“Strong” and “weak” sections of Costco

Although I love Costco, some sections are better than others. Of course, deciding which sections could use some work is subjective (for example, I would happily forego the “pet products” section for an “accessories” department) so I am going to focus on a few sections that seem either “too little” or “too much”, given the general Costco consumer base and how other stores treat these sections.

Now, despite my thoughts on these sections, given the small total number of items that Costco carries (4,000…compare that to a typical grocery store of 40,000-50,000, or WalMart with 120,000), they have to be selective. Therefore, I am sure they have data to support the decisions they make and how to allocate space.

“Weak” sections:

Ice cream:

I LOVE ice cream. LOVE it. (So much so that, one of my earliest memories is of my family going out for ice cream at a famous place on Cape Cod. I was about three so, understandably (yet foolishly, as you will see), my parents ordered me a “kiddie cup.” Even at three, I viewed the “condiment paper cup” (i.e., the little sampler cups at Costco) as an unsatisfactorily small portion and we had to order a larger size). Anyway, given my love of ice cream, of course I would prefer a larger selection (in fact, as I mentioned in one of my suggestions for products I’d like to see at Costco (Costco Wish-Lists),it would be great if they sold a multi-pack of Ben and Jerry’s (although my current trio of favorites would differ from my original post). However, my love of ice cream aside, Costco does have an objectively weak ice cream section. They tend to only have one flavor (vanilla) and it is sold in two half-gallon containers. Therefore, it takes up a lot of space and one ends up with an entire gallon of vanilla ice cream. In addition, although superb quality (it is super premium with nutritional stats that make Ben and Jerry’s look relatively “healthy”), it seems that, more and more people are looking for healthier alternatives to ice cream these days, thus limiting their consumer base. It seems that if people want a super premium ice cream they are more likely to buy a pint of Ben and Jerry’s or Haagen Daaz in some wild flavor rather than a gallon of vanilla. (Wow, can I write about ice cream or what?…I could have just said “they should provide more flavors with different nutritional stats”)

Cereal:

I have commented before that cereal is not the best purchase at Costco, both because of the cost relative to sales at grocery stores (Costco vs. Supermarkets) and the limited selection (NOT to buy at Costco (avoid the “Costco Effect”): Part 1). However, Costco carries it and people buy it. Given that they sell it in large double boxes, I am surprised that they do not sell more varieties, especially ones with more “kid appeal.”

Home Improvement:

Costco sells a small (and random) selection of home improvement items (e.g.,  Dewalt tools; Hansgrohe plumbing fixtures). Although they sell them for good prices, given how particular people tend to be about home improvement items and the ease at which they could go to other stores with a larger selection, this section seems weak. (Although perhaps they are purposely catering to the people who want good deals but are not picky about what they buy?).

Fresh Deli

Although Costco sells packages of sliced deli meats (both kosher and non) as well as platters with deli meat, they do not have a fresh deli where one can buy a small amount of meat or a single sandwich. Seeing how long the lines can be at the grocery store and at BJs fresh delis, it seems that Costco could also do a good business with a fresh deli counter. I don’t each much meat so I can’t really speak to the difference, but I have heard from others that there is a very big difference between the taste of freshly sliced meat, freshly sliced meat that was cut hours ago, and the packaged varieties (even when the latter is high quality).

“Strong” sections (maybe even unreasonably so)

Cheese

I am not a “fancy cheese” eater (I actually like the cheap American cheese..but not (usually) in those plastic sheets for the individual slices (I’m not that bad! I did review the kosher American cheese (Product Review: kosher American cheese), but obviously that is a pretty select customer base) so I can’t speak to the quality of the products, but Costco does have quite the cheese selection. They have a variety of kinds, including “fancier” varieties such as Jasper Hill cheeses (for about 1/3 the price of other places) and more “mainstream” varieties such as cabot cheddar and shredded cheeses (all good prices). Therefore, cheese is a proportionately large section, given the small number of overall items.  Cheese also has less “staying power” than other foods, so, given the large quantities, it is not necessarily the best section in which to be particularly “strong” (it is hard to use all of the cheese, unless you frequently host wine and cheese parties and/or make lots of pizza, macaroni and cheese, etc.) In addition, as mentioned, given the relatively small consumer base for kosher cheese (as even many individuals who keep some version of kosher consume non-certified cheese), it is unusual that they carry three or four varieties of kosher cheese (not including cream cheese which is almost always certified kosher–hey, anything that goes on a bagel should be kosher, right?)

Lox/Smoked salmon:

I have discussed lox before and commented that Costco sells multiple varieties (Product Review:Kirkland Signature Smoked Salmon).  I am a fan of it and realize that it is increasingly popular (no longer just part of Jewish Sunday brunch) as bagels have become ubiquitous and lox is often included in sushi dishes. However, it still seems like a odd product of which to have so many varieties. I have trouble imagining that people are so picky about their lox and that there are enough people buying each variety that Costco needs to carry so many varieties. In addition to the multiple types of lox itself, they sell a variety platter with different spices (e.g., dill) and they often also have one with rolled lox (and maybe cream cheese inside?)

Yogurt

I’m definitely a fan of yogurt. I have mentioned how many varieties they sell (seemingly one for each country of the world; Product Review: Kirkland Organic Greek Yogurt). I realize that yogurt is incredibly popular (every grocery store has almost an entire wall devoted to it), but, given the limited variety of items within any one product category at Costco, it seems a bit excessive (but…if they decide to get rid of certain kinds,it better not be the big tubs of plain yogurt that I love!)

Nuts

I never leave Costco without checking out the “snack aisles.” It seems they have Ban ever-changing collection of nuts, trail mixes, and candies. The “nut section” is particularly impressive, especially given the small number of items Costco carries. They have so many kinds! Peanuts (shelled and unshelled; salted and unsalted), cashews (salted and unsalted), almonds (regular and Marcona) and pistachios (shelled; unshelled; salt and pepper).  They also have a variety of types of mixed nuts with different combinations (by the way, I highly recommend the Kirkland “fancy” mixed nuts with the cashews, almonds, hazelnuts, and Brazil nuts as well as the mix with the almonds, cashews, and pistachios). Then they have the chocolate covered nuts. Finally, in the cooking/baking aisle, they have bags of sliced or chopped nuts, including walnuts and almonds. Basically, it’s ridiculous.

Coffee

I have mentioned before that I am not a coffee drinker (I may be one of about three people who went through college and graduate school without ever having had a cup of coffee…) so I don’t have an opinion about the quality of the coffee products that Costco carries but they sure have a lot of options! In addition to selling ground coffee in several brands (including their own brand, which gets high reviews (Kirkland Products: 12 to buy), they sell several varieties of coffee beans (which you can either grind at home or at the grinder in the store). Coffee is certainly a popular product so it makes sense that Costco would sell several options (and one of the reasons I think a small coffee shop would be a way to attract more younger shoppers (Attracting millenials). But, it still seems like a disproportionately large section.

Thoughts? What other sections would you classify as “strong” and “weak”?

What sections do you wish were stronger or weaker?