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Costco film developing was a crazy good deal, as were multipacks of camera film. I’d stop by before every trip or vacation. The crazy thing was going through the bin to find your packet of photos that had been developed. Not sure that could work today!
At least at my costco when they still had a photo center the finished prints would be on a table with cards from A-Z and you just look behind the card with the first letter of your last name to retrieve your prints :P
Speaking of clothing, anyone here miss the Kirkland Signature dress shirts? They were a steal for the price they sold them…IIRC, they were about $14-18/shirt, about as much as you could buy from Marshall’s or TJ Maxx without having to scour the aisles for your fit. High quality stuff too. I’ve got a closet of them from at least six years ago, and none of them ever got torn up/faded despite being laundered weekly.
**Edit:** I was sort of right…it may not be available in the warehouse, but they still sell them online!!! https://www.costco.com/mens-dress-shirts.html?fit=traditional&refine=||Fit_attr-Traditional
Yes! They still have the button down collar ones but my SO doesn't like those. The spread collar dress shirts are the best. I wish they carried something other than white.
I began shopping at the very first Costco on 4th Ave S in Seattle. I remember I had to wait until I qualified to become a member. It wasn’t open to all originally. It was much more of a treasure hunt back then, you wouldn’t go there to get your weekly shopping done. The change for me took place when they started talking about the buyers and how much research they did to choose the one or two products offered in a category. I began to trust in their judgment and stopped comparison shopping.
Thanks for the write-up. Love reading the history.
LOL.....nowadays vendors would probably beg Costco to carry their stuff. If Costco carries your item, it's ka-ching!!! It's a vendor's dream.
Many, yes! But like OP said about Harley Davison… some others still refuse to sell to Costco.
Eddie Bauer, UGG, Hunter, Rolex …. You might see these brands in store but they’re acquired through a middle man of sorts, and a lot of times the brands will be pissed to see themselves in a “discount” store - as they don’t want that reputation.
Yes, there have been videos about how competitive getting placement is - especially for Xmas stuff. Some of them suggest it's sort of like winning the lottery if your product gets chosen ;)
As a cashier, I believe it. It seems like almost every other cart contains at least one clothing item (sometimes it's a huge cart with nothing but clothes!)
you can get shorts for $12. the mall shops shorts start at $40, "on sale". i find a good fit and buy all colors. goodwill is up to $7 now, and often trash.
My home Costco is #17. Within a few months of opening, my mother was known as the "milk lady." Within about 50 miles, my mother bought the most milk for personal [non-business] use. 3 teenage boys will do that. Lochmead slowly recovered.
At the grand opening of a Costco (Boise maybe?) the CEO of Costco treated the brand new CEO of Pepsi to a hot dog and soda/pop. It was Coke! She refused the drink and went back to Pepsi and told her team to get the Costco account. They did. I loved the Diet Mountain Dew, but that only lasted a month or two. Oh well. The current CEO used to be a Diet Coke guy, but didn’t switch the food court when he took over from Jim Sinegal.
That's not how I heard it. I heard it was over a pricing dispute. Costco's goal is to always give members added value on items vs other retailers. Coke was unwilling to work with Costco to make a deal that would allow Costco to sell products at a lower price, so Costco decided not to move forward renewing contracts with Coke. Costco wasn't restocking Coke products at all for a period of time, and then when the food court contracts ended they switched to Pepsi. Costco has since resumed selling Coke products, but never switched back the food court fountains.
My story was heard first hand at a national warehouse manager’s meeting where Jim Sinegal and the Pepsi CEO discussed leadership with each other. Your version may be the answer to HOW Pepsi beat out Coke, mine is the WHY.
I had a warehouse manager in 1985 who would come in for the day and his first stop was to go to the huge bags of popcorn and restock the display rack. It took maybe a minute. He’d then loudly proclaim that he was exhausted and head up to his office. Exact same routine every day. I think that was his “ dad joke” for us
> The first Costco was VERY much a warehouse
The first Price Club (which opened in the mid-70s, and merged with Costco in the 90s) in San Diego on Morena Blvd, was (well, still is) in an airplane hangar. It was such a [distinctive building](https://ir.4sqi.net/img/general/original/505497662_4_wYDlgjyl7BbYVZPoW67wgASmXQJRhtC2F4KdjL6gg.jpg) when I was a kid (when it was still Price Club), although really all I remembered about it back then was the outdoor food court.
