4 Costco Shopping Changes Happening This Month
During a time when deciding to shop at stores like Walmart and Target has become highly politicized, Costco stands out for its commitment to DEI programs and implementation of progressive, employee-friendly initiatives. However, even a positive public sentiment doesn’t make Costco immune to the realities of the market.
On Friday, Costco released its fiscal-year 2025 fourth-quarter earnings, revealing that U.S. same-store sales fell slightly below forecasts “as the company navigated a choppy consumer landscape, tariff-related pressure, and competition from peers like Walmart’s Sam’s Club,” reported Yahoo! Finance. This led to Costco’s stock falling more than 2 percent on Friday morning—which is why it’s more important than ever that the warehouse store pivots with the times.
And it looks like Costco is doing just that, as the bulk store recently announced a slate of new shopping changes aimed at enticing more members into stores.
RELATED: 4 Target Changes Happening Now, and How They’ll Affect Shoppers.
1. Costco is getting more Kirkland merchandise and fewer seasonal items.
Despite shoppers already clamoring for Costco’s holiday decorations, the retailer has said it will sell fewer seasonal items, according to the Wall Street Journal.
“Our buyers, when we were booking for this holiday season, really had to evaluate all the discretionary items,” chief executive Ron Vachris said. “We really thinned down that whole category and we thinned down a lot of the additional seasonal areas, as well.”
To avoid the effects of tariffs, Costco executives also said they are leaning more into Kirkland-branded merchandise and swapping out imported products for domestically sourced ones, especially in the categories of health and beauty, tires, and mattresses, reports the Journal.
2. Costco is adding prescription lockers to pharmacies.
Hate waiting in line every month to get your prescriptions refilled? Costco is working to eliminate the nuisance with its new prescription lockers.
As AOL first reported, a select number of stores are testing out prescription lockers that allow customers to pick up their medications from the pharmacy or eyeglasses from the optical center by using a code sent via text or through the Costco Pharmacy app. This means you can get your items even when the pharmacy is closed.
RELATED: 2 Michaels Shopping Changes Happening Now in Stores.
3. Costco is transitioning fully to Coca-Cola products in its food courts.
Sorry, team Pepsi fans; Coca-Cola is officially taking over at all Costco food courts. According to USA Today, the transition will be complete by the end of this fall. This includes Coke, Coke Zero, Diet Coke, and Sprite.
Costco switched to Pepsi products back in 2013, so it could maintain its famous $1.50 hot dog-soda combo. Though Costco execs haven’t confirmed the reason for going back to Coca-Cola, it’s likely to maintain this deal.
Costco CFO Gary Millerchip said during Friday’s earnings call that the company has no plans to increase the price of the hot dog combo, rotisserie chicken, or Kirkland toilet paper.
4. Costco will open 35 stores next year.
After opening 24 new stores this year, Costco is planning to open an additional 35 locations by August 2026 (five of which are relocations).
“The first four locations of this phase include Fruitport, Michigan; Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania; Indian Land, South Carolina; and a business center in Mississauga, Ontario,” reports Business Insider. “All four are slated to open in October. The company does not disclose details of future sites until 90 days before the scheduled opening date.”