16 Things You Might Not Know About Costco

As one of the largest retailers in the United States, warehouse giant Costco has become synonymous with towering steel shelves full of toilet paper and peanut butter. Its cavernous sales floors are navigated by millions of customers who pay a minimum annual fee of $65 to access some of the least marked-up products in retail.

You probably realize the stores are busy, hard to navigate, and could probably feed a family of four in free samples alone. You might also be curious to know more.

1. You don’t actually need a Costco membership to shop there.
2. Costco likes to mess with your brain.
3. No ID? Airport security might accept your Costco card.
4. Costco made Brad Pitt an unsatisfied customer.
5. The Costco rotisserie chicken has its own fan page.
6. The price of the hotdog and soda combo isn’t likely to change.
7. One Costco store has horse and buggy parking for the Amish.
8. Costco once had to recall a punching bag filled with dirty underwear.
9. Costco considers shopping to be a “treasure hunt.”
10. Costco once labeled the Bible as “fiction.”
11. Costco is one of America’s biggest car dealers.
12. Costco is secretly one of the biggest pizza chains around.
13. A couple got married in the Costco frozen foods section.
14. Costco has everything you need for a funeral.
15. Costco sells more clothing than Athleta.
16. Its Kirkland Signature brand brings in big bucks.

You don’t actually need a Costco membership to shop there.

Big-box stores like Costco and Sam’s Club are able to offer low prices because of massive purchasing orders and profits that are subsidized by member fees. No membership card? No 12-gallon drums of mayo for you. But there is one loophole: If you know a member, they can purchase a Costco Cash (i.e. gift) Card on your behalf, which you can use at your leisure. Costco policy states you don’t need to be a member in order to use this payment method at locations in the U.S., Puerto Rico, and Canada (as well as online), but your success may be store-dependent: Some employees get a little irate when you can’t produce your membership card at the door.

Costco likes to mess with your brain.

Costco often stocks a variety of large-ticket items—expensive handbags, entire barrels of Jack Daniel’s whiskey—not necessarily because they expect to move those items, but because retailers know that the desire and excitement they cause releases dopamine. Now you’re shopping in a pleasure state and are more likely to splurge on items that grumpy and budget-conscious people avoid.

No ID? Airport security might accept your Costco card.

With the Transportation Security Administration’s strict security measures, you’d think a government-issued ID would be the only way you’re getting through a checkpoint. But in 2013, KPIX 5 in San Francisco discovered the TSA will accept everything from utility bills to Costco cards as proof of identity. The catch: You’re more likely to get a pat down or a swab test than if you used your driver’s license. Just be aware that not every agent is going to want to play this game, so a government-issued ID is best.

Costco made Brad Pitt an unsatisfied customer.

Brad Pitt has called upon Costco to stop selling eggs produced from cage-raised hens. In July 2015, Pitt wrote to CEO Craig Jelinek, asking him to set a timetable for a company overhaul of its bird policy. “Many major corporations, from Burger King to Unilever, are getting rid of cages,” Pitt wrote, apparently hoping the shame of being less animal-conscious than Burger King would motivate them to action. It seemed to work—at least for awhile. Costco created an animal welfare page, which read:

“Costco is committed to procuring cage‐free eggs and continues to increase the percentage of cage-free eggs its sells worldwide. In the U.S., Costco has increased its percentage of cage-free shell eggs to 89 percent as of September 2018. In addition, Kirkland Signature™ Liquid Eggs are 100 percent cage-free. The transition to cage-free eggs will continue to increase with added availability and capacity of cage-free production.”

As of 2025, however, that page is blank.

The Costco rotisserie chicken has its own fan page.

In 2015, the company reported moving 157,000 whole birds every single day, estimating that they lost $30 to $40 million a year by sticking to a $4.99 price point in order to keep members happy and foot traffic high. (They did get complaints in 2024, though, when they changed the packaging of the birds, swapping out hard shells for plastic bags.) Devotees trade recipe ideas for the chicken on a Facebook fan page. Apparently the chickens stay out on the shelf for just two hours in order to assure the best possible flavor; after that, the birds are removed and the meat repurposed for other dishes.

The price of the hotdog and soda combo isn’t likely to change.

