I went to Costco and it was mayhem

Shoppers head to Costco for all sorts of reasons, from boxes of giant muffins to five-litre bottles of fabric conditioner.

Everyone’s got their favourites that get them going back time and time again.

And when I took my most recent visit, it looked like they’d all decided to head there all at once.

I was there mainly for two things last Sunday at my local branch in Manchester: the massive packs of Kirkland toilet rolls and bottles of spring water.

I have never known them to be out of stock, but this time they were out of both.

Maybe that’s why shoppers were pouncing on a poor Costco worker at the back of the store pestering for packs of reduced Andrex loo rolls before he’d even had chance to stock up the shelf.

The last time I saw something like this was when the Prime drink arrived in stores and had people queuing down the aisles.

I was also having flashbacks to Covid, when toilet roll practically became a currency. I didn’t even know the price of these toilet rolls, but I thought to myself: “If people are so desperate to get their hands on it, it’s probably worth me getting some.”

It turned out that three packs of 16 rolls were on offer for £17.99 (including VAT), working out at just 37p a roll, which is a massive saving on supermarket prices.

Just one 16-pack of the same toilet rolls costs £11.50 at Tesco or Asda, so would be £34.50 for the three packs, almost double the price of Costco.

I bought some sparkling waters instead of still, which were another bargain at £5.87 for 40 500ml bottles, or just 15p a bottle.

And I picked up a pack of summer fruits flavoured waters, costing £6.47 for 24 bottles, or 27p each. That’s another big saving compared to what you pay elsewhere. Even at Aldi the packs of four flavoured waters are £1.45, meaning 36p a bottle, and at BandM, the Essence flavoured waters are 45p each.

It might have been absolute mayhem, and I’m not sure I’ll be going back to Costco on a Sunday in a hurry, but it’s always a worthwhile trip if there are savings like this to be made (though the Andrex offer has now finished).

The membership fee for Costco costs £33.60 a year. A list of professions from which current or retired employees can apply is listed here and members can add on a spouse for free, or get an extra card for £14 plus vat. You can also get an online only shopping subscription for £15.