i don’t know. same as Sam’s Club and all that. why pay for the priveledge to shop there? and selection isn’t THAT great.
funny was just there the other day and was going to post how impressed i was 
chungho store easy for public transport so finally got there. i was honestly expecting a pale taiwanese imitation but it had a reasonably similar selection to a costco back home. what and where is sam’s club?
How nice. So where’s the Sam’s Club in Taipei then?
Yeah, I was there last week (Nankang) and bought yummy stuff like salami, goats cheese, pretzels, bacon, camembert, Aussie wine…I was happy (and still am). It was much cheaper than other places too (tho I was piggybacking on someone else’s card).
Edit: confused Costco’s with Tesco’s. 
I agree about the Chungho store access. It’s 20-25 mins from Nankan to Costco B1 on a good day - not THAT much further time wise than some places in Taoyuan.
I tend to agree about the selection, I feel it could be a bit bigger.
The other thing is that it really pays to know your prices. eg. Printer Cartridges for our HP are over 400nt more per pair at costco than my local Bobo computer store. Some of the electrical comsumer goods are over priced too, perhaps they review their pricing every 6 months or so and get left behind…but I am sure many people buy stuff there just assuming it is cheaper because it is Costco.
I am still undecided if it really is a bargain place. We end up buying stuff we don’t need and didn’t plan on buying, or we’re forced into buying HUGE quantities and filling up the house with storing the stuff.
Their returns policy is fantastic. I had a problem with breaking poles on my tent at Neiwan (no one else did with theirs 
) and they promptly refunded the full cash without even opening the bag 
…I was expecting a 3 tier battle to get an exchange.
Taichung? There are only 4 costcos in Taiwan at present, 3 in the Taipei area and one in Kaoshuing.
Taichung? There are only 4 costcos in Taiwan at present, 3 in the Taipei area and one in Kaoshuing (Gaoxiong).[/quote] Yeah, see my edited post.
Sam’s club is a bigger and better Costco in the US. Let’s not complain about having Costco here. I’m sure the old timers can tell us days of when they WISH they could even entertain the idea of going to such a place 
Trust me I’m not complaining…I love the place. Great meats, camping gear that’s cheap. Get my fluids for the truck there, tools, condiments, cooking goodies, baked goods, tiramisu (sp?) grills, you name it. Maybe for someone who’s living in a city apartment and single may not see the bennies of this type of shopping, but for a family that lives fairly far from Taipei and does shop/stock ups for the long-term, it’s a godsend.
I just did my Halloween shopping there for my bushiban, and saved a fortune. Even had snackpack pudding, something I’m sure the kids will enjoy. They also have oddball things that are really useful, such as a 399NT pack of super-absorbant small towels for washing the car. I took the whole pack out to do my truck today and to my amazement one of the little buggers dried the whole truck. Washable too. Works out to 20NT per towel. 
Costco rocks.
While I don’t think the selection at Costco is as good as when it first opened, there are several items that I find convenient to buy in bulk, especially for my kids. I also like their 300 NT huge pizzas.
Now if they will only get Granville Island beers back in stock!
Being lazy and a junk food addict, I love the frozen hot pockets, ready to eat ham, etc. They also have non flavored corn chips (tortilla chips) which are all but impossible to find in my the neck of the woods. Worth it to me.
those i could always get in tienmu! had to give em up though, look at the fat on those babies lol
by the way getting a credit card through there apparantly without a guarantor, chinatrust
Yes, yes, yes.
I’ve also found that if you see something you want, don’t wait until the next time you go because it will be gone. Just went to Neihu yesterday, (hoping to find Granville Island beer). I usually go to Shijr, I will never go to Neihu again, too many people, quite rude as well.
I would really appreciate details of how to get to the Zhonghe store by public transport if you were coming from Taipei Main Station.
I’ve only been to Costco at Neihu and that turned out to be a major expedition getting there by bus. Apart from the shopping the hot dogs they sell at the snack bar near the check-out counters are worth buying. A good size and a full range of condiments to help yourself to including sauekraut, chopped onions ketchup etc. Costs $NT50 with a bottomless soft drink.
Yes, yes, yes.
I’ve also found that if you see something you want, don’t wait until the next time you go because it will be gone. Just went to Neihu yesterday, (hoping to find Granville Island beer). I usually go to Xizhi, I will never go to Neihu again, too many people, quite rude as well.[/quote]
Sorry, no more Granville Island beer since the shelf life is too short for Costco’s operating model. Something like 3-6 months max from production to your fridge. This was what I heard from a little bird told me from Costco. What do you think a beer fridge is for?
my thing witth costco is the stuff i wanna buy is all perishable but in too large a quantity for me to use up before it goes bad. maybe i need to buddy shop.
Yes, yes, yes.
[/quote]
Sorry, no more Granville Island beer since the shelf life is too short for Costco’s operating model. Something like 3-6 months max from production to your fridge. This was what I heard from a little bird told me from Costco. [/quote]
That’s funny, I was told they were ordering more. Wait a sec… two Taiwanese managers say two different things: the situation is normal. 
And if they did some marketing, they could sell that beer like it was the elixir of life, short shelf life or not.
GI beers do have a relatively short shelf life.
i actually did a group (unpaid) marketing report for them during my undergrad degree on entering the hong kong market. that was some 10 years ago. this was one of the manager’s comments when we submitted the report to them.
still, the stuff sells for about $40 NT a bottle, and is gold compared to most of the other stuff available. as GM said, shouldn’t be hard to get people hooked on the stuff, and move a lot of volume.
I would really appreciate details of how to get to the Zhonghe store by public transport if you were coming from Taipei Main Station. [/quote]
I believe the 262 bus from DingXi stops in front of the ZhongHe CostCo. There are different-colored numbers on the 262, though, and I don’t know whether both follow the same route. Be warned that it’s not a short ride; this bus doesn’t go directly up ZhongShan Road. It turns and goes way out through Nanshijiao, then comes back along the MRT line, then loops out again for a bit before finally reaching DingXi MRT.
I think, but am not sure, that one of the other stops it passed was JingAn MRT, so you might save time by going there and catching 262 from that stop. Then again, I could be wrong and you might end up in TaiDong.
I don’t understand why that would be the case. There are at least three buses that go directly from the MinQuan W Road MRT station and across the bridge to within about a quarter mile of the Neihu CostCo. I believe the 212 bus is one, as well as several of the “R” numbered buses. Disclaimer: I only ever took the 212 – [color=red]at least I’m pretty sure it was number 212, maybe it was 202. Check the numbers of the available buses. The sign on the front makes it clear that the bus goes to NeiHu anyway, so it shouldn’t be too hard to figure out.[/color] And CostCo is right off the end of the bridge anyway, so any bus to NeiHu should get you to it.
You might save some time on that (depending on where your starting point is) by going to the (brown line) ZhongShan Jr. High stop, walking a couple of blocks north to MinQuan Road, and hopping on the bus from there.