These Are The 2 Highest-Rated Costco Stores In America, According To Shoppers
There's no doubt that consumers love Costco, and shoppers typically have a favorite that they frequent. Travelers may even check out the local Costco at their vacation destination. In a sense it's all the same store, but individual warehouses do differ. And, per the results of a customer survey, two Costcos are the best of the best: one in Meridian, Idaho, and the Fortune Park location in Indianapolis, Indiana.
FinanceBuzz surveyed 5,000 Costco customers nationwide to rank their most frequented warehouse on the following attributes using a 1-10 scale: cleanliness, friendliness, stock (product variety and availability), quality of samples, number of samples, and parking lot quality/accessibility.
Compared to a maximum possible score of 60, both of these warehouses tied at 55.2, scoring above a 9 in most categories — sometimes significantly so. The Fortune Park store in Indiana scored an impressive 9.7/10 on cleanliness and stock. Its only relative missteps were an 8.9 on sample quality and an 8.5 on its parking lots. However, the other winner's worst category was also parking lots: the Meridian Costco notched an 8.
What's behind these Costcos' popularity?
Thanks to Consumer Reports, a report proved that Costco is the nation's cheapest grocery store, bringing more data to support the brand's broad popularity. But the all-around excellence of these two Costcos shows that, for the very best, it's not just about affordable shopping.
One of the basic things to know about Costco's free samples is that they're actually good for business. A delicious sample or three often leads customers to purchase new products they may have otherwise passed up. Both of these stores excelling at free samples shows that they fully embrace this fun side of the business, and high customer satisfaction proves it's appreciated.
And while it's true that both Costcos scored relatively low on their parking lots, it's also true that those are one of the most annoying things about shopping at Costco, no matter which warehouse. But overall, an 8 or 8.5 out of 10 suggests only mild inconvenience and hopefully no accessibility issues — not enough to ward anyone away from the excellence inside.