4 major changes you’ll see at Costco in 2025

The past year has been a period of remarkable change for America’s largest warehouse club chain. Throughout 2024, Costco opened dozens of new stores, changed the packaging of its famous $4.99 rotisserie chicken and implemented its first membership fee increase in seven years.

It also introduced new membership card scanners at its entrances, lowered prices on essential groceries, dropped a beloved baking ingredient and made major additions to its food court menu.

Although 2025 hasn’t officially started yet, the retailer has already revealed some huge changes that are in the works for next year, all of which will directly impact Costco’s millions of paying members. If 2024 is any indication, the warehouse club will likely announce even more new developments as 2025 rolls around. But for now, here are the four major changes you’ll see at Costco in 2025.

Dozens of new warehouse openings

Costco already has nearly 900 warehouses around the world, but the retailer plans to get much bigger in 2025 and beyond. Last fall, the company revealed exciting plans to open 29 locations in its 2025 fiscal year (which runs from September to August). Although Costco hasn’t shared a full list of its planned 2025 openings, its website shows that Brentwood, Calif.; Genesee County, Michigan; Highland, California; Thrive, Texas; Sharon, Mass.; and Weatherford, Texas, are all expected to receive a new warehouse in March 2025. Fans should continue to check Costco’s “new locations” page for the latest information on upcoming openings.

The warehouse club plans to maintain this rapid pace of growth even after the end of 2025. During an earnings conference call in December, CEO Ron Vachris revealed that the company wants to open about 30 warehouses per year over the course of of the next few years. A “good portion” of those sites will be outside the United States, in major markets like Europe, Asia, Canada and Mexico, Vachris added.

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Goodbye books

Once 2024 ends, many Costco shoppers will lose their regular access to a very popular product category: books. Last June, the New York Times reported that most Costco warehouses will stop selling books year-round in early 2025. The reason for this change? The books were simply too much work for Costco to sell, as workers must stock them by hand and then frequently update the displays with new arrivals.

Warehouses will still carry books from September to December for the holiday shopping period, and Publishers Weekly reported that 100 Costco stores will continue to sell them year-round. But in remaining Costco warehouses, books will become much rarer in 2025.

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Major improvements to the shopping experience

Costco is working to improve several aspects of its business to make the shopping experience more rewarding for members in 2025. The recent deployment of its new membership card scanners at warehouse entrances, for example, is the is one of the changes that Costco says will benefit customers in the future. .

During an earnings conference call in September, Chief Financial Officer Gary Millerchip said the scanners provide warehouses with “real-time traffic counts throughout the day.” Costco locations can leverage this traffic data to better serve their customers, such as adjusting staff and opening and closing lines based on their occupancy level. Costco staff members can also use the traffic numbers provided by the scanners to ensure they have enough fresh food on the shelves for their customers at any given time, Millerchip added.

Costco has made incremental improvements to its app and website, both of which have received major criticism from shoppers in the past, and plans to continue to rely on technology to evolve the customer experience in 2025.

“We’re going to keep an eye on technology and make sure we’re doing our part to make the experience as strong as possible for our members,” Vachris said during an earnings conference call in December.

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Exciting new products will hit shelves

From delicious bakery treats to luxury housewares, exciting new products are hitting Costco shelves almost constantly. In 2025, buyers should expect to see more of the same.6254a4d1642c605c54bf1cab17d50f1e

During an earnings conference call in December, Vachris highlighted Costco’s recent success in adding unique new offerings to its product selection, such as its fast-selling gold bars and platinum bars. He praised “the great work of our buying team” in finding new product categories that resonate with members, and hinted that even more new items will be heading to warehouses in the future .

“I see them working hard on the next categories that are going to come for us,” Vachris said of Costco’s buying team.

Zoe Strozewski