Since moving to Mexico three years ago I’ve been fascinated — and a bit perplexed — by the passion many Mexicans have for Costco.
It’s just a store, right?
I used to work as a retail analyst on Wall Street. My job back then was to figure out which companies could attract a loyal following with unique products that drove consistent profits, which signaled an investment opportunity.
I left that work long ago but am still intrigued by businesses that develop a “secret sauce” that has customers falling over themselves to shop there, despite easier alternatives.
What it’s like shopping at Costco in Mexico
Never been to a Costco in Mexico? Let me give you a taste of what it’s like here in Guadalajara.
The manager of Costco’s store on the city’s west side claims his is the busiest in all of Mexico. I believe him. Shopping there feels like entering a Ninja Warrior competition without training — or a sanity test no one asked for.
The first challenge is parking. This Costco’s parking lot is always jammed with slow-moving cars circling like predator sharks waiting for a spot to open up. I admit that we once left our car in a fire lane after circling for 15 minutes and failing to find one. Nothing happens when you do this in Guadalajara.
Next, you must get your hands on an empty shopping cart. On weekends, it’s common to see a line of customers queued up at the entrance waiting for one to be surrendered.
- Pro tip: You’ll have no trouble finding an abandoned cart inside the store, most likely by someone who crumbled after seeing the length of the checkout lines.
Once inside, you’ll see families pushing carts overflowing with electronics, clothing, enormous packages of snack food and so on. Most will push these heavy loads around until they arrive within 10 feet of the checkout counter. Then they’ll hurriedly cast off items they don’t really need but grabbed impulsively.
As this ritual gets repeated over and over, the checkout area starts to resemble retail chaos. I pity the employees who have to deal with the aftermath.
Once you’ve finished shopping and are ready to pay, your commitment and loyalty to Costco is truly put to the test. Each checkout line can stretch half the store’s length, requiring another 45-minute wait.
It’s enough to have you questioning if you really need that fancy air fryer, four-pack of toothpaste, and kilo of Norwegian smoked salmon right now. You may begin wondering:
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Can I still salvage this day if I leave now, or do I suck it up and kill this time by reading my entire phone? Most stick it out since it’s the easiest way to get your parking validated.
My husband has endured exactly two Costco visits in Mexico. The last one left such an impression that he swore he’d never return. While gringos may not put up with this, Mexicans seem more than willing to suffer for their love of Costco products.
What Mexicans love about Costco
When I asked some local friends to explain Costco’s allure, they described the “abundance” they find there, with one declaring, “They have everything. Everything!”
To my eye, Costco Mexico is selling a privileged lifestyle that’s catnip for fresas, or posh, elitist urbanites. Where else in Mexico can you find Ninja blenders, Dom Perignon champagne, Norwegian smoked salmon and Tommy Bahama beach gear in the same place?
By the numbers, only 4% of Costco’s 133 million worldwide members are in Mexico. But that figure includes both personal and business accounts. Probably no more than 2% of Mexican households are Costco members.
But that doesn’t mean only 2% of Mexicans consume Costco products.
I see mom-and-pop grocers around Guadalajara advertising that they sell Costco pastries. There are entire stores in expat haven Ajijic devoted to selling Costco’s Kirkland brand products at a hefty markup. Demand appears insatiable.
One Mexican woman took it a step further.
Late last year, social media influencer Ximena Figueroa managed to buy 970 rosca de reyes cakes from Guadalajara Costco stores ahead of the Three Kings’ Day holiday. She resold them all at a premium in nearby Colima — which doesn’t have a Costco — netting a profit of 164,900 pesos (US $8,600)!
That takes some bravado, ingenuity, and a real passion for Costco pastry.
One possible explanation
Does anyone truly know why? Perhaps the Mexican obsession with Costco is best understood through a cultural lens.
As one Guadalajara native told me, it’s the exclusivity Costco represents that certain Mexicans crave. To those who can afford it, shopping at Costco feels like being part of an elite club. After all, you have to be a card-carrying member to get in the door.
Buying an annual Costco membership in Mexico costs 600 pesos but is usable anywhere in the world. To a gringo that may sound like a bargain, with Costco memberships in the United States now going for US $65.
