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My impression of Costco's selection is that it's the retail distillation of car-centric suburbs, despite it not being exclusively those people who shop there. T

My impression of Costco's selection is that it's the retail distillation of car-centric suburbs, despite it not being exclusively those people who shop there. The happy suburbanite cares about convenience and quantity above all else, from what I can tell anyway. They don't really have a varied sense of taste, they just want stuff, and they want easy access to that stuff. They like a "haul" that they do once a month, and buy vehicles that will fit it. For me, I'll join a friend who has a membership from time to time, but I'll only get chicken breasts, a rotisserie, maybe frozen fruit if the price is competitive, and... soap; everything else is just noise and/or extra calories that I wouldn't have bought anywhere else but happens to fit in the industrial-size cart and usually isn't a substantially better price, or it's just not a good offering. I could buy greek Yogurt cups, but really I don't want that brand or the lemon or lime ones, so I'm paying marginally less to enjoy half of them. I could buy salsa, but unless it's a party, I have no need for a year's supply. It's just a lot and it's probably kind of agreeable. Also the blankets, they're alright. The small selection of things I get are the few items—as the probably AI author suggests—that I'd either buy anyway in smaller quantities or just don't have opinions about. The one time I actually did have a membership, I'd find myself working backwards from it to justify to expense. I let Costco borrow my money and to get it back I'd need to exploit their good deals, but ultimately they just made a killing off of me filling my cart with arbitrary bullshit stuff.

whall6 3mo ago
Agree with you on most angles but with a twist: the suburbanite should be seen not as the adult shopping, but as the children that the suburbanite is most likely shopping for. I’m certainly not going to be picky about the Greek yogurt when half of it will end up uneaten (or on the floor).
frollogaston 3mo ago
Costco stuff is quantity and quality
emtel 3mo ago
I’m guessing you don’t have kids. My membership pays for itself just for the savings on string cheese alone. Same for eggs.
TulliusCicero 3mo ago
The nice thing about Costco's stuff is that it's typically pretty high quality too. Honestly I wouldn't say Costco is terribly convenient, other than the limited selection.
- brailsafe 3mo ago
  The convenience, anecdotally, largely comes from stocking up on a big buy and not having to carry anything futher than from the cart to the car and from the car to the house. This is also done at any other big box store, but Costco does it the best, because the savings cones from the lack of selection and the sheer size of the carts and items.
the-grump 3mo ago
As a member, the gas savings pay the annual fee, and I get my staples from Costco every few months. Peanut butter, paper towels, TP, tissues, and sometimes mushrooms and washed greens. Everything else I'd rather get from my local grocery stores.
testfoobar 3mo ago
> "The happy suburbanite cares about convenience and quantity above all else, from what I can tell anyway. They don't really have a varied sense of taste, they just want stuff, and they want easy access to that stuff. They like a "haul" that they do once a month, and buy vehicles that will fit it." This is not reflective of the Costco shoppers I know and the place Costco fits in their lives. Bi-Rite and Erewhon or Citarella and Eataly are not Costco competitors. To understand the appeal of Costco to suburban families, you have to understand their caloric needs. Costco is the best solution if you need to buy 48 eggs and 4 gallons of milk a week along with 8lbs of chicken, 4lbs of turkey, and pounds of broccoli, green beans, spinach, sweet potatoes, onions accompanied with apples, peaches, mangos, avocados, blueberries, strawberries and oranges.
- brailsafe 3mo ago
  > To understand the appeal of Costco to suburban families, you have to understand their caloric needs. Costco is the best solution if you need to buy 48 eggs and 4 gallons of milk a week along with 8lbs of chicken, 4lbs of turkey, and pounds of broccoli, green beans, spinach, sweet potatoes, onions accompanied with apples, peaches, mangos, avocados, blueberries, strawberries and oranges. Isn't this effectively what I said? Admittedly I could have gone a bit far in suggesting they don't have a varied sense of taste, but what I meant was that it's not important to them to apply it to groceries, if they're a Costco member. Quantity and convenience
quacker 3mo ago
I don’t need “a varied sense of taste” to save money on gas and non-perishables. I don’t need “a varied sense of taste” to budget and do simple math to determine the membership is worth it. Babies don’t need “a varied sense of taste” to use diapers purchased from Costco in bulk at a great price. Do I lack a “varied sense of taste” when I buy ingredients from Costco, like chicken thighs and rice and eggs and olive oil, and cook them at home?
- brailsafe 3mo ago
  I went a bit far in saying there's a "missing" sense of taste, but did mean that it's not important to apply it when buying huge amounts of groceries, so I agree. What I was thinking of more broadly was the cookie cutter nature of many suburbs. You get a stamped out template of a neighborhood with the same franchises. Houses over here, parking lot over there.
insane_dreamer 3mo ago
Costco is a must if you have teenage boys :) the lack of choices for similar products is a huge plus for me - speeds up the shopping process considerably, and their curation is pretty good

