Explore the Archives
A Journal of the Plague Year Arizona Collection Australia Boston Bronx Community College New York Brooklyn College New York Canada Las Americas Lockdown Staten Island New Orleans Oral Histories Philippines Sacramento Community Based Organizations Southwest Stories Teaching the Pandemic The City College of New York

Collected Item: “Pandemic Brand Reviews: I Miss Costco”

Give your story a title.

Pandemic Brand Reviews: I Miss Costco

What sort of object is this: text story, photograph, video, audio interview, screenshot, drawing, meme, etc.?

text story

Tell us a story; share your experience. Describe what the object or story you've uploaded says about the pandemic, and/or why what you've submitted is important to you.

Costco is my absolute favorite place. It genuinely makes me so happy. Even going during the pandemic makes me happy. However, Costco is definitely not the same as pre-pandemic. Obviously, there are no free samples anymore. This is because it would be a health concern. Although I will miss munch and shopping, I understand that this cannot be expected during a pandemic. As of now, they have the free sample stations up but with just a display of the food. I know that the free sample employees are contracted by Costco. I haven't seen some of the familiar faces recently. This makes me worried, I hope they are still doing okay during the pandemic. I know that Costco cares about their employees, so I hope they found away for the free sample people to still keep their jobs.

Another change I've noticed in my local Costco is the food court. The food court is Costco's loss leader, the delicious and extremely affordable food lures customers in and in turn makes them shop. Due to COVID, Costco's food court menu has been severely shorted. Fan favorites, such as the $1.50 hotdog with a free drink, chicken bake, and pizzas are still available. However, they are not the same products anymore. The hot dog, although still delicious, has a smaller bun. The chicken bake is completely different now. It looks more machine-made, and according to my father, does not taste the same. This really disappoints me, as the chicken bake is my absolute favorite item on the menu. The pizzas are only offered in cheese and pepperoni; the combo flavor has been kicked off. This also disappointed me because I only like the combo pizza. In addition, there are self checkout kiosks where you order and pay, then go up to the window to pick up your food.

Other than the food, Costco is still the same. I think life will only be normal again for me when I can go to Costco on the weekend, shop and nibble on the free samples, and still leave room for a chicken bake and combo pizza to go.

Use one-word hashtags (separated by commas) to describe your story. For example: Where did it originate? How does this object make you feel? How does this object relate to the pandemic?

#Costco, #shopping, #food, #business, #HSE

Who originally created this object? (If you created this object, such as photo, then put "self" here.)

Tina Chang

Give this story a date.

2020-02-05
Click here to view the corresponding item.