But it’s no bargain for Mexicans when you adjust for income. According to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, the average household income in Mexico is US $16,200, or less than one-third the U.S. average. So buying a Costco membership represents even more of a stretch to the average Mexican than the average American.
In other words, shopping at Costco in Mexico is one way of signaling that you’ve made it.
Another thing I’ve noticed living in Guadalajara is that Mexicans generally embrace their multi-ethnic background but are very class-conscious. The wealthy generally don’t mix with the lower classes.
Maybe this is why well-to-do Mexicans love Costco so much. They feel good about shopping somewhere that’s literally a club, sells high prestige imported goods and is effectively out of reach for ordinary people.
Guadalajara welcomes its third Costco this summer
For those who can’t get enough Costco, the city’s third store is set to open shortly on the north side, a mere five minutes from my house.
Last month I began seeing five-star reviews pop up for the new location on Google Maps. Curious to check it out, I pedaled over on my bicycle one recent Sunday morning.
When I arrived, I found the entrance blocked by orange fencing and an unpaved parking lot. For some locals, I guess just the idea of a new Costco was worthy of five stars.
When it does finally open, I can guarantee you won’t be running into my husband there.
After discovering that life in Mexico was a lot more fun than working in Corporate America, Dawn Stoner moved to Guadalajara in 2022, where she lives with her husband, two cats and Tapatío rescue dog. Her blog livewellmexico.com helps expats live their best life south of the border.
Sure wish they would open one closer to Ajijic, Lakeside.
Their strategy in Mexico is to locate stores in big urban markets, where there is a high concentration of wealth. Ajijic is not too far from their store on the south side of Guadalajara.
We need one in La Paz!
Yes we do!
I heard one was opening here in 2026. I wish I could confirm that!
Definitely would love one in La Paz, BCS!
They have been talking about opening one here in Mazatlan but it never breaks ground. Locals think the Sam’s clubs here have one way or another put a stop to it.
Bah, humbug! I have no interest in signaling to anybody that I have made it…. I will continue to support my locally owned and operated stores, preferably mom and pop operations!
I love this! You are shopping like a typical Mexican.
Thank you for shopping local! More people should.
Indeed! 🎯🎯🎯
Our family owns a small ferretería y abarrotes store and we are very conscious about where we spend our money….
By the way NewLife I applaud your use of Yucatec Maya language 👏 🙌 👌
If any readers are wondering what I’m talking about: Tumben” means “new” and “kuxtal” means “life”. So, “Tumbenkuxtal” roughly translates to “new life” in English. Ixtli 💯
Add one or two additional Costcos in Queretaro! Convenience sells!
2nd Costco planned in Queretaro.
In Mexicali we have 1 Costco and 1 Sam’s Club. With over 1 million residents sure hope Costco adds another store here. I am amazed at the lines to check out, but what amazes me more is the person who has only 1 rotisserie chicken they are holding as they stand in line. I don’t go unless I have a pretty decent shopping list.
Here we are lucky enough as well that we can cross into the U.S. and hit a Costco there. Options are good.
We love Costco both at home in Mexico and in the USA. Their products are top quality and they stand behind all purchases unlike local stores. I would love to support local stores more, I try to when I can, but you can’t seriously compare the quality and service given by Costco to its members. Example: we bought new appliances from a local Mexican retailer and three months later the water dispenser broke and they basically said tough luck because we lived too far outside of town and they had nobody to service it and so the next major appliance purchase we did at Costco and 11 months later we called the store and told them we had a problem, they replaced the unit with the newer model with no charge or questions asked. So the minor inconveniences mentioned in your article are definitely a pain but are certainly negated when you consider the overall value included with shopping there!! The good thing is that everyone can make their own decisions. 👍❤️🇲🇽
“Mexicans generally embrace their multi-ethnic background but are very class-conscious.” You mega-nailed it with that one!
I’m not proud to admit that there are a few key things I get at Costco (and Sam’s) every month that we use because they’re cheaper in bulk if you can afford to buy in bulk in the first place. Markets (or supermarkets) are great for fresh ingredients, but things with a longer shelf life (peanut butter!) are usually a good deal in some of these big-box American imports. That said, the devotion to Costco in Mexico is something that impresses and shocks me every time I go. Where I live in Xalapa, you used to be able to go at “slower” times and get in and out pretty quickly. Now it’s pretty much always packed to the brim, with people going nuts over the food court that has, like, eight things in it, too.
