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I want to live like Costco people

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Re: I want to live like Costco people

#101

Post by sergiotapia »

I've been a costco member for more than 10 years now since it's about a 7 minute drive from my home. It's really fun to discover new things they bring in, like a flea market kind of vibe.

These past 2 years it has gotten significantly worse. Too crowded. Too many people who have no common decency of not blocking the lane. And way way way too many instacart delivery people FLOORING IT to get their next item pickup and leave. Looking at their phone and bumping into people/stuff. I don't like the vibes.

The one cool thing they have now is the 9am executive hours where you can go in earlier than normal. That feels more like the costco of 2016 to me.

Re: I want to live like Costco people

#102

Post by Petersipoi »

giwook wrote: post #89
legitster wrote: post #85

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Andy Warhol's quote is about aspiration and perceived attainment. The average person is not aspiring to drink a gold flake truffle-infused Coke. The implication is the lack of a rigorous class hierarchy in America. Not that the rich don't live different lifestyles or consume more. But that niche luxury products were considered effete and un-American. (Andy Warhol was almost certainly also being ironic - that the rich…

Fair point. What about cars or houses?

> no amount of money can get you a better Coke than the one the bum on the corner is drinking

Doesn't the fact that the original quote literally acknowledges "bums on the corner" imply that he wasn't referring to housing at all?

Re: I want to live like Costco people

#103

Post by triceratops »

bell-cot wrote: post #54
SoftTalker wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Also the reason that small specialty shops, and mom-and-pop grocery, fruit, dairy, bakeries and butcher shops are largely gone. They just cannot compete with Costco and Sam's Club/Walmart's buying power.

99% of the reason for the mom-and-pop groceries dying out is that "our" Federal Gov't decided that it would stop bothering to enforce the law - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robinson%E2%80%93Patman_Act And note how the modern Democratic Party - the originators of that law back in 1936 - utterly failed to give a crap about the issue.

> note how the modern Democratic Party... utterly failed to give a crap about the issue

From the article on the Act -

"Enforcement of the RPA has declined since the 1980s. In 2022, FTC commissioner Alvaro Bedoya endorsed a revival of enforcing the RPA in order to curb price discrimination. In April 2024, sixteen members of Congress wrote to the FTC urging for a revival of the enforcement of the Act. In December 2024, the FTC sued liquor distributor Southern Glazer's under the Act, asserting that they charged small stores more than they charged large chains. On January 17, 2025, the closing days of the Biden Administration, the FTC filed a lawsuit against PepsiCo. In May 2025, The FTC voted to dismiss the PepsiCo suit but the suit against Southern Glazer's is proceeding."

It's a low bar but the Democratic party has given more of a crap about it than anyone else.

Re: I want to live like Costco people

#104

Post by IncreasePosts »

OutOfHere wrote: post #77
legitster wrote: post #29

I grew up in a post soviet country. To me Costco, has perfected the soviet ideal of shopping more than any soviet economy ever could. In a Costco, we are all equal. I could be shopping for the same set of beige slacks right next to the CEO of a multi-million dollar company and never know it. We'll own the same Waterpik. Identical towels. Our lawn furniture will look the same. Everything is purchased at a fair price.…

Good comment, but IMHO the main reason to not love it so much is the annual membership fee. It sits well with cult cultivation. Other stores don't require it and they don't form a cult around them.

The yearly fee is $65. If you save $5/month on what you buy you break even. Personally I save over $5/month just buying butter there vs buying from my local supermarket.

Re: I want to live like Costco people

#105

Post by skeeter2020 »

shaftway wrote: post #98
giwook wrote: post #89

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Fair point. What about cars or houses?

That fancy Lamborghini is going to be sitting in the same traffic as my Honda.

no - it will be getting very expensive servicing while you're enjoying 200K+ trouble-free miles

Re: I want to live like Costco people

#106

Post by triceratops »

jsbisviewtiful wrote: post #94
tavavex wrote: post #88

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.

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 mo…

> 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.

Re: I want to live like Costco people

#107

Post by bryceacc »

giwook wrote: post #79
krustyburger wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It sounds like you’ve just been around toxic and superficial people in your international travels and then extrapolated from them to their whole countries. Unfortunately, they have people like that everywhere.

Not necessarily. South Korea is one example that I have intimate knowledge of where one's consumer habits (the clothes one wears, the car one drives, the logo on one's handbag) is the ultimate signal of status. You're automatically pre-judged by complete strangers without having to say a single word. There are always exceptions to the rule, but it is in fact an unspoken rule over there.

are you not describing "toxic and superficial" ? I specifically take issue with pre-judgement based on clothes, cars, and logos.

Re: I want to live like Costco people

#108

Post by queuebert »

giwook wrote: post #89
legitster wrote: post #85

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Andy Warhol's quote is about aspiration and perceived attainment. The average person is not aspiring to drink a gold flake truffle-infused Coke. The implication is the lack of a rigorous class hierarchy in America. Not that the rich don't live different lifestyles or consume more. But that niche luxury products were considered effete and un-American. (Andy Warhol was almost certainly also being ironic - that the rich…

Fair point. What about cars or houses?

A Tesla will out accelerate all but the most niche cars now. Even the cheapest cars can have giant screens and climate control. I don't think they are equal to a Rolls Royce, but extreme luxury has greater diminishing returns now than at any point in history.

Where I live pretty much all new houses are being built with granite counter tops and hardwood floors. Whether that's a good thing is a whole other topic ...

Re: I want to live like Costco people

#109

Post by canjobear »

OutOfHere wrote: post #77
legitster wrote: post #29

I grew up in a post soviet country. To me Costco, has perfected the soviet ideal of shopping more than any soviet economy ever could. In a Costco, we are all equal. I could be shopping for the same set of beige slacks right next to the CEO of a multi-million dollar company and never know it. We'll own the same Waterpik. Identical towels. Our lawn furniture will look the same. Everything is purchased at a fair price.…

Good comment, but IMHO the main reason to not love it so much is the annual membership fee. It sits well with cult cultivation. Other stores don't require it and they don't form a cult around them.

On the contrary, the fact that they exclude free riders is what makes the whole thing possible.

Re: I want to live like Costco people

#110

Post by skeeter2020 »

jsbisviewtiful wrote: post #94
tavavex wrote: post #88

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.

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 mo…

>> 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

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