For those of you who shop at Costco...

Maybe I'm just being a moron with the search feature, but I can't find anything recent in regards to Costco....everything looks to be years old.

Anyway, I'm looking for info from anyone in the UK who currently has a Costco card. Can anyone tell me the following things?

1) I'm planning on bringing my US membership with me. I've asked here to be sure that it will be valid there and was assured that it would be. However, can I renew in the UK without issue or will I have to prove eligibility at my renewal date?

2) Do they still limit UK membership to only certain households who qualify through their employer or occupation? (US used to, but changed policy. Maybe the UK has as well)

3) Trying to limit the amount of things I move over with. Especially if I can just go down the street and get them there. I realize that every Costco might be slightly different in goods, but in your experience can I find the following items at a UK Costco....

- Karo (light corn) syrup
- Hidden Valley or Kraft Ranch Dressing
- Dove or Lady's speed stick deodorant
- Those large plastic containers of taco seasoning and Lawrey's salt
- Montreal Steak Seasoning
- Orville Redenbacker microwave popcorn
- Chex cereals for making Chex Mix at the holidays
- Flavored liquid coffee creamer (otherwise known as the nectar of the gods)
- Bottle containing one gagillion Excederine Migraine tablets
- A&W Root Beer
- Gigantic bags of semi-sweet chocolate chips

I do realize that some of these I couldn't transport in my suitcases anyway....but if I need to learn to live without them completely, I better start coming to terms with that now.

Thanks for any updated info anyone has!

1. ?
2. Yes
3. They have the chocolate chips. There are other places you can get Karo syrup and A&W, I'm not sure if they care Orville Redenbacker although I think they have in the past. I don't think they have the rest - certainly not Karo, Montreal steak seasong, Chex Mix, coffee creamer, or Excedrin, or Lawrey's.

But why not phone them? Can't you make cheap phone calls to the UK? For years now I've been able to make extremely cheap phone calls to the US.

Doug

I should have said no Excedrin because it isn't sold in the UK at all. You'll have to bring your own, get it by mail order from the US, or use something else.
Doug

They have Orville Redenbacker Movie theatre style microwave popcorn- it's my favourite
They have a ranch dressing but can't remember the brand.
The chocolate chips they have aren't semi sweet- they come in a big tub.

Hope that helps some.

- Karo (light corn) syrup
- Hidden Valley or Kraft Ranch Dressing
- Dove or Lady's speed stick deodorant
- Those large plastic containers of taco seasoning and Lawrey's salt
- Montreal Steak Seasoning
- Orville Redenbacker microwave popcorn
- Chex cereals for making Chex Mix at the holidays
- Flavored liquid coffee creamer (otherwise known as the nectar of the gods)
- Bottle containing one gagillion Excederine Migraine tablets
- A&W Root Beer
- Gigantic bags of semi-sweet chocolate chips

This may not be useful, as it's been a year since I have been in Costco, and things may have changed since then:

- No Karo in Costco or anywhere else, apart from expat-speciality shops
- No Hidden Valley or Kraft Ranch Dressing, apart from expat-specialty shops/online
- Dove or Lady's speed stick deodorant - Dove deodorant is sold in the UK, but i dont think Costco have it.
- large plastic containers of taco seasoning and Lawrey's salt- nope.
- Montreal Steak Seasoning - nope, never seen this anywhere in the UK
- Costco sell microwave popcorn, but it's not Orville R brand
- Chex cereals do not exist here
- Flavored liquid coffee creamers dont exist here unless they are in expat-specialty shops, but i've never even seen them there.
-  Excedrin not sold in the UK
-   A&W Root Beer is only in expat-specialty / online shops/ eBay, but you might occasionally find a weird brand of root beer in Asda... not in Costco.
-  Costco sell a large plastic tub of Belgian milk choc chips, but not semi-sweet

Tesco used to stock the Orville R. popcorn, not sure if they still do, haven't looked lately.

I should have said no Excedrin because it isn't sold in the UK at all. You'll have to bring your own, get it by mail order from the US, or use something else.
Doug

The closest thing to Excedrin in the UK is Anadin Extra (or a generic brand 'extra power pain reliever', which is only about 45p for 16 tablets in a supermarket), but due to UK medicine sales laws you can only buy a maximum of 32 tablets at a time - packets of 16 are available in the supermarkets/off the shelves, but 32 packs are only available from behind a pharmacy counter.

As a comparison:

Excedrin Migraine: Acetaminophen 250mg, Aspirin 250mg, Caffeine 65mg

Anadin Extra: Paracetamol (Acetaminophen) 200mg, Aspirin 300mg, Caffeine 45mg

The definitely have montreal steak seasoning - I bought a huge one at the Derby costco.  It is also found in the general spice section of my sainsbury's.  

They have a ranch dressing but I don't remember the brand but Sainsbury's carries Paul Newman's ranch dressing.  

You won't find the giant jug of drugs at Costco.  There are very strict guidelines as to how much can be sold in a pack and how many packs you can buy at one time.  

A&W root beer can be found but only in specialty shops like Cyber Candy or the Canada shop in Covent Garden in London.  

I just saw A&W in the Sotuh African shop the other day, with the Australian food (?!), it was £1.50 per can!!

I have printed your list. We're leaving to go to Costco in about 20 minutes, so once we get there I'll try to make a note of what items off your list I see.

Once in a blue moon I go to Wing Yip (that's next to our local Costco) and buy a couple of cans of A&W. Granted, a couple of cans satisfy me for about a year, so I don't need a steady stream of it.

If I see the 'alternative product', I'll try to write it down. But that depends on how well the attention span of our young daughter holds out.

L

I found dark Karo syrup at some random shop on Mill Road in Cambridge, it is all foreign foods, but nothing else American.  So it is out there in places other than expat shops.

I have no idea why they had it there, but that is one of those shops that seems to have everything from a whole Indian grain and spice room to a Halal butcher. 

Once in a blue moon I go to Wing Yip (that's next to our local Costco) and buy a couple of cans of A&W. Granted, a couple of cans satisfy me for about a year, so I don't need a steady stream of it.

This!! You can get A&W by the case at wing yip, and since it's made in Singapore, it's made with sugar instead of HFCS.

but due to UK medicine sales laws you can only buy a maximum of 32 tablets at a time - packets of 16 are available in the supermarkets/off the shelves, but 32 packs are only available from behind a pharmacy counter.

OT, but my co-worker asked me the other day for some pain relievers and so I handed her my bottle of paracetamol that I had filled up from a huge bottle from the US- it easily had 50 in it- and she was like "Where did you get a bottle that had more than 16 in it? I want to buy this!"  I had to explain and she was gutted

Are you near Nottingham? There's a sweet shop in the Victoria Centre with quite a few American products, eg A&W, Grape Jelly, etc.
And of course Birmingham now has the biggest Cybercandy, so lots of American soft drinks, etc. there.
Yes, I saw the Montreal seasoning at CostCo but it's a huge amount.
Doug

Your US card will work here, no problem. I renewed here as well