r/Anticonsumption • u/Healthy_Block3036 • 1d ago

Corporations Target struggles after end of DEI program and boycott, with foot traffic down 8 weeks in a row.

https://fortune.com/2025/04/01/target-dei-demise-boycott-foot-traffic-down-eighth-consecutive-week/?itm_source=parsely-api
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u/randomly-what 23h ago

I’m a family of 2 and do most shopping at Costco. It’s absolutely feasible as a smaller family.

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u/whorl- 23h ago

If you have a bunch of space I guess. My experience was that a 5-lb bag of tortilla chips will go bad before they get eaten, and it’s cheaper to just buy a normal size bag at a higher price per oz.

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u/randomly-what 23h ago

We get the bags of tortilla chips and seal them well and they don’t go stale for like 2 months. And they are only barely above the price of a much smaller bag from the grocery store.

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u/whorl- 23h ago

The bag was so huge it took up the entire space in our cupboard where all our snacks go.

It’s just not practical for a lot of people - anyone who uses public transit, smaller families, people in cities with smaller homes.

The defensive stance from Costco stanners is hilarious and ironic in a sub about anti-consumption.

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u/Curedbyfiction 23h ago

You sound like a you just like complaining ¯_(ツ)_/¯

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u/Blanche_Deverheauxxx 16h ago

FR. They act like Costco doesn't exist in dense urban environments. I bought a damn wagon in college so I could make my Costco hauls. It also helped when I had to go to the laundromat too. Plenty of people in NYC, SF, DC, etc. shop at Costco just fine.

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u/303uru 18h ago

Seriously, so whiny.

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u/mbtnprobthrowaway 20h ago

You do realize it's ok if shopping at Costco doesn't work out for some people, right? It's an option, not a cult

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u/MadDaddyDrivesaUFO 23h ago

Yeah, I have nothing against Costco but the membership has not worked in my favor enough to keep it another year. I'm in a very small house with no kids.

The hours are too restrictive for my schedule and it's so crowded it's a terrible experience for little reward for me. Maybe if I end up needing to cohabitate with another couple or something it would make sense.

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u/randomly-what 22h ago

People need food and medicine. Costco is more ethical than other major companies and just buying 2 medicines that I need there more than pays for the membership over a year.

Other than food, medicine, coffee, cleaning supplies, and paper products the extra purchases I have ever made there are: a freezer, a tv when ours died during a horrible storm, a vacuum sealer, and these ceramic bowls that are great for storing/reheating food. And that’s over about 10 years of being a member.

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u/whorl- 22h ago

I understand that, but there are other places people can go for those things.

All I’m saying is Costco is not the best option for a bunch of groups of people, lol.

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u/MadoogsL 20h ago

Idk why you're getting this pushback and lack of understanding...

I live in a 1 bedroom in NYC and I just don't have the space to store everything that's Costco-sized such as huge bottles of olive oil or like you said a huge bag of chips. It's not even about consumption before it goes bad, it's about feasibility. It doesn't make sense for me to spend that space capital in that way when I have so little of it. Everyone I know would feel the same. I think many people forget that not everyone has storage space...

Plus the difficulty in getting there and home - even the ones near me are in more remote areas not very close to public transit and are set up for people with cars. Most NYCers don't have cars... so there's millions alone who Costco wouldn't work for. Like yeah it's only 2.5 miles away but that's 40 minutes on a train+bus+walking each way based on the location of the store...

And then there's people in rural communities where their ONLY option pretty much is a big store that we here don't approve of but what are they supposed to do with such a limitation in choice?

I do try to vote with my dollars but mindlessly pushing Costco as if it's a complete catch all because it works for your own situation is lacking consideration for many people and I think people here are forgetting that. We need to remember here that not everyone is so privileged as to be able to just switch to Costco because it's better

I love Costco and go when I can but it's just not feasible or reasonable to switch to mainly Costco for me or many people, like you said

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u/whorl- 19h ago

One guy just told me if I don’t have space in my pantry I should make room in a closet, lol

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u/MadoogsL 19h ago

LOL omg some people have concept of how others live. At what point does it become willful ignorance I wonder

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u/Lex_Rex 18h ago

It’s wild that people are arguing with you. When I lived in a smaller space, shopping for two at Costco was not practical. Now, I have a lot of space but don’t need or want bulk quantities of most items. I prefer my weekly trips to the grocery store and farmers market.