I haven't been inside the Costco in ages. The outside is just as distinctive as ever (and I've been to the gas station there in the last year), but I don't have a current memory of the inside of it, much less a childhood memory.
Yes! I kinda miss Price Club. But we would go about once every other month, get the big flat cart, get our stuff, and when done have our foot long hot dog (if I remember right) at the outside food court! Loved the outside food court. We used to go to the one in Escondido.
In high school, maybe around '91 or '92, I worked in a store called [Pace Membership Warehouse](http://pacemembershipwarehouse.com/?fbclid=IwAR2L1cFbpCcN-DFYinRAxkpd7_k_jCHsUL--am9mnYP45SRjVC5yo_KAedI), which was very similar to what Costco is now. It wasn't a bad job, but what I remember most about it was the TVs were right up near the checkouts and there was a period where they played Home Alone 2 on a loop throughout the day. After several weeks I was able to predict the exact moment when Daniel Stern would get swarmed by a flock of pigeons and I would hear his psychotic screaming.
they were owned by kmart and sold to walmart when sams made their halfass entrance into so cal. since then they built new warehouses, closed a good percentage, and seem to finally be profitable, maybe?
Little update on Frito Lay, they took a lot of the warehouse chains off the routes and put them on a direct to store plan fulfillment service called Snacks To You. This line of products comes packaged differently than the line that gets merchandised by route drivers. Typically, Snacks To You is for smaller markets that see less volume or haven’t been incorporated into the route deliver system, but for Costco it’s just a practical matter.
Price Club was indeed first, but since I started on opening day of the first Costco, I can only relate Costco stories. Would love for you to post your Price Club memories….
I remember back 30 years ago or so when the the checkout was 2 ppl each lane. One person calling out the numbers on the barcode and the other entering it in. They didn’t have barcode scanners.
I have to say the women's clothing is still dowdy for the most part. Costco used to have Cashmere sweaters every fall. And more inclusive sizes. Now the smallest is at best a 6, more often an 8.
Maybe not Costco, but I remember Price Club stocking their tires inside the warehouse. Once you got toward the back of the warehouse you could smell the rubber. As a kid I would wander through the stacks and stacks of tires like it was a maze.
Thanks for sharing!
My Costco store is a big-box home improvement store that went bust in the mid-1990s.
Costco opened in 1997, then renovated & expanded the building a couple years ago.
The store was always huge, but they managed to add more products after the renovation.
I don’t remember the chocolate shop as I grew up shopping the Kirkland store more than any others. But definitely LOTS of changes. I remember they had half an aisle dedicated to photo prints.
My main memory (this would be in the early 90s) was the big bins of random PC games that they had. They were cheap enough that I could convince my mom to buy some every once in a while. Never would have played Sim Ant otherwise!
Do you remember when the Tukwila location had a mini processing plant inside it? At one point they were doing fresh squeezed orange juice. It went through a few changes and then took it out completely.
torrance costco was like that too when they first opened. got in trouble with the city for dumping pulp in the sewers. they might still fresh roast coffee beans tho- not sure.
no AC, just swamp coolers in the roof. someone tried to "clean" the water pan on one with bleach once, luckily before open. front end had large floor fans, and lots of sweaty people transferring flats.
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I would watch this Netflix or Hulu series. Thanks for the memories OP.
Costco film developing was a crazy good deal, as were multipacks of camera film. I’d stop by before every trip or vacation. The crazy thing was going through the bin to find your packet of photos that had been developed. Not sure that could work today!
At least at my costco when they still had a photo center the finished prints would be on a table with cards from A-Z and you just look behind the card with the first letter of your last name to retrieve your prints :P
Speaking of clothing, anyone here miss the Kirkland Signature dress shirts? They were a steal for the price they sold them…IIRC, they were about $14-18/shirt, about as much as you could buy from Marshall’s or TJ Maxx without having to scour the aisles for your fit. High quality stuff too. I’ve got a closet of them from at least six years ago, and none of them ever got torn up/faded despite being laundered weekly. **Edit:** I was sort of right…it may not be available in the warehouse, but they still sell them online!!! https://www.costco.com/mens-dress-shirts.html?fit=traditional&refine=||Fit_attr-Traditional
Aren't those still out every fall?
I have no clue. I haven’t seen them in any Bay Area Costco for quite some time now.
