Karen Kuo started shopping at Costco while studying at Western University. She and her roommates made it a monthly trip — they’d go together, hunting for bulk deals and popular items they’d seen on social media.
And they weren’t alone. Kuo says the aisles were filled with other students, carts overloaded with stuff. As a content creator, Kuo posts lifestyle content, including some of her trips to Costco, where she says the comments are always flooded with younger people interested in the latest new product or holy grail snack at the wholesale shopping centre.
“Grocery shopping is just a very standard part of a weekly routine, but Costco has the ability to kind of make it fun and make it interesting,” Kuo said.
In a recent earnings call, the wholesaler reported that nearly half of their new member signups were now coming from people under the age of 40.
The company attributed some of the increase to its online retail presence — but shoppers, content creators and experts alike say that good deals and social media hype are pulling younger people toward the brand.
On the hunt for bulk deals
Kuo is out of school and working now, but says she still shops at Costco every other week or so in order to stock up on basics she uses often.
She’s sure to buy certain pantry items like protein powder and coffee at Costco each time, as she says she can find them for about two thirds of the price compared to other stores.
Data shows that young people are struggling with the cost of living. Research from the Agri-Food Analytics Lab at Dalhousie University found that about 40 per cent of people in Gen Z were using their savings or borrowed money to buy food, compared to 20 per cent of baby boomers.
A recent report from Restaurants Canada also found that while 75 per cent of Canadians overall said they were dining out less frequently because of the rising cost of living, that figure jumped to 81 per cent for those between the ages of 18 and 34.
Starting later this summer, the food court at Costco will no longer be for everyone to enjoy. CBC’s Pinki Wong went to the location to see what changes are coming and how Vancouverites are reacting.
Mike von Massow, a food economist at the University of Guelph, says companies like Costco are highly aware of how much young people are struggling and are likely advertising directly to them as a result. Von Massow says Costco set up a recruiting tent on his university campus this year for the first time.
“We tend to be loyal to our grocery store,” von Massow told CBC News, adding that if stores assume they’d be more likely to be a customer for life, then “getting a young person, particularly a student, may be a good investment.”
And since students tend to live with multiple roommates sometimes in houses of four or five people, von Massow says buying products in family-sized portions and splitting the cost might be a good way to save some cash.
The food court at Costco also holds coveted bargains.
The price of a hotdog and soda combo has famously been $1.50 since the 1980s, despite inflation, and has long attracted deal-hungry customers.
Costco’s cult following
But the love for Costco goes beyond the hunt for a good deal.
From the Costco Guys — a father-son duo who rate foods at the store (good ones get a “boom,” bad ones get a “doom”) — to people throwing Costco-themed birthday parties, or even birthday parties at Costco, social media is awash with Costco content.
Influencers who post exclusively about Costco have also popped up, including the Canadian “queen” of Costco, Tina Chow. The Calgarian posts under the handle @costcoloverscanada on TikTok where she has more than 178,000 followers, and runs a group by the same name on Facebook.
Chow and Kuo both say social media hype around certain trendy products are a big driving factor that have pulled young people into the stores — Costco items like Dubai chocolate, Korean beauty products and clothing “dupes” that resemble Lululemon’s high-end activewear have all become incredibly popular online.
Craig Patterson, the founder and publisher of Canadian retail news publication Retail Insider, agrees.
Costco’s ability to stock items consumers want because of online buzz has contributed to the store having a “cult following” of sorts, Patterson says — no small feat, given it comes at a time when retailers like Nordstrom and Hudson’s Bay have either pulled out of Canada or closed altogether.
The Current20:09How Costco became a cultural phenomenon
Chow agrees that the online excitement has also fuelled a sense of something bigger that the retailer itself — making it a cultural touch point in a way that other big box stores simply aren’t.
“It’s become more of a community on social media, and I think that’s what’s most important,” Chow said. “If you can connect to [the store] and it’s something you’re a part of, versus watching a commercial or an advertisement, then everybody wants to be a part of it.”