whall6 3mo ago

Agree with you on most angles but with a twist: the suburbanite should be seen not as the adult shopping, but as the children that the suburbanite is most likely shopping for. I’m certainly not going to be picky about the Greek yogurt when half of it will end up uneaten (or on the floor).

frollogaston 3mo ago

Costco stuff is quantity and quality

emtel 3mo ago

I’m guessing you don’t have kids. My membership pays for itself just for the savings on string cheese alone. Same for eggs.

TulliusCicero 3mo ago

The nice thing about Costco's stuff is that it's typically pretty high quality too. Honestly I wouldn't say Costco is terribly convenient, other than the limited selection.

brailsafe 3mo ago
The convenience, anecdotally, largely comes from stocking up on a big buy and not having to carry anything futher than from the cart to the car and from the car to the house. This is also done at any other big box store, but Costco does it the best, because the savings cones from the lack of selection and the sheer size of the carts and items.

the-grump 3mo ago

As a member, the gas savings pay the annual fee, and I get my staples from Costco every few months. Peanut butter, paper towels, TP, tissues, and sometimes mushrooms and washed greens. Everything else I'd rather get from my local grocery stores.

testfoobar 3mo ago

> "The happy suburbanite cares about convenience and quantity above all else, from what I can tell anyway. They don't really have a varied sense of taste, they just want stuff, and they want easy access to that stuff. They like a "haul" that they do once a month, and buy vehicles that will fit it." This is not reflective of the Costco shoppers I know and the place Costco fits in their lives. Bi-Rite and Erewhon or Citarella and Eataly are not Costco competitors. To understand the appeal of Costco to suburban families, you have to understand their caloric needs. Costco is the best solution if you need to buy 48 eggs and 4 gallons of milk a week along with 8lbs of chicken, 4lbs of turkey, and pounds of broccoli, green beans, spinach, sweet potatoes, onions accompanied with apples, peaches, mangos, avocados, blueberries, strawberries and oranges.

brailsafe 3mo ago
> To understand the appeal of Costco to suburban families, you have to understand their caloric needs. Costco is the best solution if you need to buy 48 eggs and 4 gallons of milk a week along with 8lbs of chicken, 4lbs of turkey, and pounds of broccoli, green beans, spinach, sweet potatoes, onions accompanied with apples, peaches, mangos, avocados, blueberries, strawberries and oranges. Isn't this effectively what I said? Admittedly I could have gone a bit far in suggesting they don't have a varied sense of taste, but what I meant was that it's not important to them to apply it to groceries, if they're a Costco member. Quantity and convenience

quacker 3mo ago

I don’t need “a varied sense of taste” to save money on gas and non-perishables. I don’t need “a varied sense of taste” to budget and do simple math to determine the membership is worth it. Babies don’t need “a varied sense of taste” to use diapers purchased from Costco in bulk at a great price. Do I lack a “varied sense of taste” when I buy ingredients from Costco, like chicken thighs and rice and eggs and olive oil, and cook them at home?

brailsafe 3mo ago
I went a bit far in saying there's a "missing" sense of taste, but did mean that it's not important to apply it when buying huge amounts of groceries, so I agree. What I was thinking of more broadly was the cookie cutter nature of many suburbs. You get a stamped out template of a neighborhood with the same franchises. Houses over here, parking lot over there.

insane_dreamer 3mo ago

Costco is a must if you have teenage boys :) the lack of choices for similar products is a huge plus for me - speeds up the shopping process considerably, and their curation is pretty good