Will Costco open Hilo side soon (Honolulu, Volcano: gated, zoning, price)

[leilaniguy]

I've been there a handful of times, but it's such an aggravating experience. I hate that Kona trip and every time we go in there they have moved everything around, can't find anything.

[hotzcatz]

It's pretty crazy busy on weekends and the couple of days before school started it was crazy busy, too. We try to go on a week day morning and then it's not such a zoo. FWIW, the ones on Oahu are seventeen times worse than the Kona one.

Now they have some sort of chili bowl. It's okay chili kinda non-standard it has green peppers in it. Tastes pretty good on the polish hot dogs, although it's best if the dogs are sliced open and the whole thing eaten with a fork since it gets pretty messy.

They'd not had a couple of their standard items for awhile, but we were there a couple of days ago (which is when we met the new chili) and the stuff they'd not had showed up on the shelf again. Maybe they just got in a new couple of containers or something. They must ship in several container loads per week, wouldn't you think?

Yeah, the trip from Hilo side (or beyond Hilo side) over to Costco and then back all in one day and adding in shopping as well is kinda a grueling event. Almost more of an endurance event than a shopping trip. A friend of mine from Hawaiian Acres would go over to Spencer's and camp out overnight and then hit Costco on his way home. Sometimes he'd stay at the Manago Hotel or camp at Hapuna. He always liked making it something to do when leaving Kona after some sort of fun overnight thing.

Even if they build one in Hilo, we're still about equidistant away from it. But, we sometimes have to go to Hilo, so if we have to go that direction, we'd have the option of dropping in past Costco. I suspect it would be busier than the Kona one.

And just as a guess, how many acres of concrete do you think is in the Kona Costco? I'm guessing maybe two to three acres? Somewhat closer to three acres, I'd guess.

[Arktikos]

Originally Posted by terracore

..I wonder how many of the Juneau Costcos you can fit into the Kona Costco? Did JNU ever get costco pizza? When I was there they only had the hotdogs and such. ..

Right, Kona's a lot bigger. No, Juneau hasn't got the pizza. Dunno, seems like it would be a success. Their hot dog stand seems popular, though not with me.

With a ton of old family photo slides, I wish they had a photo shop like some of them do.

The store is popular with foreign workers off the cruise ships. No doubt a Hilo location would be too.

[terracore]

"every time we go in there they have moved everything around, can't find anything"

Last time I was there, the only butter they had in the dairy section was small organic packs or imported stuff. I thought they were out of their standard 4-pound pack. For some reason it was in the cold case down past the bacon. Didn't make any sense. Why not keep the dairy in the dairy section? And why is some bread by the bakery and the other stuff over by the dry goods? Frustrating for sure.

[Dreaming of Hawaii]

I think that Costco moves stuff around to make us go look for what we want. That way we have to walk every aisle and "maybe" we'll see something else we need to buy while we wander. Very frustrating for us, very profitable for them.

But you can still get a hot dog and drink for a buck and a half. Cheapest lunch in town!

[terracore]

It probably would be less frustrating if the Costco trip didn't involve a 5 hour RT commute. But you are absolutely right that they move things around because it increases sales. Also the extra wandering works up an appetite so you'll want to get a churro or something on our way out. I doubt they make any money on the hot dog meal considering that they have never raised the price since it was introduced in 1985.

I like the Maui costco because the food vending is all completely outside in a covered area dedicated to that, so you don't have to pass through that huge mass of costco zombies to get out of the store. That might not work in a place like Hilo where people will go there to feed their family without buying memberships.

[KaraBenNemsi]

The time to avoid to go to Costco are EBT Card days at the beginning of the month (1, 3, 5th day).

[leilaniguy]

Sounds like the best way to get Costco to Hilo is to not go to Costco. Boycott Costco?

[Arktikos]

Originally Posted by nikkor

What is the $$$ population on the East side compared to Kona side?

Much less, no doubt, but why do you ask?

Percentage of food dollars spent at Costco would be much higher for lower and middle income folks than with wealthy ones, I'd imagine, so # of people should be most important stat.

[terracore]

Originally Posted by nikkor

What is the $$$ population on the East side compared to Kona side?

That depends on how you define East and West sides, but if you look at the census data for 2015:

East Population:

Puna 49,801
South Hilo 48,614
North Hilo 1,718
total 100,133

West Population:

North Kona: 37,922
South Kona: 12,681
South Kohala: 21,072
North Kohala: 9,446
total 81,121

Not included: Ka'u (7,698) and Hamakua (6,933) because they straddle both east and west sides, but even if you added all their population to the West side, the East side population is still larger than the west side. And the East side population is concentrated in a much smaller geographic area.

Puna is the fastest growing part of the state. If you look at the census projection of 2020 it shows the gap between East and West side population growing further in a smaller concentrated area.

As far as the $$$ question: Costco accepts EBT.

http://www.hiloagent.com/images/Hawa...20District.pdf


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