A software engineer was looking for a side hustle so he started making TikTok videos about Costco. It paid off.

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The outside of a Costco store, an aisle in Costco
Anil told Insider that food and kitchen products are most popular with his audience.

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I went to Costco for the first time. Here are 12 things that surprised me.

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Rows of bakery products and the meat section at a Costco shop
I visited Costco's store in South Croydon, London.

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The life and career of departing Costco CEO Craig Jelinek, who's worked at the retail giant since the '80s – and eats its famous $1.50 hot dog plain

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Costco CEO W. Craig Jelinek
Costco CEO Craig Jelinek will step down after more than a decade in the role.

Nati Harnik/AP

Costco CEO Craig Jelinek stepping down after a decade in the role

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Costco CEO W. Craig Jelinek
Costco CEO Craig Jelinek greets a guest during a ribbon cutting event in 2019.

Nati Harnik/AP

Costco-style free samples are popping up at Walmart and other stores as brands try to get you to buy their stuff

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A worker prepares bread to offer as samples to shoppers in a Costco warehouse
A worker prepares bread to offer as samples to shoppers in a Costco warehouse.

David Zalubowski/AP

Retailers appear to be facing a self-checkout reckoning

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Customers check out at a Walmart store.
A Doral, Florida, Walmart store with an associate helping out with self-checkout.

Jeffrey Greenberg/Universal Images Group via Getty Images

Costco stops giving Instacart shoppers gift cards as refunds, amid claims they were being misused

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A shopper wearing a baseball cap loads several cases of bottled water onto an orange flat-bed cart at a Costco store.
Instacart shoppers at Costco will no longer get gift cards when they return undeliverable items for a refund, Instacart said.

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Costco is selling a 157-piece Le Creuset kitchen set for $4,500

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A 157-piece Le Creuset set available at Costco, including pots, pans, trays, bowls, utensils
Costco is selling a 157-piece Le Creuset set for $4,500.

Costco

More young people are getting Costco memberships, but they're not spending as much as boomers or Gen X

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Consumer spending US economy markets
A resilient consumer has helped stave off a recession so far, but that may not last.

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Costco shoppers are continuing to cut back on big-ticket items, even as inflation falls, as Americans put off buying jewelry, laptops, and furniture

Tech Insider : Economy
A customer shops at a Costco store on August 31, 2023 in Novato, California.
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