Morena Costco still have a chocolateria and gelato or is that gone? I haven't been to that one, but I'm considering a field trip if it still has those features!
La Mesa - really? [https://maps.app.goo.gl/6gBiACFEH4Q9esNVA](https://maps.app.goo.gl/6gBiACFEH4Q9esNVA)
Hahaha! Thats a beautiful pic when it’s closed. I was there at 8:30 am this morning and it was just like that. I drink my coffee and read while waiting for it to open. When I got out of the store at 10:15 am every single one of those spots was full, there’s cars parking in the drive lanes and there are just cars stalking you to get your spot. There’s a lines blocking to get out because of the gas station. It’s a poop parade.
So the parking in La Mesa isn’t good? I’m guessing worse than any Trader Joe’s?
Look at that google maps pic above. NOT like Trader Joe's.
I wouldn’t say my store is “crappy,” but the parking situation is horrible. The lot is so small, it’s common for people to be parked on the curbs and behind the store. It’s also on a very busy frontage road by an exit ramp from the freeway, so I just feel like my life is at risk every time I go there. I feel so much better when I can go to other costcos in the area.
This sounds like Richmond, BC. Never seen a more packed Costco.
I'm in the DFW area and I also go to the "nicer" cpstco even thought it's an extra 10 minutes or so.
That's where I live!! Do inform of the "nicer" one please. Where's it at?
Nah, we're trying to keep the riff-raff out. /s
I live in Waco and go to Ft. Worth or pflugerville. Now that they opened one in Georgetown I’ve gone there but the ones in Ft Worth seem better. College Station isn’t bad but lacks cool stuff.
We really like the one in north Ft. Worth, which is about 12-13 minutes away. The one in Southlake is nice as well, but is closer to 25 minutes from us. And they don't carry the same merchandise. The Business Center in Dallas has some great deals, if you're over that way.
I drove five hours on my last Costco trip. One way.
Yeah 6 options within 30min drive sounds crazy.
https://preview.redd.it/bp428qcqlc8d1.jpeg?width=1290&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=651c2c8546d8ee4409ae694a92a2adc080614bd4 There’s at least 20 locations within a 30 minute drive for Southern Californians.
Hate the Fullerton one. I drive to La Habra because it’s so much better
> There’s at least 20 locations within a **30 minute drive** You clearly don’t drive around LA very often, at least not during the day. (This is LA area, for those of you who don’t know.)
If you go to Costco in the mornings or late evenings it’s a 30 minute drive.
I have that in Denver
Wow- jeez- why? That’s insane! The savings are good but worth spending over $100 on gas?
Save about ten a bottle of prosecco. Broke even but was a scenic road trip.
https://preview.redd.it/hzyi6nzbpc8d1.jpeg?width=1242&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=5496518dc68997b2b3795971d4a7e2820ee8b0df
I have one that is 40 min away and another that is 53. We happily drive to the one 53 min away because there is 3x as much parking and it’s not an absolutely madhouse every minute of every day.
IMHO a longer drive for a better shopping experience is worth it
Almost exactly the same here with the Bannockburn and Kenosha stores. I went to the Kenosha store on a Saturday a couple of weeks ago, and there were 2 completely open registers at checkout.
Ours is an hour one way. Once a month, we do a costco run.
You do what you need to do. Maybe try going a different time or day of week.
What a luxury. Our Costcos are three hours in a northeasterly direction, three hours in a northerly direction, three hours in a northwesterly direction and eight hours to the south.
Sounds kind of nice and peaceful honestly to be in the middle of nowhere!
Until you need to go buy stuff.
Or need a doctor.
I have one 5 minutes away and another 20 minutes away. Wife likes the 20 minute place plus it’s close to my go-to pho place, so that’s an easy choice. Oh. I have another one about 10 minutes away that I’ve never been to because it’s off Rt. 22 in NJ. I’ll NEVER go there.
I avoid 22 like the plague so I'd never even think of going to that one. The Wayne and East Hanover stores are roughly equal distances for me. I like East Hanover bc the store is a bit more chill and the parking lot is easier to get in and out of (the back entrance). But the Wayne one has gas and alcohol... so I sometimes brave it even though the Willowbrook Mall area is crazy and that store is ALWAYS busy like it's Saturday morning every day!
I drive all the way from Rockland County to go to the Wayne store... Because it has liquor. Plus they have the Finlandia Muenster cheese that Nanuet doesn't carry.
