Costco Leeds — Local services in Leeds

Sep 2025: It's just getting worse, queues on the road outside to get in to a full car park with people circling, queues to scan in and then a procession of shuffling members around the whole store, pausing only to navigate around mindless people blocking entire aisles to sample something they've probably had before. I'm increasingly frustrated that core products are constantly out of stock or just disappear to be replaced by inferior ones.

The tills are queued back still due to the number of them closed and terrible spacing. The food "court" has none of the (dirty) seating it once had, reduced food offerings at higher prices for smaller portions or stuff just out of stock. The ordering and collection process is chaotic.

It's clear the popularity and increased footfall they've chased to boost membership payments has created an environment that's too busy for the outdated and tiny store.

They need to reintroduce limits or look at a whole new store that can handle the demand.

Feb 2024: No longer the joy it once was, it feels like they've opened the membership floodgates but not considered the logistics of processing the extra customers.

Queues in the car park, queues to get in, a zombie shuffle queue around the store punctuated by the need to stop / start as families of 10 block the aisles and then queues from the back of the store to the tills, made worse by them putting extra products close to the till and making a bottleneck.

The foodcourt is equally chaotic and then there's the queue to get out.

Trolley bays are full, it feels unsafe to walk to the car due to all the angry drivers and then you have to battle to get out.

Prices are up, items regularly out of stock.

Not a patch on the Costco experience I've enjoyed for the past 20 years, seriously considering letting my membership lapse.

............ Old Review: A member-only shop with a vast array of high quality goods at competitive prices across a range of departments. You can easily go in to buy bread and come out with a swimming pool, a diamond ring, a boat and a bucket of humus (funds permitting).

They host regular demos, provide free samples of many items throughout the week and have a really low-priced cafe at the end to drown your impulse buying sorrows :)

A good sized car park with very wide spaces, lots of trolleys, helpful staff and a generally pleasant shopping experience.

Things get hectic at peak times but it's no different to any other shop of its kind in...

This place is not for the weak 😂 but I have always found the staff lovely, the odd miserable worker but otherwise good customer service. I love the clothing and jewellery sections. Generally well stocked and the sections are organised. Despite ridiculously long queues at the tills the staff do always scan things quickly so doesn’t take too long to check out once you actually get served. I find the prices to be a bit hit and miss. Sometimes things are a bargain, other times they are reasonably priced, but many things are overpriced and despite bulk buying supposed to be the cheaper option, it is often cheaper to just buy things individually from supermarkets.

The food court is absolutely disgusting. Very dirty with sticky tables and I’m pretty sure it doesn’t get cleaned all day. You can see inside the kitchen area from where you queue and I’ve seen staff making pizzas without gloves on. We never eat in (not that it’s possible to get a table anyway) and just bring the stuff out to the car or home with us. I stopped getting the pizza from here as the last 2 I had were undercooked and an awful consistency. Always see other customers with them though so maybe I was just unlucky. There is a woman who severely lacks social skills and could do with a bit of CPD training to be honest…Only positive is the strawberry sundaes are yummy 😋

My understanding is that only certain professions or business owners are able to get a membership, but don’t think this is the case anymore due to the vast amounts of people there. The issue is that with such an amount of people the store is overcrowded, queuing takes longer and aisles being blocked with trolleys. So many arrogant and selfish customers; obviously this is not Costco’s fault but it’s frustrating. Pretty sure people are sharing cards and/or bringing more guests than allowed because surely the droves of people can’t all be professionals or business owners. Children always running around or in front of people’s trolleys. Again, not Costco’s fault but they really should look into making it adults only, or at least only people aged 12+. It is supposed to be one guest per person yet I have witnessed people going with in excess of 4 children?

Anyways, still a nice place to shop (if you possess the mental tenacity…) and always nice to chat...

Dodgems

I’ve been a Costco member since the early 2000s, and back then, it actually felt like a worthwhile experience. A monthly or bi-monthly trip was something to look forward to—great deals, decent shopping conditions, and a bit of fun.

Fast forward to today, and it's an overpriced, stress-inducing circus that offers little to no advantage over a standard supermarket.

First, you’ll be queuing before you even set foot inside. The car park is a battleground, with customers circling like vultures for a space. Gone are the days when you could pull in and shop without the immediate onset of road rage.

Then, once you do get inside, prepare for another queue—just to get down the aisles and reach the products you actually want. The store is now so oversubscribed that browsing is a thing of the past; it's a game of dodging trolleys and people standing around confused.

Next comes the painfully slow checkout process. Despite Costco raking in billions, they refuse to add enough cashiers to make checkout efficient. Instead, you're left in another endless queue while they squeeze every last penny out of customers who are forced to wait because, well, where else are you going to go?

And don’t even think about stopping at the food court. The once-affordable, decent-quality food has nosedived in standard. It’s busier than ever, the portions seem fair as ever but, the quality is clearly compromised—yet another way for Costco to maximize profit while delivering less.

But the final insult? The utterly pointless receipt check at the exit. A half-hearted glance, a fake item count, and—if you're really lucky—a smug "You got toilet paper" remark that wasn’t funny 20 years ago and isn’t funny now. It’s a last-ditch effort to make you feel like you’re getting some kind of VIP treatment when in reality, it’s just another delay tactic before they finally let you leave.

The solution? Open another Costco in Middleton, Wakefield, or literally anywhere else to relieve the chaos. Or, better yet, stop pretending Costco is some exclusive haven for deals and admit that it’s now just an overpriced, overcrowded warehouse that no longer offers any real advantage over a normal...