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- As a New York City resident, I’ve been hesitant about becoming a Costco member.
- I finally joined last year and decided to compare city and suburb locations.
- The two stores had similar layouts but there were some major differences between what they stocked.
As a child on Long Island, New York, I grew up going to one wholesale club with my parents: BJ’s.
I loved running around the store, which seemed to carry anything you could ever want. Then, when I was in college in New Orleans, I’d tag along with friends to the Costco there, which was just as fun.
In the summer of 2024, I finally signed up to Costco myself, joining the 2.5 million other millennials and Gen-Zers who have decided it’s the newest “hottest club.”
In an earnings call at the end of last month, Costco’s CFO Gary Millerchip said nearly half of the wholesaler’s new members between June and August were under 40. He credited Costco’s online sign-up option as a key driver.
I now live in New York City and, after joining Costco, assumed I would order products online, but that was before I learned there was a Costco in Manhattan. I couldn’t quite grasp the concept of a Costco — which are more common in suburban areas — in the city: How could you transport the giant bulk items without a car?
I also wanted to know if a New York City Costco is the same as the suburban Costco I’ve visited in the past. Did both locations sell the same items? And would I see people on the city streets lugging giant packs of toilet paper?
In September 2024, I paid two Costcos a visit: the one in East Harlem, and one in the Long Island town of Westbury, which is about 33 miles outside New York City.
Here’s what it was like to shop at both locations.
There are eight Costco locations on Long Island. When I visited the Westbury location on a Tuesday, the parking lot was packed.
The shopping carts were in front of an attached but separate liquor store. In New York, grocery stores can’t sell hard alcohol.
After flashing my membership card and being waved in by an employee, I saw just how large this location is. It felt like an airplane hangar.
One of the first sections I saw was a technology section with laptops and tablets.
There are also plenty of huge TVs.
From across the floor, I could see a hearing-aid center, which I didn’t even know Costco had.
This location was also offering flu shots.
I wandered through the aisles, struck by how huge this place and its products were.
It was selling gift cards for AMC, Instacart, and DoorDash. There was also a Topgolf section — there’s one Topgolf location on Long Island.
In the center of the store was the clothing section. It seemed endless, with sweaters, jackets, pants, activewear, and more.
I was immediately drawn to the Costco merch. I ended up purchasing a sweatshirt for $19.99.
The furniture section was also in the center, but Costco devotees say the layout changes constantly, making shopping a “treasure hunt.”
I was taken aback to see that a giant couch was for sale. Would I find the same selection of furniture at the Manhattan store?
Nearby was a large table filled with books. In June 2024, publishing execs said Costco would stop selling books except around the holidays, but clearly, this store didn’t get the memo.
It wasn’t just dingy paperbacks, either. I could’ve bought the Pulitzer Prize winner “Demon Copperhead” for $12.99.
There was a sizable outdoor section with tents, fire pits, a blow-up tub, and more.
Another surprise was the garden section. There were rows of trees, mums, and other flowers.
There were even delicately wrapped orchids.
And, of course, as it’s fall, there were bins and bins of pumpkins.
Fittingly, the Halloween costumes were nearby. There weren’t that many options to choose from.
But the decor is where Costco really shines. I walked by a 7-foot-tall werewolf and almost jumped.
There was more candy than at Willy Wonka’s Chocolate Factory.
There was also a lot of Disney merchandise for Halloween, which I didn’t expect.
For example, there were huge “Nightmare Before Christmas” plushies. That’s my hand for scale.
Even though it was only September when I visited, a lot of Christmas decorations were already out.
If you ever need to wrap presents, Costco is the place to go.
As I made my way toward the back of the store, I started seeing more food and drinks, like these crates of beer.
There’s a bakery, a rotisserie section, a deli, and another meat section at the back of this location.
There are aisles and aisles of meat products.
I am a single person who lives with a roommate. It would take us months to get through all of this pork shoulder.
I have a car available on Long Island, so it would be relatively easy and quick for me to transport all this refrigerated food home — but not in NYC.
There was also a separate produce room.
It was filled with crates of fruits and veggies. The large containers of strawberries would rot before I could eat them all.
There’s also a milk and eggs room. This area was particularly crowded during my visit.
As I exited with my meager single bag of purchases, I wondered how I would fare at the NYC location.
As I walked to my car, I noticed people loading up their trunks with cartfuls of items. Would — and could — people be doing that in the city, too?
A week later, I visited the East Harlem Costco, one of four Costcos in New York City. It’s inside the East River Plaza shopping complex.
The multi-level mall also has an Aldi, Bob’s Discount Furniture, and Planet Fitness.
There is a parking garage that all shoppers share, but it’s not free. Less than a quarter of Manhattan households have a car anyway.
I took the bus to get to Costco. On my way up, I was already thinking about how difficult it would be to transport multiple bulk items without a car.
On my way there, I noticed people pushing carts like this one toward the store. It’s the easiest way to transport groceries in NYC.
Unlike at the location in the suburbs, I had to physically scan my membership card to get in.
The store was generally set up the same way as the Long Island location, down to the electronics section being the first thing I saw.
There was an eyeglasses and eye-exam area, just like in Westbury.
The gift cards were in the same spot, but there were different options. I spotted cards for Mighty Quinn’s, a New York-based barbecue chain.
There were also gift cards for Subway and Crumbl, a cookie chain.
Walking around, I was struck by how annoying it would be to cart a case of water bottles back to my apartment. Plus, I didn’t have space for them.
The ceiling at this Costco was much lower, making it appear smaller, even though the location is 110,000 square feet.
Source: The New York Times
The furniture selection was much more limited than in the suburban store. There were no giant couches in sight.
This was the totality of the outdoor section: two types of lawn chairs.
However, this Costco offered Jets and Giants merch, which the Long Island one did not.
There was no plant section — just a small display of pre-made bouquets. It makes sense since most people in NYC don’t have space to garden.
Both locations had Halloween decorations.
But there were some slight differences. This Mickey-shaped pumpkin was only for sale in NYC.
I found the Harlem costume selection to be similarly lacking.
Christmas items were out here, too.
The same ornaments I bought in Westbury were here, too — and for the same price.
There was also a separate produce room.
And a room for dairy, milk, and eggs.
The meat and bakery sections were almost identical. I even spotted the “cake box” that Costco fans love.
This location had self-checkout, which I hadn’t noticed at the Long Island store.
Overall, this store was smaller and lacked some items I’d seen in the suburbs, like big furniture, outdoor items, books, and plants. It makes sense that an urban store wouldn’t stock most of these.
I might keep my Costco membership so I can get some items shipped, but buying in bulk seems difficult for anyone living in New York City.
Editor’s note: A version of this story was published in October 2024 and was updated in October 2025.
Read the full article here
