Costco in the U.K.--anything unique or same as U.S.?
 

Do the Costco warehouses in the U.K. (specifically any of the 3 in the London area...Chingford, Thurrock and Watford) have anything unique compared to the ones in the U.S.? Assuming I have enough time, I'd be willing to visit one if any of you who have shopping experience at both U.S. and U.K. stores think it's worthwhile. My wife and I are big fans of Costco stateside and have noticed small differences between U.S. locations, more so if you're comparing more distant sites such as Puerto Rico, Hawaii and Alaska. Are all 3 London stores equally accessible via public transportation or are any of the three better in that regard? Those of you who have no experience with Costco might think I'm nuts, but they really do sell quality stuff at decent prices.

The store in Watford Junction is accessable off the Metropolitan Underground line, as well as Silverlink Light Rail. That having been said, you could take the Tube, but to give you an idea of scale:

Central London is Zone 1
LHR is Zone 6
Watford is Zone A (basically, Zone 7)

It's really, as far as London goes, Manchester. ;)

I have been curious, though, as to the differences and have vowed to make the trip to Watford, but if I cribbed my conversations with various Brits that work for me, I'd probably say that unless you're in the market for a skid of Irn-Bru, you're probably better off skipping the trip, unless you happen to already be in the area.

Timothy

P.S. Just checked with a needless consumer in my office who has been to both U.S. and G.B. stores--the general deal is less generic Kirkland stuff, more brand names. However, she didn't see much difference in selection, other than that.

We have Costco in the UK? I had no idea - really should get out more.

I have been to the Thurrock Costco, which is in the same area as the Lakeside shopping mall. I found it to be layed out pretty much the same as those in North America. When I am travelling we like to stop into the different Costco's as well, my wife likes the bargains on clothes.

The Lakeside mall's website has a howto get there section on it's website. http://www.lakeside.uk.com/

I visited a Tokyo Costco and thought I might as well be in the U.S., with two possible differences:

1. Prices were in Yen (right down to the churros at the fast food place).

2. No long lines at checkout, as Japanese won't stand for that.

OK, off topic of London but on topic for Costco. I suspect they are all darn near the same.

First time posting on this site .... so here goes ......

I used to live near the Watford U.K. store before moving here to the U.S. This site has also easy access from the M1 Motorway (exit Junction # 5) that leads north from London. I used to have a U.K. membership account however, that has now expired. I now have a U.S. account and used it on my last visit to a U.K. store (Manchester, NW England) and found that it did not 'swipe' at checkout, the operator had to manual input my membership # before it was accepted.

Hope this of some help.

I too am a Costco fan and made the trek to the Costco in Reading last time I was in the UK (November).

It was very similar to the US stores, but with differences that made me really sad to live in the States - especially the dozen-packs of Pain au Chocolat and the HUGE PACKAGES OF PROPER CHOCOLATE (I think American chocolate is crap, sorry Hershey's fans).

They had lots of things that were exactly the same, but in all I wished I had gone by car and not by train :-(

Incidently, if you are without automobile and want to go to the Costco Reading, take a non-stop train from Paddington to Reading, exit the station and look at the bus schedule right out front. The buses queue up right there and you can get to the Costco in under 10 minutes :)

Most checkout clerks don;t know this, but to use a different country's Costco card, they need to type "7/" before scanning the card.

They're always surprised when it works!

You may want to try an ASDA as well. They are like Walmart without the negatives. There is one in Zone 2 on the DLR, can't remember the stop.

I live in Watford, as mentioned in another post the Costco is close to the M1 junction 5, it's 3.5 miles from Watford Undergroud Station (Metropolitan Line) and 2.5 miles from Watford Junction Station (Rail), you will need a taxi from either.

To be honest I'm a member at the Watford store, was there last weekend and I've been to a number in the US, I would not waste your time, they are very much the same, except with the current $/£ you will find the UK a lot more expensive..!

mudchute gardens.

What negatives?

Hi,

I work for Costco in the UK home office, we currently have 15 locations in the UK with a 16th opening in June (Bristol).

We do carry a lot of items that you guys have over in the U.S, however, all buying is carried out from the U.K. so we also carry a lot of different items. We also offer an Optical, photo processing and tyre fitting service all of which are very similar to the U.S. operation however, the tyre bay in the U.K. only sell Michelin brands and optical is far more brand orientated (less Kirkland, more Armani etc).

Can you get a polish hot dog w/sauerkraut and Fat Coke for the equivalent of $1.50 at the UK stores? :D

No, it's more like £2.50 - about $4.50