As a Costco employee

[Vice honcho room temperature]

STOP BRINGING YOUR ENTIRE FAMILY TO THE f***ING COSTCO ON A SATURDAY

There is no need for you, your spouse, your mother in law, father, the 13 and 15 year old kid and all 4 of your siblings to come in to meander on the busiest place on earth because you are bored and want to take up space making traffic. If I ever hate my family enough to drag them to a costco on a Saturday I'd up and leave them. If I ever get bored as an old fart to go to a Costco on a Saturday just leave me in a ditch to die

[salz4life]

I used to go to Best Buy on the weekends and just walk around browsing when I was bored. Now, I rarely leave my house. That's all I got here.

[Push R Truth]

Welcome to Costco, I love you.

But I hate your family.

[Deleted]

I know people who work at Costco and there is a reason saturdays are dubbed THE ZOO.

[jason1980s]

I had a membership for one year and probably only went three times. I really bought it for the hot dogs because I remember them being amazing when I was a kid. But they they changed them. They may still be all beef but the color is different (now pink like bologna, used to be be brown). The taste is like bologna while the old style ones were beef taste. Bologna makes me sick.

That said, it is really a store for families. I am one person and really couldn't find much use. The pricing wasn't much cheaper, if at all, from walmart but with everything large or in bulk it makes you think you are getting more. Most stuff I bought I wound up not liking so just went to waste if I couldn't give it to someone. Families can benefit from the bulk and being able to find so much all in one stop. I also understand how it might be like a cool place for families to go.

One thing I liked was they had a gift card set for a local mom and pop restaurant. The price was $75 and you got $100 worth of cards. I don't like that you could only use their credit card (It was like costco visa or something) and no cash for the gas pumps. That's another reason I got the membership, it was around the time gas was so high. Also the auto shop is severely understaffed with insane wait times for a small job. I guess, they are trying to get the higher dollar jobs done first so the low dollar jobs come last. You think you're getting an amazing deal-like $5 for a tire patch, but they cite 4 hours wait. LOL. So you've already waited in line and then have to go elsewhere.

[Stone Coke Miami Watson 🥃]

I avoid Costco like the plague on weekends...anytime I have to do any shopping there, I go there mid-day Monday where it's nowhere near as busy.

[Cyno]

I go at weekday nights if I can help it. There's a lot of orthodox jews that live in the area of my local store so Sunday is almost as much a madhouse as Saturday.

[CMWaters]

I just got a free 1-year membership recently thanks to driving for Uber, and so far I've only used it for getting gas since it's usually cheaper than the other stations in the area.

That said, the "bring your whole family food shopping" thing is not unique to just there. As a former employee of Publix (I work USPS now), there were plenty of times I've seen big family groups going shopping (and 2/3rds of the time they were Hispanic so...maybe that's a cultural thing?)

[ayumidah]

The ones who do it in Kroger really get me. Especially when they let their kids run wild through the store, and it's not a big store so it's hard to dodge people anyway. A few weeks ago these two boys were racing back and forth outside the meat department and their mother did nothing. I was so annoyed.

[YAKMAN is ICHIBAN]

Aug 22, 2023 13:12:14 GMT -5 Cyno said:

I go at weekday nights if I can help it. There's a lot of orthodox jews that live in the area of my local store so Sunday is almost as much a madhouse as Saturday.

I used to live in an area with a large Orthodox population as well, so dealt with the same issue.

The area also had a large Islamic population, and the Costco would frequently have a whole Halal lamb or goat in the freezer section!


Now I must be in an area with a larger asian population, because I'll see random Chinese or Vietnamese products. Like these durian cakes 

[Ultimo Gallos]

Aug 22, 2023 12:55:01 GMT -5 Stone Coke Miami Watson 🥃 said:

I avoid Costco like the plague on weekends...anytime I have to do any shopping there, I go there mid-day Monday where it's nowhere near as busy.

That is why I grocery shop at 5pm Sunday.Everybody is at church or watching sports. Store is almost empty.

Also Wednesdays at say 10am is also great.

[KAMALARAMBO: BOOMSHAKALAKA!!!]

Aug 22, 2023 9:51:46 GMT -5 Push R Truth said:

Welcome to Costco, I love you.

But I hate your family.

It sounds like Costco fears commitment.

