Recently I travelled to the U.S on an office trip. On a weekend, I visited my brother who is staying in Berkeley, California. He wanted to do some monthly grocery shopping. I was curious about how the grocery shops in the U.S are like. So I ready for the adventure. He took me to nearby Costco.
O.M.G.
This was my reaction at the scale of Costco. I have read about Sol Price, who was the inspiration behind Walmart. In that same article, I read Costco was also an offshoot from this. Even Amazon Prime idea was copied from Costco. As a business tech fanboy, I have read and heard a lot about Costco.
But to witness it in person was a different experience. Everything at Costco is on a different scale. It is almost 10x to any kind of hypermarket in India. The food items are super specialised yet affordable. They are of huuuuuuuge size and portions. I mean that size is really unthinkable to buy in India. For every single item, there are multiple options and choices. I mean, I never thought just spending 45 minutes in Costco is mindbogglingly tiresome. I didn't do any physical activity there but I really felt drained and tired after just going through the checklist and picking up the stuff.
I am told that Costco is nothing compared to the scale of Walmart. Thought of entering a Walmart in the U.S is really a daunting one now.