This is a listicle. It’s what Costco deserves.
1. The free samples
We might as well start with the most important part. The food samples are regularly my favorite part of a Costco trip. Sometimes if they don’t have samples out it’s kind of like, what am I even here for? Food I have to pay for?
2. The wide variety of food choices
I eat a primarily vegan diet and Costco never lets me down. I can always find a ton of animal-product-free food at this store. (Shoutout to the giant box of Fig Bars.) I’ve also seen some gluten free products on the shelves. Costco knows how to please all of its customers.
3. Bagless checkouts
Costco doesn’t even give you the choice of a plastic bag at checkout. It’s probably because most of the things you buy there are too big to fit in a bag. Given the chance though, I’m sure people would try. In the United States alone, 380 billion plastic bags are used a year. The average amount of times the bags are used for is just 12 minutes. Plastic bag production and consumption is an undeniably wasteful process. Kudos to Costco for not contributing to the problem.
Worth noting: The bunch of bananas I bought there the other month was wrapped liberally in plastic when bananas require no packaging. Not going to give Costco my sustainability approval just yet, but at least there’s no bags.
4. The giant teddy bear
If you’ve been to Costco, you know what I’m talking about. This teddy bear is the type of stuff dreams are made of.
5. The good Costco vibes
Costco is a good place, a happy place. I once got an email telling me I had been awarded a scholarship while I was in Costco. However, I don’t want to deny that Costco can be an overwheling place, especially around holidays. If I were in the business of determining alignments, I’d call Costco chaotic good for sure. I might go home this weekend just to go to Costco with my family. Can’t stop, won’t stop.