Costco Expedition
May. 2nd, 2025 04:17 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
msconductI know for most people reading this Costco is probably just a somewhat boring fact of life, but for New Zealanders it's SUPER EXCITING. I've always been fascinated by it because of its unusual system (this is why I've been to Disney parks several times too, despite having little interest in the Disney mythos - I just love seeing different and successful systems at work). However, because we had no Costco here and when I've been overseas I of course didn't have a card, I wasn't able to visit.
Then in 2019 when I went to Seattle,susandennis was kind enough to take me to her local Costco. At last! It was so much fun. So imagine my excitement when Auckland's VERY OWN COSTCO opened in 2022.
Except...I didn't really need a membership. A lot of what Costco sells, like packaged foods, I never buy. The pharmacy was no big deal because most of our prescription drugs are a flat $5. And it was too far away (about a 30 minute drive from me) to make it worth going for petrol [gas].
What's more, after it had been open a while, it had had so much of an effect at dampening prices in local stores that it apparently hasn't been so much of an amazing deal as it was when it started.
This was disappointing, because I still really wanted to go, but couldn't bring myself to pay for a membership just out of curiosity. However! This year I managed to talk myself into it, because I'm going to Australia soon and I'm renting a Land Cruiser that is thirsty in the petrol department, so I wanted to buy Costco fuel. Also, in January I'm going to Japan and thought it might be fun to see what a Japanese Costco has in stock. (This might seem like a weird use of time in Japan, but I'm going to be there for a month and won't be prioritising Costco over more Japan-only stuff.) Also, Costco is clearly one of the good guys when it comes to employers and so I didn't object to giving them money (an important factor these days).
Now, there are probably some people who think these are fairly thin excuses. Shhhh! They were good enough for me, so I bought a membership. As I own a business I got the slightly cheaper one (see, I'm saving money already) and today I set off to pick up my membership card and have a nosey around the Auckland store.
The first surprise was how crazy it was. When I went to the Seattle one, it was just, y'know, a shop. That people went to in a normal kind of way. However, this is our only Costco, and New Zealanders are cosmopolitan types of people who know about Costco and couldn't wait for it to get here. (Our first IKEA is opening soon, and I'm wondering how many years will have to pass before I can get in there without being trampled to death as well.) I knew our Costco had been a madhouse at the weekends ever since it opened, but that apparently demand during the week had settled down a lot.
So I was NOT expecting, when I got to their parking building on a Friday morning, to have to drive round and round in a queue of cars all looking for a park. I haven't seen demand like that since I was at the UK's biggest shopping centre two weeks before Christmas.
Eventually we got in, and man. It. Was. Busy. I dread to think what it's like at the weekend. But it was fun! I wasn't expecting to buy much, and it was true that not everything was cheaper (the famous toilet paper was significantly more expensive than the similar quality product at my local supermarket, for example).
But I found enough stuff that I needed, would keep or freeze, and was significantly cheaper to end up spending $650. Sounds like a lot, but I don't expect to return for at least a year. In this, I couldn't be much further away from the typical Costco customer, who makes 30 visits a year and spends $100 each time, but I bet a lot of New Zealand customers are more like me than like that. I know a lot of people out of Auckland have memberships and visit once a year to stock up.
Costco has recently partnered with DoorDash to offer delivery, so unless I find out the DoorDash founders are massive Trumpers it's possible I might shop with them more that way. A half-hour slog each way through Auckland traffic was pretty offputting. However, even if I never spent another cent at Costco, and putting aside the savings I made today, the membership cost was well worthwhile for the sheer entertainment value.
Then in 2019 when I went to Seattle,
susandennis was kind enough to take me to her local Costco. At last! It was so much fun. So imagine my excitement when Auckland's VERY OWN COSTCO opened in 2022.Except...I didn't really need a membership. A lot of what Costco sells, like packaged foods, I never buy. The pharmacy was no big deal because most of our prescription drugs are a flat $5. And it was too far away (about a 30 minute drive from me) to make it worth going for petrol [gas].
What's more, after it had been open a while, it had had so much of an effect at dampening prices in local stores that it apparently hasn't been so much of an amazing deal as it was when it started.
This was disappointing, because I still really wanted to go, but couldn't bring myself to pay for a membership just out of curiosity. However! This year I managed to talk myself into it, because I'm going to Australia soon and I'm renting a Land Cruiser that is thirsty in the petrol department, so I wanted to buy Costco fuel. Also, in January I'm going to Japan and thought it might be fun to see what a Japanese Costco has in stock. (This might seem like a weird use of time in Japan, but I'm going to be there for a month and won't be prioritising Costco over more Japan-only stuff.) Also, Costco is clearly one of the good guys when it comes to employers and so I didn't object to giving them money (an important factor these days).
Now, there are probably some people who think these are fairly thin excuses. Shhhh! They were good enough for me, so I bought a membership. As I own a business I got the slightly cheaper one (see, I'm saving money already) and today I set off to pick up my membership card and have a nosey around the Auckland store.
The first surprise was how crazy it was. When I went to the Seattle one, it was just, y'know, a shop. That people went to in a normal kind of way. However, this is our only Costco, and New Zealanders are cosmopolitan types of people who know about Costco and couldn't wait for it to get here. (Our first IKEA is opening soon, and I'm wondering how many years will have to pass before I can get in there without being trampled to death as well.) I knew our Costco had been a madhouse at the weekends ever since it opened, but that apparently demand during the week had settled down a lot.
So I was NOT expecting, when I got to their parking building on a Friday morning, to have to drive round and round in a queue of cars all looking for a park. I haven't seen demand like that since I was at the UK's biggest shopping centre two weeks before Christmas.
Eventually we got in, and man. It. Was. Busy. I dread to think what it's like at the weekend. But it was fun! I wasn't expecting to buy much, and it was true that not everything was cheaper (the famous toilet paper was significantly more expensive than the similar quality product at my local supermarket, for example).
But I found enough stuff that I needed, would keep or freeze, and was significantly cheaper to end up spending $650. Sounds like a lot, but I don't expect to return for at least a year. In this, I couldn't be much further away from the typical Costco customer, who makes 30 visits a year and spends $100 each time, but I bet a lot of New Zealand customers are more like me than like that. I know a lot of people out of Auckland have memberships and visit once a year to stock up.
Costco has recently partnered with DoorDash to offer delivery, so unless I find out the DoorDash founders are massive Trumpers it's possible I might shop with them more that way. A half-hour slog each way through Auckland traffic was pretty offputting. However, even if I never spent another cent at Costco, and putting aside the savings I made today, the membership cost was well worthwhile for the sheer entertainment value.