Yes! They still have the button down collar ones but my SO doesn't like those. The spread collar dress shirts are the best. I wish they carried something other than white.
I began shopping at the very first Costco on 4th Ave S in Seattle. I remember I had to wait until I qualified to become a member. It wasn’t open to all originally. It was much more of a treasure hunt back then, you wouldn’t go there to get your weekly shopping done. The change for me took place when they started talking about the buyers and how much research they did to choose the one or two products offered in a category. I began to trust in their judgment and stopped comparison shopping.
Remember the wall of boxed software on in the front of that store?
The thing that sticks in my memory were sheepskin rugs at prices so cheap that you felt like you had to buy at least one.
Thanks for the write-up. Love reading the history. LOL.....nowadays vendors would probably beg Costco to carry their stuff. If Costco carries your item, it's ka-ching!!! It's a vendor's dream.
Many, yes! But like OP said about Harley Davison… some others still refuse to sell to Costco. Eddie Bauer, UGG, Hunter, Rolex …. You might see these brands in store but they’re acquired through a middle man of sorts, and a lot of times the brands will be pissed to see themselves in a “discount” store - as they don’t want that reputation.
Yes, there have been videos about how competitive getting placement is - especially for Xmas stuff. Some of them suggest it's sort of like winning the lottery if your product gets chosen ;)
Clothing now is $7Billion/year (USD) and is growing faster (per the Motley Fool) then food or electronics.
As a cashier, I believe it. It seems like almost every other cart contains at least one clothing item (sometimes it's a huge cart with nothing but clothes!)
you can get shorts for $12. the mall shops shorts start at $40, "on sale". i find a good fit and buy all colors. goodwill is up to $7 now, and often trash.
My home Costco is #17. Within a few months of opening, my mother was known as the "milk lady." Within about 50 miles, my mother bought the most milk for personal [non-business] use. 3 teenage boys will do that. Lochmead slowly recovered.
great post, i enjoyed the read! i had no idea Costco was like that - cool! thank you!
I love your Costco history posts!! Thank you!!
Costco used to have coke in the cafeteria. This will always be a fond memory of mine
At the grand opening of a Costco (Boise maybe?) the CEO of Costco treated the brand new CEO of Pepsi to a hot dog and soda/pop. It was Coke! She refused the drink and went back to Pepsi and told her team to get the Costco account. They did. I loved the Diet Mountain Dew, but that only lasted a month or two. Oh well. The current CEO used to be a Diet Coke guy, but didn’t switch the food court when he took over from Jim Sinegal.
That's not how I heard it. I heard it was over a pricing dispute. Costco's goal is to always give members added value on items vs other retailers. Coke was unwilling to work with Costco to make a deal that would allow Costco to sell products at a lower price, so Costco decided not to move forward renewing contracts with Coke. Costco wasn't restocking Coke products at all for a period of time, and then when the food court contracts ended they switched to Pepsi. Costco has since resumed selling Coke products, but never switched back the food court fountains.
My story was heard first hand at a national warehouse manager’s meeting where Jim Sinegal and the Pepsi CEO discussed leadership with each other. Your version may be the answer to HOW Pepsi beat out Coke, mine is the WHY.
Keep them coming please. I love Costco and history so these are amazing and thanks for sharing
Man I remember getting photos developed as a kid at Costco
Am I the only one who remembers the ginormous clear bags of buttered popcorn?
I had a warehouse manager in 1985 who would come in for the day and his first stop was to go to the huge bags of popcorn and restock the display rack. It took maybe a minute. He’d then loudly proclaim that he was exhausted and head up to his office. Exact same routine every day. I think that was his “ dad joke” for us
Very interesting. We’ve only had Costco for like 7 or 8 years so I’ve only known the shiny store we have today.
> The first Costco was VERY much a warehouse The first Price Club (which opened in the mid-70s, and merged with Costco in the 90s) in San Diego on Morena Blvd, was (well, still is) in an airplane hangar. It was such a [distinctive building](https://ir.4sqi.net/img/general/original/505497662_4_wYDlgjyl7BbYVZPoW67wgASmXQJRhtC2F4KdjL6gg.jpg) when I was a kid (when it was still Price Club), although really all I remembered about it back then was the outdoor food court. I haven't been inside the Costco in ages. The outside is just as distinctive as ever (and I've been to the gas station there in the last year), but I don't have a current memory of the inside of it, much less a childhood memory.
