Posted on 04/01/2024 9:51:45 AM PDT by nickcarraway
No more sneaking in with your friends.
It's about to become harder to get a table at the Costco food court than at a Michelin-starred restaurant.
In recent months, Costco has taken a more drastic approach to ensuring only actual members are able to get all those sweet, sweet perks. And now, Costco is taking aim at freeloaders hoping to snag a $1.50 hot dog at the food court sans membership card.
In March, a Reddit user shared a sign in the r/Costco community that they spotted at their local Costco in Orlando, Florida. The sign read: “Effective April 8, 2024, an active Costco membership card will be required to purchase items from our food court. You can join today. Please see our membership counter for details.”
However, this new crackdown likely really isn't about losing money on those aforementioned $1.50 hot dogs, as those are likely already costing the company a bundle anyway. As Richard Galanti, the soon-to-retire chief financial officer of Costco, shared with CNBC in 2022, the only reason the company has been able to keep that hot dog price stable since the '80s is because it's leveraging profits from somewhere else. "Some businesses that are doing well with margin…those things help us be more aggressive in other areas, or, as you mentioned, hold the price on the hot dog and the soda a little longer — forever," he said.
But what this could really come down to is getting more people to actually sign up for that all-important membership. Entrepreneur pointed to Costco's fiscal year 2023 earnings report, which showed that memberships generated $4.58 billion in profit. In 2021 that number was just $3.88 billion, marking a $700 million increase.
And really, these memberships are still a steal starting at $60 for a Gold Star membership — a cost that hasn't increased since 2017. So maybe it's worth investing that $5 a month into an actual Costco membership so you don't have to shamefully sneak in to enjoy a snack. And this way you can impress strangers by telling them you're a member of one of the most exclusive clubs in town.
Good info. Thank you.
They sell both. Their vodka tastes better than some that cost twice as much (Grey Goose).
Pensacola’s is even bigger!....................
Actually, what led to this change at my local Costco is that the food court service counter is outdoors (you don’t need to enter the store) and the very long line, filled to a significant extent by neighbors and contractor employees and many others in the local area who presumably are not Costco members, stretched along one side of the massive building starting about 10:30-11:00 every day.
The Costco nearest us went full mask-Nazi during the Covid hysteria, so we didn't go there for well over a year, until they gave up the mask nonsense. We survived somehow.
Just looked it up. FL must’ve changed the law.
“There are fourteen states — Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Indiana, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New York, Texas, and Vermont – in which customers can buy alcohol at Costco without being a member.”
Costco’s a pretty good store. And a membership will work at any Costco store in the world.
We can buy liquor, wine, and beer at both Costco and Sam’s here in Indiana, but I’m pretty sure you have to be a member to do so. Both of them check my card every time I go in.
Can anyone tell me if the premium membership to Costco gets free shipping on items? I haven’t been able to figure out if they will still charge a shipping fee.
they’ve cheeked my picture on the card almost every time. At the food court, the only way to buy the food is with the card.
The food at my local Costco is outside, so no membership card required. Over the past 2 years it has become ridiculously crowded. The hotdogs are big enough that you can split one between 2 children. Same with the huge pizza slices. It’s a magnet for poor folks, many illegals. A lot of members aren’t willing to fight the crowds, wait 20 minutes for a hotdog, and not have a table to eat it at.
It would be easy to enforce “members only” by requiring a card swipe before ordering, just like at the gas pumps and checkout line.
“Some Costcos, like the one in Orlando mentioned in the article, have outdoor food courts that didn’t require a membership card to buy anything. This new policy is mostly about that.”
Oh, OK. Makes sense in a warm climate.
The friend with the card will pay out problem solved sounds stupid
Well, at least in Costco you don’t have to deal with as many shoplifters. And our membership pays for itself 5 or ten times over. So good luck with your “free shopping”! I suppose you don’t subscribe to Amazon Prime either?? We definitely come out on the winning side of both...
We pay $100/year for our membership. And get back $400 per year for our purchases. For us, Costco membership is a really good deal.
I usually ate at the one in Carlsbad CA
What’s next? Scan your card to get a free sample from the sample ladies?
Depends on the store.
There are two that we go to, one nearer our place and one near where the parents live.
Our normal one has only asked for cards during the Great Silliness but the one near the parents will not let you in without one.
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