A Big Change Is Coming to Costco Food Courts Nationwide
Costco is rolling out a food court change that might make members happy; non-members not so much. An eagle-eyed customer in Pompano Beach, FL noticed their Costco food court now has scanners set up for shoppers to show their membership card before buying food from the food court.
“Membership ID Scanners coming soon to a Costco Food Court near you! Spotted these at #88 today. A food court employee confirmed that they are membership ID scanners. They were recently hooked up but not operational at this time. I wonder if purchases at the food court will count towards cash back for Executive Members?” the shopper posted on Reddit, along with a picture of the scanners.
This means non-members will no longer be able to take advantage of the famous $1.50 hot dog/soda combo, $10 whole pizzas, and other food court favorites. While some warehouses in California with outdoor food courts (like my local Marina Del Rey location) already have scanners in place, many locations have not used them until now. “I was gonna say that I’ve never seen an outside food court. Can’t imagine why anyone would want an outside food court in South Florida. That would be miserable,” the Costco shopper who spotted the scanners said.
Other members pointed out how chaotic it can get when non-members use the food court.
“When I lived in California the Bella terra Costco food court was outdoors and it was full of non members, like packed. It was the most crazy thing I’ve seen. The line always moved fast tho,” one member shared. “Pretty much every Costco I went to in SoCal had insaaane outdoor food courts. The lines were fast but always long. It would often create a bit of chaos getting in or out of the store because so many people and carts would be congregating at the food court,” another agreed.
There’s some discord between members about allowing non-members access to the food court—some say the food court prices are clearly meant to reward members for their fees, while others say it’s petty to not allow anyone who wants to use outdoor food courts to use them. “I used to sneak in through the exit to get to the food court in my younger days when I didn’t have a membership and wanted a quick cheap snack. So this would’ve been a deterrent for me then,” one Redditor said.
Another employee made it clear they approve of stopping non-members from accessing the food court. “As someone who works at Costco, these are always the worst type of person. Always rude, always think the world owes them everything and that they’re somehow more special than everyone else. Always sneaking in through membership and then going to the food court. Can’t wait for this to be implemented at ours. The meltdowns are going to be epic,” they said. “Good. Food court is one of the highest cost departments and seldom breaks even,” another agreed.