Costco is cracking down on nonmembers entering its warehouses.
The big-box retailer is installing card scanners at store entrances nationwide, several of which were spotted recently around Southern California.
Readers were quick to email us about local Costco stores with entry scanners in use. That list grows daily, and so far includes warehouses in Tustin, Laguna Niguel (Cabot and Heather Ridge), Fountain Valley, Huntington Beach, Irvine, Garden Grove, La Habra, Yorba Linda (Savi Ranch), Cypress, Lakewood, Signal Hill, Hawthorne (business center), San Dimas, Alhambra, Montclair, Inglewood, Pacoima, Burbank, Van Nuys, Santa Clarita, Fontana, Rancho Cucamonga, Lake Elsinore, Murrieta, Palm Desert, La Quinta, San Bernardino and Victorville.
For update, see: Not a Costco member? Shoppers have tips to skip new entry scanners
The company on its online customer service page said the scanners would appear over the coming months.
“Once deployed, prior to entering, all members must scan their physical or digital membership card by placing the barcode or QR Code against the scanner,” Costco stated.
Costco will soon require all members to scan their membership cards at the door in an apparent crackdown on nonmembers entering its warehouses. This scanner was slowing customers entering the Tustin warehouse Aug. 5 at the District at Tustin Legacy shopping center. (Samantha Gowen, SCNG)
Costco will soon require all members to scan their membership cards at the door in an apparent crackdown on nonmembers entering its warehouses. This scanner was slowing customers entering the Tustin warehouse Aug. 5 at the District at Tustin Legacy shopping center. (Samantha Gowen, SCNG)
Costco will soon require all members to scan their membership cards at the door in an apparent crackdown on nonmembers entering its warehouses. This scanner was slowing customers entering the Tustin warehouse Aug. 5 at the District at Tustin Legacy shopping center. (Samantha Gowen, SCNG)
Costco on Sunday, Jan. 7 introduced a new food court item: giant chocolatechip cookies. The large dessert item is served warm and costs $2.49. (Samantha Gowen / SCNG)
Costco on Sunday, Jan. 7 introduced a new food court item: giant chocolatechip cookies. The large dessert item is served warm and costs $2.49. (Samantha Gowen / SCNG)
Costco is now offering its US members access to prescriptions for GLP-1 weight loss drugs through its low-cost health care partner Sesame. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip, File)
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Costco will soon require all members to scan their membership cards at the door in an apparent crackdown on nonmembers entering its warehouses. This scanner was slowing customers entering the Tustin warehouse Aug. 5 at the District at Tustin Legacy shopping center. (Samantha Gowen, SCNG)
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In a “we see you” nod to guests entering Costco warehouses while waving someone else’s membership card at the door attendant, the company said it will be matching photos to membership cards. So, if your Costco card or credit card doesn’t have a photo (or that photo is old, smeared or illegible), expect to be asked to show a photo ID as well.
One shopper let us know that the new scanner/photo requirement wasn’t going smoothly in Asuza.
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“Worst Costco experience I’ve ever had,” the reader wrote Wednesday. “My picture was no longer visible on my (credit card) so had to wait in a long slow line to get a picture taken.”
This shopper’s advice to Costco was blunt: “If you’re going to implement a new scan/photo requirement, at least have a fully manned station to deal with all the problems it creates.”
A Costco employee provided two photos of the scanner experience. Once a member scans their card, a giant headshot of that member appears on the other side of the scanner, where a Costco employee is typically standing. That employee said he turned away three customers whose faces didn’t match the membership photos that appeared on the scanner’s screen.
Costco has been attempting to halt nonmember usage in other ways. In April, customers reported some food courts were requiring membership cards for purchases.
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The company’s chief financial officer told Axios in March that the policy change was meant for locations with outdoor food courts.
So, why is Costco so set on blocking nonmembers? The bulk of the company’s profits come from memberships. Costco, long known for its super-thin sales margins, brought in almost $4.6 billion in membership fees in a year, according to a 2023 article by the Motley Fool. Those fees make up 72% of the company’s profits.
The door scanners come amid several other changes happening at Costco warehouses.
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The retailer earlier this month said it was raising membership fees for the first time in seven years. The new fees, taking effect Sept. 1, will raise the price of Costco’s Gold Star membership to $65 from $60 annually. The Executive membership is rising to $130 from $120.
Costco also replaced its popular churro with a 750-calorie chocolate chip cookie, and it switched the rotisserie chicken container with a plastic bag.
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The changes didn’t go smoothly with all customers, some of whom expressed their ire on social media.
“First Costco puts rotisserie chickens hidden in a leaky plastic bag,” Long Beach Daddy commented on X, formerly Twitter. “Now I have to get scanned before entering the store? What’s next? $3 hot dogs and paying 25 cents to borrow a shopping cart?”
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Another X user named Green@masterofstink was a bit brazen when they cheered “less leeches in Costco.”
Astute shoppers will note that Costco does allow nonmembers in its stores to use its pharmacy and to buy liquor. California law prohibits membership clubs from excluding the public from alcohol sales, meaning customers can walk in and buy just booze without a Costco card.
Another reader reminded us that nonmembers can shop at Costco if they have a Costco gift card.
Costco, which says it has 128 million cardholders in 73 million households, reports its earnings in September. Analysts expect the retailer to show growth of 3% or more.
If you’ve seen an entrance scanner at your Costco, be sure to tell us by sending an email to sgowen@scng.com
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