Costco Be Thy Name, Thy Will Be Done

The Costco cult is here, and just own up to it pal, because you definitely belong to it. In the few days since it opened its doors, 64,674 people—corresponding to more than a fifth of Iceland’s population—have joined the Facebook group “Keypt í Costco Ísl. Myndir og verð” (Purchased in Costco Iceland – Pictures and prices).

The group is categorised as a “support group”, so if you crave answers as to what kind of toilet paper gives most value for your money, feel the desire to keyboard moan about the supermarket monopoly, or just need to justify that you bought a full-sized human sized teddy bear, this is where to turn for empowerment.

Fight the power

If anyone residing in Iceland missed that Costco opened last week, that someone must have been living in a troll cave, that is one of the few remaining ones that haven’t been turned into a guesthouse or a car rental.

The US chain, which sells extra large packages of everything (how about 7 litre of massage oil, because, why not?) for a few bucks, is already uniting the country in the battle against the tyranny of extortive retail prices. And what platform is better suited for the storming of the bill-burden-Bastille than the almighty and free spoken Facebook?

Unexpected dedication

Most Facebook posts feature price comparisons and quality feedback, but one can also find grains of gold like video logs, and people helping each other out locating products when visiting the store (who hasn’t stalked Costco’s dark corners looking for a casket?). The level of commitment has not only taken the administrator of the Facebook group by surprise, but also news channels around the world.

A XL pack of “you better watch out Hagkaup” signs, thank you. All hail the coming of the Costco era!