LogFAQs > #979381828

ConfusedTorchic posted...

costco in the uk really is just for businesses, which makes sense because an average person doesn't need a 50 gallon bucket of mayonnaise.

It makes some sense, but I'm also not surprised that household bulk purchases have taken off to enough of an extent for Costco to be more open in the US. Suburban sprawl kind of encourages that, with it being less convenient to get to grocery stores (favouring large, infrequent trips over smaller, more frequent ones) and houses being large enough to store bulk food products. Even living in an urban apartment, though, my girlfriend and I go through smaller bulk purchases like frozen fruit quickly enough that we go every two weeks. There's quite a bit of middle ground between buying 50 gallons of mayo and buying a pint, after all, and Costco offers quite a bit within that middle ground (maybe not for mayo, but for other products). If you can get through 1-2 litres of mayo before it goes bad and you've got space to store it, getting a bulk discount makes sense.