Latest news with #non-Costco
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Downtown Vancouver Costco to start requiring membership to access food court
The era of Costco's famous $1.50 hotdogs is coming to an end in Vancouver — at least for non-Costco members. The downtown Vancouver Costco on Expo Boulevard has its food court outside the warehouse and has been accessible to anyone, even those without a membership. Given its location near the SkyTrain station, Rogers Arena and B.C. Place, the food court is a popular spot for concertgoers, sports fan or bargain hunters who want to get its beloved $1.50 hotdog-and-soda deal and other offerings, including pizza, chicken strips, and poutine. But no longer. Signs have gone up outside the Costco warehouse saying that starting Aug. 5, an active Costco membership card will be required to purchase items from the food court. It then directs people to the membership counter for more information. The change comes about a year after Costco started using scanners at store entrances to crack down on so-called 'membership moochers' trying to enter or shop at the store without membership. At the time, Costco officials had said that the warehouses have seen a rise in the number of people sharing membership cards since 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic. Last fall, Costco raised its membership fees in Canada and the U.S. to $65 for individual or business membership, while those with executive membership saw their fees hiked to $130 a year. The last time Costco raised their membership fees was in 2017. Despite that recent fee increase — and inflation — Costco has not raised the prices on its hotdog combo since introducing it in the 1980s. That has stayed at $1.50, a loss-leader strategy Costco employs to get people in the door, or perhaps as an incentive to get their membership. According to Costco's 2024 annual report, revenue from membership fees rose five per cent to $4.8 billion, with nearly 137 million members and a 90 per cent renewal rate. As of the end of last year, Costco had 897 locations around the world including 109 in Canada. chchan@ Costco crackdown: Membership scanners coming to Metro Vancouver stores Is alcohol coming to B.C. Costco warehouses? Could a new Costco be coming to South Surrey?
Vancouver Sun
4 days ago
- Business
- Vancouver Sun
Downtown Vancouver Costco to start requiring membership to access food court
The era of Costco's famous $1.50 hotdogs is coming to an end in Vancouver — at least for non-Costco members. The downtown Vancouver Costco on Expo Boulevard has its food court outside the warehouse and has been accessible to anyone, even those without a membership. Given its location near the SkyTrain station, Rogers Arena and B.C. Place , the food court is a popular spot for concertgoers, sports fan or bargain hunters who want to get its beloved $1.50 hotdog-and-soda deal and other offerings, including pizza, chicken strips, and poutine. But no longer. Signs have gone up outside the Costco warehouse saying that starting Aug. 5, an active Costco membership card will be required to purchase items from the food court. It then directs people to the membership counter for more information. I know some #Costco locations in the US were requiring this and now Vancouver — not surprised and will be interesting to see what the lines look like when the Canucks are back in the autumn! #CostcoWholesale #DollarFiftyHotDog The change comes about a year after Costco started using scanners at store entrances to crack down on so-called 'membership moochers' trying to enter or shop at the store without membership. Start your day with a roundup of B.C.-focused news and opinion. By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. A welcome email is on its way. If you don't see it, please check your junk folder. The next issue of Sunrise will soon be in your inbox. Please try again Interested in more newsletters? Browse here. At the time, Costco officials had said that the warehouses have seen a rise in the number of people sharing membership cards since 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic. Last fall, Costco raised its membership fees in Canada and the U.S. to $65 for individual or business membership, while those with executive membership saw their fees hiked to $130 a year. The last time Costco raised their membership fees was in 2017. Despite that recent fee increase — and inflation — Costco has not raised the prices on its hotdog combo since introducing it in the 1980s. That has stayed at $1.50, a loss-leader strategy Costco employs to get people in the door, or perhaps as an incentive to get their membership. According to Costco's 2024 annual report, revenue from membership fees rose five per cent to $4.8 billion, with nearly 137 million members and a 90 per cent renewal rate. As of the end of last year, Costco had 897 locations around the world including 109 in Canada. chchan@
Yahoo
07-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Costco Shoppers Are Slamming a Popular Meal Kit From the Warehouse—Calling It a 'Huge Miss' and 'Inedible'