[Stone Coke Miami Watson 🥃]

Aug 22, 2023 14:18:39 GMT -5 Ultimo Gallos said:

Aug 22, 2023 12:55:01 GMT -5 Stone Coke Miami Watson 🥃 said:

I avoid Costco like the plague on weekends...anytime I have to do any shopping there, I go there mid-day Monday where it's nowhere near as busy.

That is why I grocery shop at 5pm Sunday.Everybody is at church or watching sports. Store is almost empty.

Also Wednesdays at say 10am is also great.

Out here, the last hour of operation on the weekdays is also a sweet spot to go in....since we live in an "older" community out here, many are home by 6:00 or 7:00, which makes it less hectic to grab a few things.

Plus, there's less people at the food court, so I can take the kids there for pizza and ice cream and not have to deal with a big crowd.

[Rolent Tex]

Aug 22, 2023 13:17:10 GMT -5 CMWaters said:

I just got a free 1-year membership recently thanks to driving for Uber, and so far I've only used it for getting gas since it's usually cheaper than the other stations in the area.

That said, the "bring your whole family food shopping" thing is not unique to just there. As a former employee of Publix (I work USPS now), there were plenty of times I've seen big family groups going shopping (and 2/3rds of the time they were Hispanic so...maybe that's a cultural thing?)

I got mine for doing Uber too and the two near me aren’t even close enough to make the gas worth it.

[Instant Classic]

Jokes on you I shop at BJ’s.

[Sephiroth]

“Welcome. Go **** yourself.”

[Hobby Drifter]

The COSTCO I frequent is right outside of Tokyo and there is nothing in heaven or on earth that would make me go near that place on a weekend.

Late Monday afternoons are manageable but still rage-inducing due to people who cannot help but stop their big ass carts in the most inconvenient possible spaces. Is there a one meter spot where you can block the flow of traffic in six different directions? That where you should stop and check your phone. See somebody you know coming the opposite way down an aisle? Oh, sure, you should just stop in the middle and have a conversation.

Like, I’ll openly admit that Tokyo in general is not my cup o’ tea in general, but Costco on the weekend is a special kind of hell.

[BK From WV]

Aug 22, 2023 13:30:48 GMT -5 ayumidah said:

The ones who do it in Kroger really get me. Especially when they let their kids run wild through the store, and it's not a big store so it's hard to dodge people anyway. A few weeks ago these two boys were racing back and forth outside the meat department and their mother did nothing. I was so annoyed.

I had a kid walk in the meat department at the Kroger I work at. I was cutting meat on the saw one day and looked up to see a kid, probably 5 or 6 years old, staring at me right inside the door. I stop the saw and was just getting ready to say something to him when the kid's mother opened the door and just casually told him to come on. In my head, I'm thinking that this lady just let her kid walk into a meat shop full of sharp objects and then you just casually say come on like it's a normal thing that your child should be in there. Some people just baffle me.

[Rave]

Aug 23, 2023 9:54:58 GMT -5 Hobby Drifter said:

Late Monday afternoons are manageable but still rage-inducing due to people who cannot help but stop their big ass carts in the most inconvenient possible spaces. Is there a one meter spot where you can block the flow of traffic in six different directions? That where you should stop and check your phone. See somebody you know coming the opposite way down an aisle? Oh, sure, you should just stop in the middle and have a conversation.

The meatwall phenomena. The Costco here has aisles wide enough where it's not so much of an issue aside from around the dairy case, but it's awful in other stores with smaller aisles. I was once blocked in a central aisle in Walmart by two old ladies walking side by side with their walkers.

[Hobby Drifter]

Aug 23, 2023 21:46:16 GMT -5 Rave said:

Aug 23, 2023 9:54:58 GMT -5 Hobby Drifter said:

Late Monday afternoons are manageable but still rage-inducing due to people who cannot help but stop their big ass carts in the most inconvenient possible spaces. Is there a one meter spot where you can block the flow of traffic in six different directions? That where you should stop and check your phone. See somebody you know coming the opposite way down an aisle? Oh, sure, you should just stop in the middle and have a conversation.

I was once blocked in a central aisle in Walmart by two old ladies walking side by side with their walkers.

When it’s folks with disabilities like that, I don’t really mind so much. It’s when able-bodied people are just so oblivious to their surroundings that they inconvenience everyone in a crowd that I get a bit annoyed.

Also, life-hack, go to Costco alone. Not with the family. Not with a partner. Alone. If I go with the wife, there’s no way I’m getting out in under an hour. Alone? 15 minutes. 20 if I feel like getting a hotdog on the way out.