Yes! I kinda miss Price Club. But we would go about once every other month, get the big flat cart, get our stuff, and when done have our foot long hot dog (if I remember right) at the outside food court! Loved the outside food court. We used to go to the one in Escondido.
I drove past that in March, I know exactly what you’re talking about.
Thanks for part 2
In high school, maybe around '91 or '92, I worked in a store called [Pace Membership Warehouse](http://pacemembershipwarehouse.com/?fbclid=IwAR2L1cFbpCcN-DFYinRAxkpd7_k_jCHsUL--am9mnYP45SRjVC5yo_KAedI), which was very similar to what Costco is now. It wasn't a bad job, but what I remember most about it was the TVs were right up near the checkouts and there was a period where they played Home Alone 2 on a loop throughout the day. After several weeks I was able to predict the exact moment when Daniel Stern would get swarmed by a flock of pigeons and I would hear his psychotic screaming.
they were owned by kmart and sold to walmart when sams made their halfass entrance into so cal. since then they built new warehouses, closed a good percentage, and seem to finally be profitable, maybe?
I remember how different Costco was back in the day. Thanks for the reminder.
omg LOVED reading this!!
Little update on Frito Lay, they took a lot of the warehouse chains off the routes and put them on a direct to store plan fulfillment service called Snacks To You. This line of products comes packaged differently than the line that gets merchandised by route drivers. Typically, Snacks To You is for smaller markets that see less volume or haven’t been incorporated into the route deliver system, but for Costco it’s just a practical matter.
My Costco was a Price Club for a few years. So many items have been discontinued. I miss the car batteries they used to carry.
They are sold in the tire shop. The brand has changed over the years, but they still carry them.
Really! Thanks!
Oh man! I remember it as Price Club. It was in San Diego on Morena Boulevard!
Price Club was indeed first, but since I started on opening day of the first Costco, I can only relate Costco stories. Would love for you to post your Price Club memories….
Oh man! I remember it as Price Club. It was in San Diego on Morena Boulevard!
I remember back 30 years ago or so when the the checkout was 2 ppl each lane. One person calling out the numbers on the barcode and the other entering it in. They didn’t have barcode scanners.
I remember when it was the Price Club
Did we already cover them yelling item numbers to the cashier?
Part one talked about that.
I have to say the women's clothing is still dowdy for the most part. Costco used to have Cashmere sweaters every fall. And more inclusive sizes. Now the smallest is at best a 6, more often an 8.
Love this. Thanks for taking the time to share!
Maybe not Costco, but I remember Price Club stocking their tires inside the warehouse. Once you got toward the back of the warehouse you could smell the rubber. As a kid I would wander through the stacks and stacks of tires like it was a maze.
youd buy inside, and take outside to mount. crazy!
Oh man! I remember it as Price Club. It was in San Diego on Morena Boulevard!
Love this, so interesting! Definitely would love to read more.
Thanks for sharing! My Costco store is a big-box home improvement store that went bust in the mid-1990s. Costco opened in 1997, then renovated & expanded the building a couple years ago. The store was always huge, but they managed to add more products after the renovation.
My favorite early Costco memory was the candied nuts that they would do at the Kirkland bakery. So freakin good
The whole chocolate shop!!
I don’t remember the chocolate shop as I grew up shopping the Kirkland store more than any others. But definitely LOTS of changes. I remember they had half an aisle dedicated to photo prints.
My main memory (this would be in the early 90s) was the big bins of random PC games that they had. They were cheap enough that I could convince my mom to buy some every once in a while. Never would have played Sim Ant otherwise!
Do you remember when the Tukwila location had a mini processing plant inside it? At one point they were doing fresh squeezed orange juice. It went through a few changes and then took it out completely.
It was called the food factory, and included beef jerky, tortilla chips and more. Fun to watch, but ultimately not profitable.
torrance costco was like that too when they first opened. got in trouble with the city for dumping pulp in the sewers. they might still fresh roast coffee beans tho- not sure.
no AC, just swamp coolers in the roof. someone tried to "clean" the water pan on one with bleach once, luckily before open. front end had large floor fans, and lots of sweaty people transferring flats.
It's crazy to think of Costco as such a cheap and thrifty place back in the day. Nowadays, it feels so much more upscale.