The Retro Kitchen Appliance Brand That's Sold At Costco

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Costco is rightfully known for savings. Deals are found in pallets up and down the aisles of the giant warehouse store. Not only are the rotisserie chicken, alcohol, and packaged foods affordable, but these low prices extend to kitchen appliances, as well. Plenty of reliable workhorse brands are sold through the retailer and a few trendy ones. If you're looking to deck out your kitchen with 1950s flair, check out Costco's website. Smeg — the retro kitchen appliance brand with sleek unboxing videos of beautiful appliances from influencers on Instagram and TikTok — can be found at Costco, but only online.

Founded in 1948 in Guastalla, Italy, Smeg has been around for a while. Back then, however, the machines were trying to look modern and futuristic with boxy ovens, dishwashers, and washing machines full of straight lines and hard corners. Throughout the years, it worked with different designers to create eye-catching appliances. The current iconic Smeg retro look wasn't established until the brand created the FAB range of refrigerators in 1997, almost 30 years after the decade ended. This created a vintage appearance of rounded corners and strong, solid colors. Smeg brought this look to the rest of the lineup. Costco carries only the coffee makers, toasters, kettles, and blenders from Smeg.

Smeg's iconic look has driven people to create kitchens calling to a time they were most likely not around for, but does the brand have the era's renowned buy-it-for-life status? Around the internet, the consensus appears to be no. The only Smeg appliance recommended by Consumer Reports is the company's immersion blender.

Some, like the pro-style range, fared quite poorly in the nonprofit's testing with a long list of cons like "poor at low heat cooktop performance," and "no oven temperature preheat indicator." The coffee maker had trouble maintaining a proper temperature to brew, and the blender was loud and struggled making icy drinks. Don't worry, there are some better kitchen appliances to buy at Costco right now.

Reddit is not kind to Smeg. On a thread where a poster asked if the brand was worth the cost, one commenter said it was "not good quality." Another Redditor doubles down on that, stressing that "It's all plastic, even the parts that look like chrome. It's like a toy." 

Others have described the machines as "brittle" "plastic-y," and in more colorful language than that. Several reviewers felt the brand has simply gone downhill. In this day and age, appliance lifespans are short, but prevailing opinion is that Smeg is overpriced for what you get. If you are looking for a specific aesthetic that Smeg falls into, Costco's low prices help here. For instance, the two-slice toaster costs $229.95 at Williams Sonoma, while at Costco it's only $159.99. Then, if it doesn't work out, you can fall back on Costco's favorable return policy.