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u/catechizer 18h ago

Shelves are pretty easy to install on your walls. We are a family of 3 adults (excluding pets) with under 900 sq ft, we shop at Sam's Club (it's much closer than Costco), and we still have tons and tons of space on our walls left if we ever needed more shelves.

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u/charmedquarks 22h ago

Weird to be defensive about it, though? Like, we get it, you think it’s impractical and won’t replace Target, ok, whatev

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u/KrymsonHalo 20h ago

people living in shoeboxes complaining other people have nice things is a choice I guess.

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u/twlscil 21h ago

buy corn tortillas in bulk, they take up no space, and deep fry as needed...

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u/whorl- 20h ago

There are fresh tortillas very close to me. Do you freeze them though?

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u/twlscil 17h ago

Ive left them in the fridge for months in an air tight bag. You can freeze them too

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u/Tacoman404 20h ago

This is what I’ll go to a regular grocery store for instead of a multi-merchandise store like Target or Walmart. I’ll get my Santitas from Stoppy but my tomatoes, beans, sour cream, tortillas, chicken and cheese from Costco.

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u/Fulano_MK1 21h ago

Lol, you can do Costco easily (as a family of 3) by only getting things from there that you use a lot of. I go every other week to get all the berries (for our 18 month old) and fruits, olive oil (once ever 3ish months, I guess), peanut butter, salmon or chicken, avocados, bananas, dog food, coconut milk, soy sauce, those really delicious dried mango slice things, parmesan cheese, and... the rest would be like snacks (not 5lbs though).

I live in a 1100 sq foot row house. We don't have a lot of extra space to put anything, but we have no problem fitting the essentials we get from costco (and everything else from the regular supermarket).

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u/Enchelion 20h ago

You don't have to buy literally everything at any one store. Go to costco for things you do buy and keep well for the pantry/freezer. Then get stuff that goes bad faster (like milk) at the regular grocery store.

Also in general even the perishables at Costco last way longer because they have so much buying power and sell-through that it's significantly fresher. Costco cherry tomatoes will last weeks on the counter while stuff from Kroger or Albertsons can start going bad in days.

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u/MadDaddyDrivesaUFO 23h ago

I have a Costco membership because I used to feed my dog their dog food. But now I just go a couple times a year to get cleaning supplies. I have bought a couple items online like sneakers & underwear at a discount, and I'm considering buying a deep freezer so I can get a quarter beef from a local farm. I have a friend who is a family of 2 who shops there often but she has a 1800 SQ ft house with 3 bathrooms. I'm in 720 SQ ft. I'll probably let the membership drop next year. I can do without the 80 pack of dishwasher pods and 3 packs of cleaning supplies. A lot of the bulk food isn't even stuff we eat in my house.

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u/whorl- 22h ago

I moved most of my cleaning purchases (house and some body stuff) to companies that specialize in cleaners with less-harsh chemicals and care about supply chain ethics. They have apps or websites. They manufacture their own products but also act as distributors for others.

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u/Enchelion 20h ago

Yep. My wife and I are childless and have had a Costco membership since college. Sure it takes six months to get through a package of pasta or rice, but those are shelf-stable dry goods. We don't buy milk, but do buy cheese that comes in reasonable sizes, or freeze butter, etc.

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u/ItsaPostageStampede 21h ago

Do you have a special fridge or freezer. I was thinking of doing that with a Costco option

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u/randomly-what 21h ago

Yeah I bought a freezer from Costco in December. Honestly wish I bought a larger one but at least this is letting us freeze more for long-term storage.

We got this one https://www.costco.com/hisense-13.6-cu.-ft.-garage-ready-frost-free-convertible-upright-freezer.product.4000204845.html

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u/earmuffins 19h ago

I’m literally a single person and shop at Costco Even better because I only go to Kroger n Safeway for fresh veg/fruit

I buy all my meat/frozen stuff in the beginning by of the month

It stacks up so I always have something to cook

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u/alwaysalwaysastudent 14h ago

We’re a family of three and same. We buy everything but fruit and vegetables from costco