4 ms·

The author's view is alien to me. It paints Costco as some sort of cultural retirement home. A boring place for boring people, not just a big store in a warehou

by tavavex 6mo ago

The author's view is alien to me. It paints Costco as some sort of cultural retirement home. A boring place for boring people, not just a big store in a warehouse. I know that displaying brand affinity towards some companies is seen as tasteful and praiseworthy in our cultures, but I didn't realize many people extended this view to something as basic and pragmatic as the place they go to buy flour or whatever.

jsbisviewtiful 6mo ago
Costco is a store... where coffee, usually gas and most food + home goods are reliable in quality and priced well comparatively. Comparing the price of salmon fillets at Costco to Whole Foods or elsewhere is eye-opening. Would I buy clothes or furniture from Costco? No - because both are bland. The end. If the writer wants to make it anything more than that... They are a bit too obsessed with self-image vs wasting money and, dare I say, a loser for judging others over something as classist as personal finances. Feels like the write-up is just a statement piece meant to either rattle people for engagement or make the writer feel more hip than they actually are.
- triceratops 6mo ago
  > Would I buy clothes or furniture from Costco? No - because both are bland. The end. But they're like the gas and food at Costco - reliable in quality and comparatively well-priced. I'd buy clothes from other places if I knew where they were. Online shopping is a crapshoot and I mean that (almost) literally: they shoot crap into your mailbox. Department stores and clothes stores at the mall are overpriced for average quality. Ditto for IRL furniture stores.
- skeeter2020 6mo ago
  >> Would I buy clothes or furniture from Costco? Careful - even Gen-Z is looking at Kirkland clothing for certain pieces, and some furniture (like the Murphy bed I bought from them) is better when it's bland and greige
  - bdcravens 6mo ago
    Costco also has a decent rotation of non-Kirkland "mall" brand clothing that frequently changes (probably intentionally so you have to come in regularly). My wife is always looking to find and replace the Lucky Brand t-shirts she found once in there.
  - throw0101c 6mo ago
    > Careful - even Gen-Z is looking at Kirkland clothing for certain pieces […] I've heard good things about their wool socks.
    - jsbisviewtiful 6mo ago
      They used to be better but I stopped buying them after COVID related supply chain problems lowered the quality, at least a few years ago. Dunno if they rebounded. Supposedly they are made in the same factory as Smartwool
      - stickfigure 6mo ago
        That seems improbable. I have bought "merino" socks from Costco and they are only something like 20% merino. I also have Smartwool socks and they are quite different. I actually like Costco's generic black-and-orange athletic sock as a daily driver. I treat them poorly; we take off our shoes in the house but not socks. As they wear out, I throw them away; once a year I buy a new pack to refresh the losses. I use the Smartwool for activities but otherwise take good care of them. They last.
        jsbisviewtiful 6mo ago
        Yeah I never bothered to verify the claim of them being made in the same factory and only heard it from word of mouth from some folks.
      - dekhn 6mo ago
        Making two products in the same factory does not necessarily mean they are identical.
- aorloff 6mo ago
  I think you might be missing a subtle point about Costco, and how it fits into the social order. Costco pledges (I have no idea if its true) that they offer goods at cost, no markup, and their profits (net income ? this is where it gets fuzzy) are simply the membership fees. In fact, I think there's a lawsuit from a Costco purchaser to get back some tariffs if Costco gets refunded tariffs. So the idea is premium groceries (and homegoods, and tires, and pharma, etc) with zero retail markup. Its a compelling idea, and it works because it actually seems to work. What you write is "priced well comparatively" is (according to the legend) the wholesale pricing at the quantities offered (again, I'm not sure about spoilage and some of the other details)
  - jsbisviewtiful 6mo ago
    > I think you might be missing a subtle point about Costco It's not a subtle point. Members buy a membership and if they shop there enough recoup the cost of the membership and more. It's their entire business model.
    - aorloff 6mo ago
      That assumes you believe they have no margin
- nathanasmith 6mo ago
  > Would I buy clothes [...] from Costco? Yes. Happily.
tony_cannistra 6mo ago
It's America. We have mythology.
duxup 6mo ago
Yeah I shop at Costco often, I’m familiar with the folks who identify with it… I am pretty sure most folks I see there are really just shopping there.
lavezzi 6mo ago
> It paints Costco as some sort of cultural retirement home. which is fitting since the author used the phase "cheugy" unironically.

