Why are we so obsessed with Costco?
CBC
Regina mom Stephanie Wilkinson stops by Costco on the far east side of Regina at least three times a week. She lives nearby, so it's convenient.
What started as simple grocery trips for the landscape architectural technologist has grown into a full-blown online hobby.
"I felt a sense of community over a few years with the Facebook groups that started because of the pandemic and everything. Everyone wanted just a space to escape, I think, and that became Costco," Wilkinson told host Sam Maciag on the This is Saskatchewan podcast. "I joined these groups and I started posting more and just helping others and it was amazing."
Wilkinson is one of the moderators of the Regina Saskatchewan Costco Lovers fan page, which boasts 50,000 members and is one of at least eight such fan pages in the province. She regularly posts new products and reviews, and even helps the occasional stranger by picking up items for them.
"I just do it for fun on my own dime," she said.
Saskatoon has two Costco locations. Efforts to get a second in Regina have made recent headlines after Regina city council voted to provide Costco with a $6.78-million incentive.
Costco had originally planned to build in the city's Westerra neighbourhood without the incentive, but changed its mind after being courted by the provincially owned Global Transportation Hub west of the city.
Last week, council won Costco back over by voting to provide the incentive through the Land Development Reserve. It expects to recoup the money through property taxes within seven years.
"It will provide growth for that area," Mayor Chad Bachynski told the Morning Edition host Adam Hunter after the council vote, admitting that the circumstances were unfortunate.
"It'll provide other commercial entities to develop around that anchor tenant and ultimately provide somewhere in the realm of half a million a year in tax revenue from Costco."
The local business community doesn't blame Costco — just the city.
"There's been no proper policies at the city level … around actually incentivizing investment and development," said Mark Heise, president and CEO of Rebellion Brewing.
"You need policies, not treating everything as a one-off."
Heise sells Rebellion beer in all three Saskatchewan Costco liquor stores and said it makes up for 10 to 15 per cent of his business.
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