Costco Auckland - Opening Wednesday 28 September

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#2975913 1-Oct-2022 14:13

Ah crap, thanks for the tip. Will let it go today then...and probably tomorrow too.

I do have a tag for a handicapped park but it sounds like it might not make much difference, parking-wise.

Scott3

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#2975917 1-Oct-2022 14:49

Went again today (spouse wanted to go).

Arrived about 5 mins after opening.

Ended up in the gravel lot today. Substantially less covenant than the main carpark.

Was no queue to get in when I arrived. Based on how packed the store was and the amount of stuff in other people's trolleys, I suspect they opened well prior to the advertised time.

When we left (between 12 & 1) there was substantial queue's to get in (like up the pedestrian ramp and down the side of the building, in the rain).

Were long queues for the checkout's, Optimal queue is the one in the dead center (between the confectionery & seasonal decorations), spits to about 4 checkouts, so moves super fast.

quickymart:

Ah crap, thanks for the tip. Will let it go today then...and probably tomorrow too.

I do have a tag for a handicapped park but it sounds like it might not make much difference, parking-wise.

It is a fair bet that with a mobility pass, the traffic management staff will let you bypass the gravel carpark, and let you go to the main car-park, which will have numerous mobility spaces. You would need to approach westbound along gunton drive, as various roads are closed or have been made one way to prent access to the costco carpark in other directions.

And you will be able to join the faster moving queue which is undercover on the second floor before the lower travelator

jonathan18

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#2975920 1-Oct-2022 15:06

Scott3:
Went again today (spouse wanted to go).

Arrived about 5 mins after opening.

Ended up in the gravel lot today. Substantially less covenant

Just an idea: while a spellcheck may not have picked this up, perhaps a tool like Grammarly would have, and would also help with identifying spelling mistakes as well?

quickymart

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#2975996 1-Oct-2022 16:55

Thanks for the tip re the mobility parking, will try it out whenever I get out there.

Gave up and went to Martha's Vineyard? Backyard? in the end. Not a lot there, sadly.

tdgeek

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#2976025 1-Oct-2022 18:37

Im in ChCh so Costco is not happening. But it does seem to be a drama. Here we have Bin Inn (not been there admittedly) Bulk this and that on a mini scale. Id be happy if Costco was here as I would "use" it, bt lets see how after the novelty wears off

FailedWOF

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#2976104 1-Oct-2022 21:23

Went this afternoon about 3pm. It was only half planned - needed some petrol and a few odds and ends from Mitre 10. Gunton Drive looked like it was moving so we chanced it. It was less than 10 mins down Gunton and up the ramps (queue was only back to the Harvey Norman loading dock). Unfortunately just missed the wave that was directed into the undercover car park and got directed up to the roof. Got a park straight away and there were at least a couple dozen others free, but had to wait in line outside under an umbrella for about 20 mins before being called down to the level 1 queue. Waited another 10-15 or so and then we were in. They were splitting people into two groups - those that already had their membership cards and those that needed to pick up/still join. You can guess which group moved much faster.

Took just over 2 hours to wander through (I think) every aisle. Once inside it was busy, but honestly it didn't feel any busier than my local New World or Countdown on a busy Saturday afternoon. You do need to be be prepared to use your outside voice to remind some folks they're not the only one in the store. The food court was by far the busiest area - I'd say we waited just as long for our $1.99 hot dogs and drinks as we did to get in. Checkout was a pretty quick affair - about 5 mins in the queue and another 5 or so to complete. Once we tetris'd everything in to the car it was only a few mins to get out. Overall though I think there might have been some luck at play with our entry and exit timings, along with the weather reducing overall numbers. But the staff were friendly and doing a great job under pressure keeping things moving as best they could, while unfortunately also having to deal with odd Ken and Karen.

A quick spot check of the receipt and things were definitely cheaper on a per unit basis (by varying degrees). Left with the wallet $1k lighter, or the equivalent of 3 weeks worth of groceries. Upshot is the garage, chest freezer, and pantry is now stocked with heaps of stuff I won't need to buy for months.

Wombat1

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#2976182 2-Oct-2022 09:59

We have them here in Brisbane too, can't say I think their prices are any better than whats available elsewhere.

As an example this Dysan V11 which we bought is advertised on their site for $1099.97, yet I can buy it elsewhere for $995. Maybe if you buying in bulk its better, but who wants to do that?

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sonyxperiageek

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#2977553 5-Oct-2022 00:18

Yeah for electronics it's probably a little pricier unless you buy 10 microwaves, 5 Dysons, 8 air fryers or 15 TVs.

Sony

Scott3

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#2977554 5-Oct-2022 00:38

Costco has been in the media a bit. Sounds like they have had some teething problems:

Lighting outage to half the building
Eftpos outage
Evacuation due to false fire alarm activation (caused by chicken oven)
A fight in the line outside.

A couple of strange things.

