Shoppers Rush to California's Costco "Duplicate" Store, Boasting Perks Big Box Giant Can't Match

Shoppers Rush to California's Costco "Duplicate" Store, Boasting Perks Big Box Giant Can't Match

April 20, 2025
  • EXPLORE FURTHER: Costco’s leader shares insights into high-end products that frequently fly off shelves

A California Costco imitation shop is attracting customers who are eager for its discounts and benefits.

'Koshco' in Los Angeles boasts a facade strikingly reminiscent of the well-known warehouse store with red and white lettering accented by a blue stripe. It too offers products in bulk quantities.

Nevertheless, the store exhibits several distinct variations from the highly favored franchise.

Notably, Koshco, situated in the heart of a Jewish community within the Pico-Robertson area of the city, adheres strictly to Kosher standards.

The store offers an exceptionally broad selection of fresh groceries along with various items including Israeli candles.

Even though Koshco doesn't demand membership for shopping there, as Costco famously does - Members enjoy discounts along with complimentary local shipping.

The store also carries popular brands like Mary's Gone Crackers and Kellogg's, among others. Costco primarily carries its private label items. .

Koshco also features its own kosher deli where customers can purchase various meats, such as oven-roasted turkey, sausages, and salami.

The store features a bakery filled with items sourced from the local Beverlywood Bakery, such as raspberry and cream cheese rogelach, apricot-filled hamentashen, along with various types of challah. SFGate reported.

Costco’s leaders might pay close attention to what makes this ‘imitation’ so successful, since the corporation has recently shown interest. lost its position as the country's top-choice supermarket .

After leading the rankings of an influential customer satisfaction survey in 2024, the wholesale giant has slipped to seventh place in 2025 - with its score falling from 85 percent to 81 percent.

The ACSI survey inquired of shoppers' experiences across 19 different grocery store chains.

Retail analyst Neil Saunders indicated that this represents a uncommon obstacle for the store, which is recognized for its dedicated customer following, wholesale deals, and straightforward purchasing environment.

'Saunders, the managing director at Global Data, stated that despite Costco’s exceptionally high success rate and superior growth metrics, this does not align with its below-par customer satisfaction levels.'

'There could still be some factors pulling it back, though.'

Saunders suggested that overflowing parking lots, lengthy check-out queues, and restricted online sales through Costco probably played significant roles in the brand’s decline from being the top choice for customer satisfaction.

Ron Vachris assumed the role of CEO on January 1. launched several tech programs Those aiming to reduce membership card sharing, keep prices low, speed up checkout lines, and boost turnover in the parking lot.

Costco also increased its membership fees last autumn , increasing its premium membership fee by $5 annually, elevating it from $60 to $65.

At the Executive tier – which provides a 2% cash back on all Costco buys for the year, capped at $750 overall – the fee went up by $10 to $130 annually.

In addition to in-store savings, a Costco membership provides customers with access to various services like hearing assessments and home insurance.

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