After our journey to IKEA in Kobe yesterday, we decided to stop by Costco in eastern Hyogo Prefecture on our way home. I had heard nothing but good things about Costco. A lot of the foreigners I talk to said that Costco is good because you can get a lot of Western food. Also, my wife and I heard that because of Costco's wholesale format, you can buy food in bulk and save money.
When we went there, we found that neither of those things were true.
I went to Costco hoping to buy a lot of American things I usually can't buy in Japanese stores: American cereal, dry fruit mix, flavored coffee creamer. None of that stuff was at Costco. In addition, we found that buying goods in bulk at Costco didn't really save us much money compared with what we usually pay for single goods at the supermarket we usually shop at. It's not worth it to make the trip to Costco if we don't save money or if we can't get those American snacks and goods that we are looking for.
To top it off, the place was EXTREMELY packed. Yes, it was Saturday, but even with very wide, American-style aisles, it was very difficult to maneuver a shopping cart around Costco, making the whole experience unpleasant. As soon as we paid for the few things that we did buy, we went straight back to the counter where we signed up for membership, and requested our membership fee back. We do not plan on going back to Costco any time soon.
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