| ▲ | pupppet 7 hours ago |
| Whenever someone says America can do great things, I don't think of battleships, fighter jets, or AI models, I think of Costco. |
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| ▲ | oa335 6 hours ago | parent | next [-] |
| Agree 100%. Costco exemplifies american dream... recent immigrants perusing well-stocked aisles, friendly employees, ample parking, cheap tasty hot dogs, etc. |
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| ▲ | bellgrove 6 hours ago | parent | next [-] | | Perhaps this depends a lot on location. Parking is a nightmare at my local Costco. The employees are friendly enough most of the time. I truly admire the value and business model but Costco is pretty much the absolute worst shopping experience I can think of. | | |
| ▲ | CapmCrackaWaka 2 hours ago | parent | next [-] | | It's because they are so busy. Yeah, costco is the one store I go to that people seem to have 0 spatial awareness. Every time I go, someone will just stop moving in the middle of the aisle, creating backups, without any shame. But I bet if your other local grocery stores were as busy as costco, they would have the same issues. | |
| ▲ | joezydeco 4 hours ago | parent | prev [-] | | Agreed. The entire store is wired to encourage impulse buying and keep you from making rational decisions about whether you'll be able to finish that 3lb container of guacamole before it goes bad. |
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| ▲ | furytrader 4 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-] | | I find the experience of shopping at Costco very uncomfortable. The parking lots are jammed packed, everyone is darting around with large shopping carts, the lines for the cashier are long, sales people are trying to pitch me on travel deals as I walk by - it almost feels like going through a busy airport. I am a Costco member, but I only go to the store when I really need to. The fact that I can shop Costco via Instacart was a gamechanger for me. | |
| ▲ | PaulDavisThe1st 2 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-] | | For lots and lots of Americans, endless consumerism, driving and junk food are not a part of the dream in any way. | |
| ▲ | spike021 6 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-] | | ample parking? Not at any locations in my area. Even on weekdays. | | |
| ▲ | baby_souffle 6 hours ago | parent [-] | | Go within an hour or so of opening. I used to work right across the st from one and would spend most of my shift looking out at their parking lot and you could see it get more packed throughout the day, thin out a little bit in the early afternoon and then slowly drain towards closing. It's always least crowded right at open and then an hour (? or maybe two?) later they open for the "regular" people and once that's the case, it fills quickly. | | |
| ▲ | dpark 5 hours ago | parent [-] | | > Go within an hour or so of opening. Hah. It’s such a PITA that Costco includes an hour earlier entry on the top tier membership. | | |
| ▲ | 0x457 3 hours ago | parent [-] | | I regularly shop at Costco and its usually one of five which ever is more convenient at the time. In all of my experience with Costco there is exactly one that has shitty parking, the rest are fine. That is if you have enough wrinkles in your brain to notice that in front of the store there 10 cars waiting for spot and parking a little bit in a back is easier. I often see people cruising around still looking for parking while I already managed: to park, walk to the storefront, get myself a hot dog, eat my hot dog, grab a cart. |
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| ▲ | rustystump 6 hours ago | parent | prev [-] | | The hotdogs. You know the world is ending when Costco raises the prices of their hotdog. |
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| ▲ | makeitdouble 2 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-] |
| To note, Costco doesn't make much sense in most places outside of the USA (and doesn't have to. No shop needs to cater to the whole world). It still exists in select locations in some countries, but are more exotic experiences than anything else. Shopping for weeks of groceries at a time is IMHO crazy niche, it requires a level of isolation and buying power that is seldom combined. |
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| ▲ | senbrow 2 hours ago | parent [-] | | I think your main point is right, but there are many Costco members who are NOT shopping for "weeks of groceries" at a time, and many of them live in suburban or urban areas with high density. For example, I shop at Costco once a week for just my girlfriend and I; we don't buy outrageous quantities. We live in a populous area. Our situation is pretty common; it's just a normal grocery store in effect for lots of people. The weird stereotype of Costco shoppers driving for miles to buy huge carts of food just doesn't line up with the typical case for my area. |
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| ▲ | satvikpendem 4 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-] |
| I think of this: https://patrickcollison.com/fast Sadly this is not the case anymore these days. |
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| ▲ | marcosdumay 5 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-] |
| Wallmart is absolutely impressive. But many places have something similar to Costco. |
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| ▲ | DrewADesign 6 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-] |
| I mean, Costco is great, but I think the purest expression of American capitalism is Buc-ee’s. |
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| ▲ | whalesalad 6 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-] |
| Welcome to Costco, I love you. |
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| ▲ | eli_gottlieb 3 hours ago | parent | prev [-] |
| "[W]hat earlier century had even a presentiment that such productive forces slumbered in the lap of social labour?" |