- They sell the eggs out of the fridge. This is the norm in the USA where some food safety law require eggs be washed (and washed eggs need to be refrigerated for some reason). I think eggs are best kept at a stable temperature, so if you buy eggs in a fridge, you should keep them in the fridge.

- A lot of the seafood from overseas is has been previously frozen. I think it would be better to just sell it frozen, so the customer can choose when to thaw it.

trig42

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#2984408 19-Oct-2022 09:02

Who has been? and what were the 'bargains' you picked up?

I went on Saturday. The queue to get in was massive at 0915 (they open at 0930) but once they opened, the queue moved quickly and we were in the store after picking up our cards at about 0940.

THings that were good value (for us).

Italian Cheeses - Parmigiano Reggiano, Grana Padano and Pecorino Romano. Between $25 and $35 a kilo which is about half the price of the same cheeses at Countdown.

Mince - $11 a kilo for premium mince - and it is good mince. Catch is you need to buy about 4kg of it.

We bought Maldon Sea Salt (we use a lot of flaky salt). $38 for a 1kg bucket. We've bought those buckets before, never below $55. Currently $70 at our local 'foodie' place.

Best Foods Mayo - 1.9kg jar for $16.99

You do need to be aware of what the prices are of the things you often buy to check you are getting a good deal. The price tickets at Costco do helpfully break it down to a price per kg/100g etc so you can compare pack sizes to mnormal supermarket sizes.

The meat at Costco is costly, but it appears to be top quality. The steaks were all either Black Angus or Wagyu, and were priced accordingly (I think around the $120/kilo for Wagyu).

Tyres are a really good deal. Whilst (unfortunately) I bought new tryes about 3 months ago, I know 2 others that have got tyres from Costco. One bought a set of Pilot Sport 5's (19") and Costco was $400 cheaper than anywhere else he got quoted (and he called around everywhere). Costco will price your tyres, and you have to pay for them before they order them. Once they're in, they'll call you for fitting. They use Nitrogen for filling too.

Oh, and the Hotdogs are great!

quickymart

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#2984784 19-Oct-2022 15:38

Do they have any other food you can eat in-store, apart from hot dogs? I recall visiting one in the US that had a Pizza Hut in the middle (from memory).

networkn

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#2984785 19-Oct-2022 15:40

quickymart:

Do they have any other food you can eat in-store, apart from hot dogs? I recall visiting one in the US that had a Pizza Hut in the middle (from memory).

Yes, pizza, chicken wings, other stuff too, it's not a huge selection.

I don't think they have quite got their chicken cooking quite right. Our wings were borderline and with multiple reports from multiple sources I trust that Rotisserie Chickens have been very hit and miss in terms of cookedness.

trig42

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#2984799 19-Oct-2022 16:28

I think the rotisserie chickens are cooked properly, but because they're cooked directly over gas in the ovens, they 'look' pink (something I read from a food safety person in the Herald, [supposedly] not a Costco PR release).

I haven't had one, and I admit if I got a pink chook I'd be a bit weary.

They say they don't take them out of the oven until the internal temperature is 84C (has to get to 74C to be 'safe'). I'd hope they were doing that right because someone going down with Campylobacter or salmonella would be pretty damaging.

richms

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#2984800 19-Oct-2022 16:32

If you look at the pictures on the Facebook fan pages, that doesn't look pink it looks uncooked in the middle. The ones I have bought have been fine however. Ate the drums and some meat hot, then cooled it and pulled it apart for sandwiches the next day. Delicious with hot sauce.

Richard rich.ms

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#2985370 20-Oct-2022 15:58

trig42: Who has been? and what were the 'bargains' you picked up?

Three visits so far. It's still stupidly busy at least outside working hours. In busy times parking outside is the way to go and entering via main door. Cars in the carpark are lower than average age imo this is not going to have a huge impact in terms of encouraging competition. It will have some impact in some areas.

The staff I encountered appeared to be genuinely happy, relaxed and personable. One or two Americans were around the place.

Tyre prices are very competitive. It's fitting and balancing only. No alignment available. Car batteries are available and seem competitive. I assume they are fitted.

The castor mounted 6x4 shelving looks good and solid and well priced. I'm measuring up a location for that before purchase. I was hoping for a variety of eneloop batteries on the shelf. Not really. Bargain available is Eneloop Charger + standard capacity 8 AA + 4 AAA $59.

There are some bargains in clothes if you're the right size. Levi's $50. There is not the size range you get in USA. In shoes they have half sizes. My ideal size was missing.

Some good bargains in kids books comparable to Amazon in some cases.

Food is interesting. On the days I visited most people had junk food and bakery food in trollies and not much else. The crossants are a nice alternative to the supermarket. Muffins I did not trust myself to buy 12 of those ginormous things for $12.

The computer tablet phone section is small. It did not have the recent Samsung tablet I'm interested in.

Overall I had the impression this is a soft opening and they really have no need of specials to get the crowds in at this time. Oh yeah TVs are all huge if you need 50 or larger pricing looked ok for selection.

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