The popular meal combo was introduced in 1984 at that price, and at that price it’s likely to say: As Costco president W. Craig Jelinek once recounted, when he complained about how much they lost by charging just $1.50, co-founder and former CEO Jim Sinegal responded, “If you raise {the price of} the effing hot dog, I will kill you. Figure it out.” To keep costs down, Costco moved production of the dogs in-house, building plants in Los Angeles and Chicago, and switched from Coke to Pepsi when prices when up.

One Costco store has horse and buggy parking for the Amish.

In Lancaster, Pennsylvania, anyway. The county is home to a large population of Amish, so the company decided to construct a livestock parking stall as a courtesy. There’s a rail to tie the horses to, and a roof shields them from inclement weather. There’s also a shovel and hose for removing manure.

Costco once had to recall a punching bag filled with dirty underwear.

Through a manufacturing hiccup that may never be fully understood, Costco was forced to send out a public recall notice after discovering punching bags made by TKO, Inc. were filled with dirty men’s and women’s underwear instead of sand. In 2007, Fox reported that a Cincinnati family was distraught to find thongs, bathing suits, and bras inside of their new purchase. Anyone who bought the bag got a replacement and a shipping label to send the laundry back.

Costco considers shopping to be a “treasure hunt.”

Costco’s floor plan may seem haphazard, but like most things in retail it’s been very carefully designed to maximize business. The company regularly relocates necessities like toiletries, light bulbs, and other frequently-replenished items so the customer has to begin a search—or “treasure hunt”—for them. The strategy exposes shoppers to new areas of the store, and their wallets to new trauma.

Costco once labeled the Bible as “fiction.”

A Simi Valley pastor incited a minor Twitter flare-up in November 2013 when he was browsing in a Costco and noticed their copies of the Bible were labeled “fiction.” The company deemed it a labeling error, and there is some corroborating evidence that points to a wider trend: the following month, a “memoir” from fictional, imbecilic newscaster Ron Burgundy was filed under “nonfiction.”

Costco is one of America’s biggest car dealers.

Costco moved nearly 650,000 cars in 2018, making it the nation’s biggest car dealer at the time. Jay Maxwell, Costco Auto Program general manager, told CNBC in 2024 that over the five previous years, the company had facilitated an average of more than 500,000 car sales annually. Per CNBC, that number “amounts to at least 3 percent of all vehicles sold in the U.S. each year and more than the annual sales of large publicly traded dealer groups such as Lithia Motors and Autonation.” But Costco doesn’t actually get a portion of the sale: In another attempt to provide value for membership fees, the company negotiates directly with a dealer for a set price, then acts as an intermediary for the customer.

Costco is secretly one of the biggest pizza chains around.

Because pizza is only one component of Costco’s food service, it doesn’t really qualify as a pizza franchise. Bend the definition a little bit, though, and they could make a strong case for industry dominance. With more than 600 locations in the U.S., they’re one of the biggest pizza chains in the country. To keep up with demand, their stores are usually equipped with automated sauce spinners like the one seen above.

A couple got married in the Costco frozen foods section.

It’s the day every bride dreams of: walking down the frozen foods aisle to meet her groom. Robert and Meredith Bonilla were married atop a pallet at a Santa Maria, California, Costco in December 2014, a year after meeting at the store. Management gave them permission to hold the ceremony after operating hours.

Costco has everything you need for a funeral.

Just because you’re dead doesn’t mean the savings have to stop. The retailer offers an entire array of funeral necessities, including caskets, urns, and flowers. The coffins are shipped directly to the mortuary of choice. For the easily confused, Costco reminds members that they are not a licensed funeral home and “may not offer or perform funeral services.”

Costco sells more clothing than Athleta.

While some people might not consider Costco to be a fashion-forward shopping destination, they move plenty of clothes. The chain sells $9 billion worth of apparel every year, which is more than Athleta or Ralph Lauren. Name brands like Tommy Hilfiger help drive sales, though there's one wrinkle: None of Costco’s stores have fitting rooms.

Its Kirkland Signature brand brings in big bucks.

Costco launched its private label brand, Kirkland Signature—named after the location of one of the company’s early warehouses—in the 1990s, and it’s since turned into an earnings powerhouse for the retailer: In 2023, it generated $56 billion in revenue, accounting for 23 percent of Costco’s business (and that’s not including sales of Kirkland gasoline). According to Yahoo! Finance, “If Kirkland were a standalone company, this level of sales would make it larger than Nike, Coca-Cola, andUnited Airlines.”

Discover More Fascinating Facts About Businesses: