Costco stores are like playgrounds to me. I like to go through their endless aisles searching for treasures, new products, or just buying the old know items that never disappoint me.
Also, the wholesale chain is constantly reviewing the perception of its customers, to try to maintain high standards in customer service. But, in addition, it is one of the most closely observed companies, and from time to time you’ll see analysis like the one published by Financial Buzz, which surveyed more than 6,000 Costco members.
As you know, to shop at Costco you need to pay for a membership card, of which there are two types: Gold Star (basic, from $60) and the Executive ($120 with a 2% cash refund on most purchases, with a maximum of $1000 per year). If you live nearby a Costco, no matter if it’s ranked in the best five ones, you are so lucky, because they are open almost the whole year, with some exceptions.
The top five Costco stores in the United States
The 5th best Costco store is located in Houston, Texas (Galleria Warehouse, Richmond Ave), with a score of 52.9 out of 60. Houstonians loved the quality of the samples, since that category received the highest score in the survey. The 4th best is in Centerville, Ohio, which earned a score of 53.0 out of 60. This location near Dayton scored particularly well when it comes to friendliness (9.2/10) and cleanliness (9.0/10).
The 3rd on, again, is in Texas. This time in San Antonio (NW San Antonio Warehouse, UTSA Boulevard). The best of the 36 Costco locations in the Lone Star State scored more than 9.0 in three categories, but stood out from the rest in cleanliness, where customers gave it 9.7/10. In short, its the cleanest Costco store in the country!
The 2nd of the top five Costco stores in the country is in Kansas City, Missouri (N Kansas City Warehouse, NW 88th St.) This city actually has two chain stores, and the top-rated one is about 15 miles (24.14 km) north of the other location.
This store got high customer ratings in stock (9.3/10), cleanliness (9.3/10) and friendliness (9.2/10). That means this store scored a 9.0 or higher in half of the categories included in the survey.
Finally, the best rated of all is in Georgia: it is the Cumming Costco store (1211 Bald Ridge Marina Rd). This wholesale warehouse got the highest rating in the whole country in three different categories: friendliness (9.5/10), stock (9.4/10) and quantity of samples (8.8/10).
Do you live near the best Costco in the country?
Financial Buzz asked costumers to tell which of the 550 Costco locations in the United States they shopped at most often; also, they were asked to rate the stores from 1 to 10 (10 being the highest score) in six categories: Cleanliness, Friendliness, Stock, Quality of samples, Quantity of samples, and Parking lot quality/parking availability.
The American state in which Costco received the highest customer ratings was South Carolina, which earned the first place, while Washington ended in the 10th position. South Carolina averaged 9.0 in cleanliness and friendliness, 8.9 in stock, 8.4 in sample quality, 8.0 in sample quantity, and 7.8 in parking lot. (51.1 out of 60 points).
Don’t forget that, to be a Costco costumer -or fan, like me-, you’ll need a membership. In this article we talk about the different memberships, their prices and their benefits.