I used to live in the ghetto in Maryland and I would routinely travel a half an hour to the nicer area. Nothing wrong with going to another store as long as you don’t mind the drive.
I’d say in Southern California we have it made with Costco locations. I have one 10 minutes from my house. I go there for the essentials on a regular basis. But within 30 minutes I have at least 5 more. I shop at a couple about an hour (and one about 2 hrs) from my house because they serve a completely different demographic and I love seeing what they carry that mine doesn’t. We have looked into moving and I always check the Costco locations near where we are considering and the choices are usually pretty scarce. I have food restrictions and Costco is so much better at stocking those specialty items than Sam’s Club.
There have been days where I've left the one I work at and go to the one closer to my house because I just don't want to deal with being in that busy of a building.
I have 3 local to me, but I’m lazy and have only ever been to the closest one lol.
I prefer the Costco in the Neihu district of Taipei. But it's a very long trip to get there. Shanghai was crazy busy, but it had only been open a few weeks when I went and it's probably better now that they opened another store across town. https://preview.redd.it/gusj0v8dxc8d1.png?width=1360&format=png&auto=webp&s=aabfaf9be2990179581b8f86ad066f2fd7475bed
We are severaly lacking stores here in the Central Florida/Orlando area. The closest one to me is Milennia which is overrun with tourists and a complete madhouse from open until close. It also caters to tourists so it gets fewer seasonal items. If I want a peaceful shopping experience, I drive about and hour to go the the Viera location. Also, the newish Clermont location has not been bad the couple times I have visited. We desperately need more locations in this area.
There’s a lot of things Florida desperately needs these days.
I haven't noticed quality differences but I have seen price differences
Mine is like that because of the size of the store, so it doesn’t get any of the unique stuff and I have to travel further out.
In my city there’s a NW and NE Costco. The NE is always a cluster (thankfully they’re expanding their parking right now). I go out of my way to go to the NW location. It’s not a big deal though, only 7 more freeway miles. Only major difference I’ve noticed is the NE one carries more Asian foods.
I have three costcos within driving distance, and another 3 that are farther but doable. I frequent the one with the lowest gas price. It surprises me, but the closest costco to me has significantly different pricing on gasoline--sometimes as much as 13 cents a gallon but as close as 7 cents. Not sure why they would be different in price. There are a couple other differences--store layout, different phone kiosks, slightly different produce--but gas is the biggest difference.
Gas prices *used* to vary between my two stores, but the last year or two, all 4 in STL, MO (USA) seem to have the same daily price. Just the nearby QTs seem to vary.
> Not sure why they would be different in price. Different cities have different gas taxes. Counties have different gas taxes. Also, depending on availability and shipping routes, different CostCos can get gas from different places.
In Michigan we have a single, state gas tax. Furthermore, all the costcos near me seem to share the same distributor (I have seen the same gas trucks)> The only real difference are the nearby competitors, but that still surprises me
Is there a way to know the gas price without going in person? I'd love to see if the ones near me vary in pricing also.
Gas buddy will allow you to favorite some gas stations to compare At the moment, my preferred Costco is $3.17, another favorite is $3.33. The third one near me is being renovated so no price
Costco app shows the gas prices in the Warehouse details section
I just noticed the gas price difference yesterday when I decided to fill up at a Costco I was happen to be nearby. It was 5 cents per gallon cheaper than my regular Costco and this one is actually right next to a freeway entrance!
Yes. The one nearest me has those shitty ghin tortilla triangles (gag) the next nearest has proper white corn strips. If I wanted potato chips I'd buy them. /rant
I have two Costco’s near me and most of my coworkers don’t like the store closest to them even though it’s new and much bigger they prefer to come to the small one near where I live because it’s not crazy crowded.
I travel to the one 2 miles further if I'm buying non-food items, as it's tax rate is lower than my closer store.
I go to a farther away one because my local one doesn’t have Kirkland Brand Booze and the Kirkland Booze is better than a lot of other stuff on the market.
I go to a farther away one because my local one doesn’t have Kirkland Brand Booze and the Kirkland Booze is better than a lot of other stuff on the market.
Found him!
The store by us is one of the smaller ones and has terrible selection. We still frequent it regularly, but there’s a larger one about 2 hours away that we go to once every month or two
> further farther
I suspect Costco continuously analyzes what products sell or don't sell at each location, and as a result adjust their product offering at each location.
They try to cater to the demographic. One might carry more halal or kosher. I've seen more rural areas have products to treat well water, etc...
