Before moving to Canada, I'd heard so much about Costco that I thought I knew what to expect. I was wrong. Where I lived in Ukraine, bulk warehouse stores were mainly geared toward restaurants and wholesale businesses, so buying groceries in such huge quantities wasn't something my family was used to.
Since our small Ontario town didn't have its own Costco store, our first visit turned into a weekend road trip.
What I expected to be a routine grocery run ended up feeling like a whole new shopping experience — and just three months later, I'd officially become a regular.
But before Costco became part of my routine, there were a few things about that first visit that completely threw me off.
Here are the five that surprised me most:
The giant carts completely fooled me
I was surprised by the sheer size of Costco Canada.
The moment I walked in, two things surprised me right away: the total lack of direction and the sheer size of the Costco carts.
Back home, every supermarket has clear signs overhead pointing you toward items like bread, dairy, or pasta. At Costco, there were zero aisle labels. I was completely disoriented, wandering through huge rows and simply guessing where things were.
And those carts? They are at least twice the size of a standard store trolley. I fell straight into the psychological trap — after tossing a few bulky boxes, I looked down and believed I had barely bought a thing.
The reality hit me at the cashier when the numbers quickly climbed on the screen, leaving me totally speechless!
Paying to shop felt weirdly exciting
Walking around with that black card felt good!
Before you can even step inside, you have to get a Costco membership. That involves filling out forms, taking a picture, and picking up your membership card.
Logically, as a family of three with simple shopping needs, getting the basic Gold Star membership would have been the most rational choice. But instead, I ended up getting the Executive Membership, which costs $130 plus tax in 2026.
Financially, we probably don't spend enough to make the 2% cashback truly worth it compared to the basic card that costs half the price.
But as a newcomer trying to build a new life in Canada, walking around with that black Executive card gave me a strange, funny sense of importance. It felt like I wasn't just a visitor anymore — I was leveling up my Canadian life!
I wasn't prepared to see diamonds
The variation of products for sale was so bizarre to me.
In Ukraine, food, luxury goods, and healthcare exist in completely separate universes. You buy groceries at a supermarket, fine jewellery at a boutique, and medicine at a pharmacy. So seeing glittering diamond rings, luxury watches, giant bottles of vitamins and bulk toilet paper all squeezed under one roof was absolutely wild to me.
One second you're browsing expensive gold necklaces, and the next you're grabbing a huge tub of yogurt on your way to the Costco Pharmacy.
Over time, I actually fell in love with buying all my favourite daily supplements and health essentials at Costco in giant family sizes, because the cost savings compared to regular drugstores are just too good to pass up.
This was my first clue that this was way more than just a grocery store!
The checkout system caught me off guard
My cart was packed to the brim with giant boxes!
Standing in line at Costco for the first time, my cart was packed to the brim with giant boxes, bakery treats, and big bottles of supplements. The line in front of me was super long, and I honestly thought we'd be stuck waiting forever. But I don't know what kind of magic they use — that massive line completely disappeared in just 10 minutes.
With two employees working as a team at every register — one scanning items like a machine and the other quickly packing everything into cardboard boxes — the whole thing moved so fast it made my head spin.
As I watched them speed through my cart, I noticed something strange right away: nobody in line had plastic shopping bags. Back in Ukraine, I was so used to the cashier offering plastic bags at the register and neatly packing everything up for me.
Here, shoppers were casually grabbing leftover cardboard boxes around the cash registers or throwing loose items straight back into their carts to load directly into their trunks. Seeing people pack everything into giant boxes and roll them straight to their cars was completely new to me, but now I think it's brilliant and so practical.
I finally understood the $1.50 hot dog hype
Stopping at the Costco food court was mandatory!
After surviving the superstore's giant aisles, stopping at Costco's food court felt mandatory.
I'll be honest: the taste of the Costco hot dog isn't exactly my foodie dream. It's basic, heavy, and definitely not gourmet.
But standing there ordering a giant hot dog and a refillable drink for just $1.50 felt less about the food and more about being part of a legendary tradition.
Knowing that this price hasn't changed for decades now makes me grab one almost every single time, just to feel connected to this famous piece of Costco culture.
I was definitely skeptical during my very first Costco run, but I ended up completely loving the experience.
Now, driving from St. Marys to restock on household essentials isn't just a routine errand or a boring weekend chore — it's an exciting family outing that we genuinely look forward to every few weeks.
It has even become a mandatory stop on our family itinerary whenever we have guests in town. Whenever relatives or friends visit us from overseas or Europe, taking them to Costco is now a top priority, right alongside famous tourist spots like Niagara Falls and the CN Tower.
Now, holding my Executive card with that funny, slightly surprised first-day photo, I can proudly say I'm fully obsessed with this North American lifestyle staple!
The opinions expressed in this article are the author's own and do not necessarily reflect the views of Narcity Media.