Yahoo is using AI to generate takeaways from this article. This means the info may not always match what's in the article. Reporting mistakes helps us improve the experience. Yahoo is using AI to generate takeaways from this article. This means the info may not always match what's in the article. Reporting mistakes helps us improve the experience. Yahoo is using AI to generate takeaways from this article. This means the info may not always match what's in the article. Reporting mistakes helps us improve the experience. Generate Key Takeaways You can always expect Costco shoppers to keep it real when it comes to the items they've purchased at the warehouse, whether they love it or hate it. Despite this consistent honesty, we were not prepared for the vitriolic review one customer gave for a meal kit sold at Costco. In a Reddit post shared earlier this week, the customer gave their brutally honest thoughts on the "inedible" Take Home Chicken Sesame Noodles meal kit. Related: Costco Shoppers Just Discovered the Ultimate Sandwich (and French Toast!) Hack Thanks to This Beloved Bakery Item "I'm not one to usually complain and I'll usually just take the L, but I can't get over how….bad this meal was," they wrote. "The noodles are fine, the veggies were meh, the sauce tastes like 1990s lean cuisine while being salty and bland simultaneously, and the chicken was inedible. I've always heard the expression rubbery chicken, but up until tonight, I hadn't experienced it. It was so bad I actually spit it back out on my plate. Even though the chicken is pre cooked, multiple pieces felt raw / rubbery." According to the comments, the Chicken Sesame Noodles meal kit isn't the only miss from Take Home. "I've tried one of these 'Take Home' products from a different non-Costco store and it was absolutely terrible. I don't think it's a bad batch I just think the brand is terrible. It wasn't even this specific meal but it was inedible," read one message. Related: Costco's New Loaded Mashed Potato Salad Has Shoppers Rushing to Give It a Try "The only thing I've enjoyed from that brand is the chicken enchiladas (not sure if it's available at Costco)," another person chimed in. Others are just grateful that they were spared from having to try the meal kit for themselves. "Thanks for the heads up. That might've been something I would have bought, depending on the ingredients. Sounds absolutely awful," one Redditor wrote. Up Next Related: Costco Shoppers Are Raving About a 'Genius' Item That Makes Dining Outside Enjoyable Again
Yahoo
24-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Gold buyer who invested $30,000 this year calls Costco's bars and coins his 'gateway drug'
The gold market is surging, briefly topping $3,500 an ounce on Tuesday. Costco sells millions of dollars worth of bars and coins for some of the lowest markups around. One buyer who's spent $30,000 on gold this year called Costco's offerings a "gateway drug." With the gold market surging — briefly topping $3,500 an ounce on Tuesday — Costco is again a hot spot for precious metal collectors hoping to make a near-instant windfall. The market for gold often rises in times of uncertainty, and the current price moves are driven by interest in the commodity itself as a safe-haven investment and by the depreciation of the US dollar. One collector who has bought more than $30,000 worth of gold this year told Business Insider there's growing concern in the precious metals community about gold prices rising so quickly. "To me, it is the measuring stick for how bad things are going to get," he said. The person requested anonymity because of concerns about personal safety, but he provided BI with receipts from recent Costco purchases and documentation of his additional gold holdings. He said he owned no gold until this year and only began collecting as the political and economic environment became more unpredictable. Costco, which sells gold bars and coins online and in some of its stores, made it easy for him to get started. "Costco was the gateway drug to gold investing," he said. It's no secret that Costco sells hundreds of millions of dollars worth of bars and coins for some of the lowest markups around, but there are times when the market moves a little faster than the company's price adjustments. In particular, several product listings on Tuesday — namely a 100-gram bar and a 1-ounce bar — were listed at prices so close to the spot market price that Costco Executive Members using the Costco Citi credit card could see a net reward of about 1% to 2% of the purchase price. In other words, Costco is basically giving some members money to convert their dollars into gold (up to certain limits on individual and annual transactions, of course). Executive rewards are capped at $1,250 a year, but the company's credit card rewards on purchases are not limited. Costco did not respond to a request for comment from Business Insider, but precious metals sales have been a key area of growth for the club's e-commerce business. The company benefits from routing hundreds of millions of dollars in sales through by simply buying a batch of gold and selling every ounce of it to members. Other non-Costco credit card promos can make the math even more remarkable, as one gold flipper who bought more than $100,000 worth of gold last year attested to. It's also important to note that Costco does not allow returns or price adjustments on gold purchases, and some buyers