A strategy that really seems to have worked for originally American companies is to move them to Mexico where an expanding middle and upper class can FEEL like they’re in the US. Costco, Sam’s, Walmart, Sears, Bath and Body Works, Starbucks, IHOP…these are/were solidly middle-class and even working-class stores in the US. But in Mexico, they’re fancy, and to go to them is to signal your social status. As someone who grew up in a paycheck-to-paycheck family that’s now considered part of the “upper crust” because I have the ability to “live like an American” in another country, it’s a weird, weird feeling.
Thanks for sharing Sarah. Your point about upwardly mobile Mexicans gravitating to these stores to signal status and feel like they’re in the U.S. definitely resonates. And while I’d never patronize Starbucks, the new one near my house is constantly packed with young Mexicans even though the coffee is better at Flor de Cordoba a block away. It ain’t about the coffee!
I prefer the HEB PLUS stores to any COSTCO.
Costco everywhere is high spec products with low to medium prices. Who doesn’t want a chicken of hot dog below the cost to buy and prepare it. As for Mexican markets, estoy encantada with them. I love buying 10 kilos of fruits and vegetables every Wednesday at the tanquis. There is room for both in my life in Mexico. fortunately for me in the Ajijic/lakes area there are a 100+ merchants which sell /resell Kirkland products
Yes, I can’t imagine living in Mexico without tianguis.
Dawn Stoner, your experiences and interpretation of the GDL Costco vibe are very different from mine in Puerto Vallarta.
1. Mexicans love Costco for the fun of it, being a very garrulous and community-oriented people. They can take the family, let the kids run wild, feed themselves cheaply, and meet up with friends. Almost like going to church!
2. Small businesses in Mexico benefit hugely by stocking up and reselling. Your lady of the Roscas is just one of hundreds who buy en mayoreo and sell en minoreo, and the centrality of the supplies is a huge plus.
3. It seems to be accepted that people will share a membership, even openly passing cards to others after checking out, or dividing one basket’s charges in two. That makes the “snob value” of memberships more of a minor aspect, though I agree it’s part of the draw.
4. Mexicans are blessed with patience; gringos are not. I meet a lot of nice people in those long lines, comparing products in our baskets and doing each other favors, giving tips. Maybe in your more urban setting it’s different, or maybe you don’t speak enough Spanish?
5. Mexicans are amazed that shoppers can return items they don’t like/need or that don’t fit. Unheard of until Costco arrived, but the practice is spreading poco a poco.
Point of clarification on the “Rosca de Reyes lady” referenced in my article. She’s a social media influencer who did this as a stunt, not one of the hustling mom and pop entrepreneurs who make a full time business out of Costco reselling. It’s easily Googled. And for the record, I do the majority of my food shopping at my local tianguis, not Costco. That said, I do value my time and loathe standing in long lines. Mexico has made me more patient, but I will never see line waiting as social affair.
Interestingly, when we ran our “Where to live in Mexico guide” last year, we received a decent amount of pushback for including “Costco” as a criteria for scoring. Clearly many Mexicans would have agreed with our decision to rank cities for having one!
Clearly it’s a polarizing topic!
Why is COSTCO not opening a store in ACapulco. Guerrro. Is a heavily populated area and NO COSTCO!!!!!!
We used to shop at one there on our way to Puerto Escondido. I guess it closed.
I always try to shop local in Puerto Vallarta. I enjoy the interaction with the shopkeepers and want to support local businesses. It’s also closer to my apartment- I can find almost everything within a 15 minute walk.
We really need a Costco in Mazatlán!
As much as I love many Costco products, I haven’t stepped in one in the last two years, and that one was in Texas. If I know my nephew is going, I’ll ask him to pick up a couple of things.
In my hometown Brooklyn New York, Costco is a favorite because the products are high quality and (something people asked about the company always mention)— Costco has the reputation of treating its workers well- in pay, benefits and working conditions. I wonder how that is playing out in Mexico.
Yes, I’m aware of the corporate leadership’s labor friendly policies relative to the competition. It’s one reason that Costco has historically had much lower employee turnover than Walmart, to use one example. They’ve shown how being more humane is also good for business.