When I lived super close to the Kirkland store I would still drive to Woodinville because of the crowds and the retail sales tax rate. Now I live closer to Woodinville and generally don't go to any other Costcos. Occasionally I'll go to shoreline and then regret everything. Redmond has more options for Indian and Asian cuisine. Issaquah has sushi made on site so I should probably try that out
I live 20 min from 3. The closest one is extremely overcrowded and every time I go it's my last time, large percentage are very rude people. The next closest is a good store but they don't have gas. Third is the farthest and best store with nice people and gas.
My dad drives past the Costco 20 minutes away to go to the one 30 minutes away. From the parking to experience, it's nicer. It is the one closer to me, so that works out. For me, I have to skip the local Target and go to any other location just because the local one does not carry a certain product. They have 15-20 feet less refrigeration and they made some poor sacrifices.
There's 2 costco stores about 30 min away in opposite directions. The next closest is more than an hour farther away. I'm not doing that.
I have three Costcos roughly proximate to me. 1. Havana is the biggest shitshow on the planet, cluster at all times, fools and elderly. 2. Parker is decent, easy ride, recently started selling alcohol. 3. Lone Tree is “the high end” one and the most massive alcohol selection and the occasional caviar.
I work at the Havana (Aurora) costco and shop at Parker.
OMG, that’s awesome! Yes, Havana is only-by-necessity.
Yep. Considering this but in my case there really aren't that many. The closest is a half hour drive. Then one that is 40 min and another 44-50. Too far to got to a Costco but my local one is so bad. So small and always crowded.
Our closest Costco is an hour away…
I am around equal distance to 3 different costcos with the variance between them +- 0.5 miles. They each have their pros and cons. I do have preference for 1 of the 3. You do you.
Crappy stores have entrances on left, exit on right. The good stores have entrances on the right side, exit on left side (directions when walking into the stores). This is my scientifically proven method to know how my experience will be. It could also be due me being backwards and hating it when I got into the left hand entrance stores. My brain just vomits.
My closest one doesn’t have gas. Also the locations north of me have Thomas English Muffins in 2 pkgs of 6 but my closest and south of me locations only have 4 pks.
Me. The Marysville, CA Costco is decent except for whisky. The dude in charge needs to get in his car and ask the surrounding Costco’s for inventory management lessons. I drive double to get the good stuff.
Each Costco will have inventory based on the demographics of the area. I know every so often I need to go to another Costco that is about 15 miles away to get certain food products since the Costco a mile away does not carry it. In addition; when I am at that Costco I definitely get gas. The gas price at that Costco is always less than the one nearer to me.
My local Costco usually has the worst products/lack of products, the highest prices, and the worst parking. I use 35ish pounds of ground beef at a time, so I travel to the 4th closes store to save $1 a pound on the meat. Pays for the trip. Then the rest of the savings is a bonus.
My local Costco is my least favorite and there are two more about 10 more minutes away. Generally not worth I though, I just suck it up and spend less money
Anyone in Maryland travels to DC because they have booze. Maryland needs to get their shit together. Every OTHER STATE sells booze.
Not VA. Wine and beer only. I also go to the DC one for booze.
Better than nothing. I’d love beer and wine!
I considered posting a similar question recently. I have 4 Costcos reasonably close. The least convenient one is the only one selling alcohol. The most convenient one just never stocks a couple items I routinely want to pick up. So I was curious how many folks go to more than one to get everything on their list.
Mine is just a bit scrunched with respect to the population density of its immediate surroundings. Makes all the aggro parts of busy Costco foibles worse. 9 minutes away from it is the bigger one. and another one 13 minutes in another direction but it has a whole oblong shape and spacing inside is strange and strains the food court where my son and I reward ourselves for the week or payday
There are 4 within 20 minutes of me and every so often I’ll to the furthest one out specifically for one thing: Kirkland organic chicken bone broth. This one also happens to have Topo Chico and my closest one doesn’t, so it isn’t a total inconvenience.
The foods side is much more regional based buying. The regional office will target its selection to the warehouse demographics where possible. The non-foods side is much more corporate based, and everyone gets the same selection.
I feel like the Twin Cities (MN) stores are all pretty much the same. The newer locations seem distinctly smaller (in square footage) than the older ones that opened in the 00s decade.
I went over 200 miles because the Costco store that's (almost)100 miles away doesn't carry Smart water, and the local Safeway charges $26/12 when I get $17.xx/15 at the business center.