by tavavex 6mo ago

jsbisviewtiful 6mo ago

Costco is a store... where coffee, usually gas and most food + home goods are reliable in quality and priced well comparatively. Comparing the price of salmon fillets at Costco to Whole Foods or elsewhere is eye-opening. Would I buy clothes or furniture from Costco? No - because both are bland. The end. If the writer wants to make it anything more than that... They are a bit too obsessed with self-image vs wasting money and, dare I say, a loser for judging others over something as classist as personal finances. Feels like the write-up is just a statement piece meant to either rattle people for engagement or make the writer feel more hip than they actually are.

triceratops 6mo ago
> Would I buy clothes or furniture from Costco? No - because both are bland. The end. But they're like the gas and food at Costco - reliable in quality and comparatively well-priced. I'd buy clothes from other places if I knew where they were. Online shopping is a crapshoot and I mean that (almost) literally: they shoot crap into your mailbox. Department stores and clothes stores at the mall are overpriced for average quality. Ditto for IRL furniture stores.
skeeter2020 6mo ago
>> Would I buy clothes or furniture from Costco? Careful - even Gen-Z is looking at Kirkland clothing for certain pieces, and some furniture (like the Murphy bed I bought from them) is better when it's bland and greige
- bdcravens 6mo ago
  Costco also has a decent rotation of non-Kirkland "mall" brand clothing that frequently changes (probably intentionally so you have to come in regularly). My wife is always looking to find and replace the Lucky Brand t-shirts she found once in there.
- throw0101c 6mo ago
  > Careful - even Gen-Z is looking at Kirkland clothing for certain pieces […] I've heard good things about their wool socks.
  - jsbisviewtiful 6mo ago
    They used to be better but I stopped buying them after COVID related supply chain problems lowered the quality, at least a few years ago. Dunno if they rebounded. Supposedly they are made in the same factory as Smartwool
    - stickfigure 6mo ago
      That seems improbable. I have bought "merino" socks from Costco and they are only something like 20% merino. I also have Smartwool socks and they are quite different. I actually like Costco's generic black-and-orange athletic sock as a daily driver. I treat them poorly; we take off our shoes in the house but not socks. As they wear out, I throw them away; once a year I buy a new pack to refresh the losses. I use the Smartwool for activities but otherwise take good care of them. They last.
      - jsbisviewtiful 6mo ago
        Yeah I never bothered to verify the claim of them being made in the same factory and only heard it from word of mouth from some folks.
    - dekhn 6mo ago
      Making two products in the same factory does not necessarily mean they are identical.
aorloff 6mo ago
I think you might be missing a subtle point about Costco, and how it fits into the social order. Costco pledges (I have no idea if its true) that they offer goods at cost, no markup, and their profits (net income ? this is where it gets fuzzy) are simply the membership fees. In fact, I think there's a lawsuit from a Costco purchaser to get back some tariffs if Costco gets refunded tariffs. So the idea is premium groceries (and homegoods, and tires, and pharma, etc) with zero retail markup. Its a compelling idea, and it works because it actually seems to work. What you write is "priced well comparatively" is (according to the legend) the wholesale pricing at the quantities offered (again, I'm not sure about spoilage and some of the other details)
- jsbisviewtiful 6mo ago
  > I think you might be missing a subtle point about Costco It's not a subtle point. Members buy a membership and if they shop there enough recoup the cost of the membership and more. It's their entire business model.
  - aorloff 6mo ago
    That assumes you believe they have no margin
nathanasmith 6mo ago
> Would I buy clothes [...] from Costco? Yes. Happily.

tony_cannistra 6mo ago

It's America. We have mythology.

duxup 6mo ago

Yeah I shop at Costco often, I’m familiar with the folks who identify with it… I am pretty sure most folks I see there are really just shopping there.

lavezzi 6mo ago

> It paints Costco as some sort of cultural retirement home. which is fitting since the author used the phase "cheugy" unironically.