Collegiate Times

As a kid, I was easily entertained. Among the simple pleasures of childhood was the weekly trip to the grocery store.

You know — the rides in the shopping carts, smelling all the sweet sensations from the bakery, begging mom to buy you boxes upon boxes of Oreos.
However, this fun adventure dimmed completely in my eyes when I discovered something infinitely better in the world of groceries.

If Giant was a playground, I found Disney World when I first encountered Costco. This is in no way your ordinary grocery store — it is a palace that housed everything imaginable, a one-stop shop for your every need.

As I ambled speechlessly down the aisles, I passed more brands of chips, sodas, frozen meals and deserts than I had ever seen in one store. Not only was I surrounded by mounds of food, but I soon discovered all the clothing, books, grilling equipment, electronics, tires and pianos — there was a lot of stuff.

On top of that, the stuff was packaged in huge portions. Mega-sized jugs of apple juice, huge boxes of bagged chips and what seemed like boxes of life supplies of Ramen noodles surrounded me everywhere. I quickly realized the enormous amounts of food did not come with hefty price tags.

At first, I was a bit overwhelmed. I didn’t know where to start. However, my juvenile self took a deep breath and embarked on an adventure around a seemingly boundless array of consumer products anxiously waiting to be selected.

Costco quickly provided me with the perfect guidance for my slightly flustered state of fascination: the samples. The food palace immediately jumped thousands of levels in my book, as I stumbled upon at least one sample station per aisle.

Not only did these samples satiate my hunger after taking several exhausting steps from aisle to aisle, but the delicious tid bits of food helped my indecisive mind decide exactly what I wanted to load into my cart.

And if the abundance of free treats scattered about the store wasn’t enough, when hunger struck, there was a whole food court full of delectable menu items, including juicy hot dogs, gigantic slices of pizza, health conscious salads and, my personal favorite, creamy soft serve ice cream. Like the products sold, the tasty meals offered were a steal. Even as a small child, I knew value when I saw it.

After my first encounter with this wonderland of a store — I could not simply call it a grocery store anymore — I would beg my parents to let me join them whenever they journeyed there to purchase products to stock the pantry.

Once I met my first Costco, I never looked at the grocery experience the same. Entering Giant, Shoppers or Safeway stores near home always left me wanting something more. Even Harris Teeter stores, which attempt to draw its customers in with free samples, made me scoff at their sad efforts to have a Costco-like customer service by putting out a tray of fruit.

Now, as a college student, I do not get quite the same excitement out of buying groceries because of the twinge of pain that comes with swiping my own credit card at the register. However, I do still appreciate a quality store to shop for my college munchy needs.

Don’t get me wrong, Kroger is nice enough, but it’s nothing special. I cannot buy huge quantities of fairly priced products — whether it be food, electronics, home furnishing items, clothing, you name it — for quite as cheap prices.

I’m positive that most students would love to buy their Ramen Noodles in bulk, pick up a few movies for the weekend and a new jacket for the approaching frigid winter months, all while chowing down on free food. What college student doesn’t like free food?

A Costco in Blacksburg is simply a must-have.

However, be warned: It is very easy to get swept up in all that Costco offers. So, if my wish is granted, and we are graced with this store, make sure to finish your schoolwork and set aside ample time to truly enjoy the ultimate one-stop shopping experience.

A version of this article appeared in the Nov 8 issue of the Collegiate Times.