I'm surprised no one has yet written a review of the new Costco in Pharr. I suppose the best way to review this well-known warehouse store would be to compare it with the similar Sam's Club about 1/4 mile away. Initially, we went a day or two after it opened. They had associates outside the store to assist in creating memberships. This process was literally painless. I had anticipating standing in line for hours to get a membership, so this was a pleasant surprise (this was only during the first few days--now one has to go to the customer service area to purchase a membership). Anyway, I was impressed with the efficiency exhibited by the employees,who are all obviously new to the company. Like Sam's, you have to produce your membership card to gain entry. The store is spacious, and even on a Saturday afternoon, didn't seem as crowded as Sam's does on a Wednesday morning. One of the main differences between Costco and Sam's, is that you don't necessarily have to purchase items in huge quantities. They do have smaller amounts available for purchase, although still larger than what you would have to buy at a regular grocery store. So far, I've been there three times, and have been impressed each time with the quality and variety of selections. It seems to have a somewhat more upscale choice of items--the lone exception being cheeses. Sam's Club has the best selection of cheese (yes--I must admit a cheese obsession). While Sam's has a variety of cheeses from Basque Ossau-Iraty to Laura Chenel chevre (Alice Waters' fave) to large wedges of my treasured Grana Padano and Pecorino Romano, Costco seems to be content to sell bricks of Tillamook (a fine domestic cheese, but available at HEB). There is a good meat and fish selection at Costco, as well as prepared foods. There were some beautiful rainbow trout, cod, and dungeness crabs available when I was there last. I was a little disappointed to see that they sold Atlantic salmon (see the Monterey Bay Seafood Watch if you're not familiar with the product). The produce is more varied than that at Sam's, and there is even a liquor store attached, albeit somewhat limited as to spirits. The wine selection is a little better than Sam's, although both stores have a good variety of affordable wines. BTW--the Costco Margarita mix is fantastic--lol!
As far as the drug store items, I did notice that the razor blades my husband uses are about $8 less than at Sam's, and Sam's did have the best price in town on those. I will continue to keep memberships at both warehouse clubs, but I think Costco is my new crush! read more