have found it unexpectedly difficult to quickly sell their bars and coins at a price that makes the flip worthwhile. Most collectors recommend building a relationship with a trusted local gold dealer to conduct transactions. In general, the collectors BI spoke to are gold holders, not sellers, and the demand at Costco remains fairly steady. "The price hasn't had much of an effect. The people who want it buy it," said one warehouse manager who requested anonymity because he's not authorized to speak to the media about sales. The Costco manager said his location occasionally receives about 10 to 20 bars, which are usually sold within a week, and sometimes within a few days. Costco executives have previously said that online sales can run through a batch of inventory "within a few hours." As the price of gold dipped from Tuesday levels, Costco gold enthusiasts took to the Costco precious metals Reddit community on Wednesday to discuss the lag time between when the listed prices would be updated to reflect the market change. "Costco doesn't real-time price like online bullion brokers," one Reddit user wrote. "Their pricing lags up to a day or two behind spot… which was great for customers buying when gold skyrocketed, sometimes Costco pricing was below spot BEFORE cash back… this is the other side of that coin." Read the original article on Business Insider Sign in to access your portfolio
Business Insider
23-04-2025
- Business
- Business Insider
Gold buyer who invested $30,000 this year says Costco's bars and coins were his 'gateway drug'
With the gold market surging — briefly topping $3,500 an ounce on Tuesday — Costco is again a hot spot for precious metal collectors hoping to make a near-instant windfall. The market for gold often rises in times of uncertainty, and the current price moves are driven by interest in the commodity itself as a safe-haven investment and by the depreciation of the US dollar. One collector who has bought more than $30,000 worth of gold this year told Business Insider there's growing concern in the precious metals community about gold prices rising so quickly. "To me, it is the measuring stick for how bad things are going to get," he said. The person requested anonymity because of concerns about personal safety, but he provided BI with receipts from recent Costco purchases and documentation of his additional gold holdings. He said he owned no gold until this year and only began collecting as the political and economic environment became more unpredictable. Costco, which sells gold bars and coins online and in some of its stores, made it easy for him to get started. "Costco was the gateway drug to gold investing," he said. It's no secret that Costco sells hundreds of millions of dollars worth of bars and coins for some of the lowest markups around, but there are times when the market moves a little faster than the company's price adjustments. In particular, several product listings on Tuesday — namely a 100-gram bar and a 1-ounce bar — were listed at prices so close to the spot market price that Costco Executive Members using the Costco Citi credit card could see a net reward of about 1% to 2% of the purchase price. In other words, Costco is basically giving some members money to convert their dollars into gold (up to certain limits on individual and annual transactions, of course). Executive rewards are capped at $1,250 a year, but the company's credit card rewards on purchases are not limited. a key area of growth for the club's e-commerce business. The company benefits from routing hundreds of millions of dollars in sales through by simply buying a batch of gold and selling every ounce of it to members. Other non-Costco credit card promos can make the math even more remarkable, as one gold flipper who bought more than $100,000 worth of gold last year attested to. It's also important to note that Costco does not allow returns or price adjustments on gold purchases, and some buyers have found it unexpectedly difficult to quickly sell their bars and coins at a price that makes the flip worthwhile. Most collectors recommend building a relationship with a trusted local gold dealer to conduct transactions. In general, the collectors BI spoke to are gold holders, not sellers, and the demand at Costco remains fairly steady. "The price hasn't had much of an effect. The people who want it buy it," said one warehouse manager who requested anonymity because he's not authorized to speak to the media about sales. The Costco manager said his location occasionally receives about 10 to 20 bars, which are usually sold within a week, and sometimes within a few days. Costco executives have previously said that online sales can run through a batch of inventory " within a few hours." As the price of gold dipped from Tuesday levels, Costco gold enthusiasts took to the Costco precious metals Reddit community on Wednesday to discuss the lag time between when the listed prices would be updated to reflect the market change. "Costco doesn't real-time price like online bullion brokers," one Reddit user wrote. "Their pricing lags up to a day or two behind spot… which was great for customers buying when gold skyrocketed, sometimes Costco pricing was below spot BEFORE cash back… this is the other side of that coin."
