Great news today for lovers of gallon ketchup bottles and 100-pack toilet paper.
Starting in June, Costco is bringing back free food samples!
After a 14-month hiatus due to coronavirus, CNN reports that the giant of giant grocery stores are phasing back in their popular staple of little snacks.
Most Costco shoppers know they’re going to be in there for awhile, and they’ll be reaching up high to drag down 20 lbs. cans of olives, so you need all the strength you can get.
As may be the case in general for many businesses, some COVID-era precautions will remain in place indefinitely, and for Costco’s free samples that means smaller batches, one per customer, and all prepared behind plexiglas, said Chief Financial Officer Richard Galanti.
Should you not be satiated with the snacks, the Costco food courts will bring back indoor seating at most of its 560 locations, with some also offering more outdoor seating. Though tables will have 4 rather than 6 or 8 seats and half the capacity as usual to allow for physical separation. A reminder that the pandemic is still with us, and we should be cautious.
They may be taking away a few chairs, but they’re adding churros and new ice cream to the food menu, to be introduced on July 4. Those are two new additions to the chain’s menu that has been slowly adding new items for awhile, as they aim to get back to pre-pandemic levels of food court action.
This isn't the only change the chain has undergone amid the pandemic.
The company recently offered to be a distribution site for the COVID-19 vaccine, and they’re known as very worker friendly, recently raising their minimum wage pay to $16/hour. But even a behemoth like Costco can’t avoid the effects of last year’s recession and lockdown — they may also be poised to soon increase the membership fee, though this is also in line with the company’s usual tact of raising membership fees every five years.
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