When H went to the customer service counter there was a line of people wanting carts and asking for the manager. The greeter stepped in and told the people who were waiting that the message from the manager was to go get a cart. The manager was not available for face to face conversations.
That is awful. I’ve been to various Costcos when they were busy and the cart returns in the parking lot were stuffed and there were still dozens of carts near the entrance. They need more carts where you were!
Thanks for the explanation. I have definitely had problems with getting carts now and again at local grocery stores but not at Costco. Hope the situation improves for you at your local Costco.
We go to Costco a lot on Saturdays when H is off work, so it is packed. We have never been able to not get a cart inside. And yes, while the cart corrals were full outside.
This happened to me for the first time last week, and that was due to the Hurricane.
I just went back out, grabbed a cart and got my extra steps.
My local Costco has got to be one of the busiest ones in the country and they never put the carts by the entrance, only in the parking lot corrals.
@NoVADad99 - what kind of climate do you live in? I have to think you don’t get a lot of precipitation.
Our parking lot corrals fill up fairly quickly, so the Costco employees are kept busy trying to push these really long rows of dozens of carts back up to the front of the store. The carts are always available outside the front door, except for the short spring season where they create an outdoor garden center.
I have belonged to Costco for 25 years. The carts are always kept in the corrals in the middle of the parking lots (suburb of NYC). Sometimes, if we are circling around looking for parking and the cart corrals are empty, I will get out of the car and approach someone who is unloading and offer to take the cart off their hands. Then, I will go and wait for H to park before going in.
When we first joined, diapers and wipes were our biggest purchases. Now, we primarily buy dog and cat food, paper towels, half and half, garbage bags, toilet paper, mouth wash, soap and the like. We often buy prepared foods to eat that night and frozen foods to put away. I buy clothing. My boys love the socks and underwear.
I have on occasion used the pharmacy but now with electronic prescribing, it’s harder to get price comparisons.
I will give a shout out to the optical center. I just got bifocals with prisms for S17 for $120. They honor prescriptions from other doctors and allow you to bring your own frames for just a small charge. My H has a friend who is able to get us free or low cost frames, so this helps.
Any major store can get busy at different times. If a cart is not readily available , sometimes you might just have to look around a bit.
I’m in DC metro area. Summer thunderstorms, cold winters with sometimes 2 feet of snow in the lots.
They are very good about keeping the parking lot cleared at my Costco.
Two interesting things I saw at Costco today - neither food related!
- American Girl doll sets! The lady in front of me had it in her cart - definitely the American Girl brand. Set included a Samantha doll and then a few outfits. Not sure what the price was, but wow, I was surprised to see that at Costco! I had to text my friend in Chicago who for years when my girls were little and the only AG store was in either Chicago or NYC would drive each holiday season and brave the crowds to zip in AG, grab what was on their wish list and then high tail it out of there!
- Men's clothing - Orvis 1/4 zip pullovers. Great price, $24.99. H will be getting one for his b-day next week. :)
Every holiday season, our local Costco sells gift baskets with gift cards of Costco membership. It’s the same price as membership but you get the free edibles and Costco pays the tax. I always buy it for us and S. Because we’re executive members, it’s 4 gift baskets–so we don’t lose the cards, I just put them on our accounts. 
We also sometimes are able to find hugely marked down clothing and other items.
I bought a polo-style shirt @ $5 and toddler Teenage Mutant Ninja hoodie for $4.97! Also bought GV stretch jeans for $14.99!
What are the edibles in that “free edibles” basket @HImom ? I wonder if most Costco’s have that??
Bought my 16lb Butterball this weekend. Also a 20lb bag of potatoes, and a 10lb bag of onions. The store was very crowded, as expected. But as always, Costco did an amazing job of keeping the crowds moving and keeping every checkout register staffed. Lines were non-existent. Great experience.
I think the poinsettias they sell are a wonderful bargain. $13.99.
Just ordered my favorite (and very expensive!) face cream from Costco online. Should be good for another 4 months or so.
I recently got one of those very light down jackets at Costco…I think it was $20.
I think it’s a special thing at the Costco near our home. It has individually wrapped mac nuts, candies, small bag of cookies, small bag of brittle, bag of flavored popcorn or puffed pastry, and a few other things, with gorgeous ribbon festooning it (that I will be reusing). One of the staff in customer service/membership created them this year. I bought it last year as well, as it’s the least painful way for me to renew my membership, which expires in Nov. I like that Costco pays the tax and gives me stocking stuffers – win/win.