Comments Costco in Taiwan

 ★  Costco sold fake organic vegetables
       reported by CTV evening news , 7:25pm, April 26, 2012
            Taiwanese consumers should check CAS sign.

 ★ Costco and major markets stop selling US beef (for lots of Paylean, lean-meat-enhancing drugs cases found recently in Taiwan's markets)
              March 3, 2012, 12:06pm noon, by <FTV (民視)>, Taiwan
                SET TV 3:12pm, Mar. 3, 2012 : 20000+ kg paylean US beef already been eaten by Taiwanese!? ... are those official inspections truly ?
                             (3管5卡破功! 8成民眾反瘦肉精)

 ★  Costco sold out almost all beef products containing banned drugs  Jan. 15, 2011 19:15pm, by <CTS>, Taiwan　

Costco's banned-drug beef news by media

About Costco :

   The Costco Wholesale Corp. outlet in Taipei's Neihu high-tech district, (Taiwan's only wholesale club chain) is the 567-store chain's second most profitable, behind a Korean outlet.  ( 2 other Taiwanese Costco stores are also ranking top 10, totally 5 Taiwanese stores stand top 20)  Costco is considering to enter an even bigger market : China.

   However, This US Corp. in  Taiwan (Nei Hu) is not very democratic and modern  -   since 1995 there's no  "questions & comments" email-box provided for customers,  unlike COSTCO USA  "Back to basics".    Costco Taiwan said (via the phone, 2010 ) that customers can drive ( long way for me) to drop a  letter to their suggestion-box in NeiHu, this reminds me an old western cartoon of  satire & humor :  suggestion box is hanged in a high place .

  Costco's Taiwan chief, Mr. Richard Chang, said that one reason they are profitable during these bad economic days and one way of distinguishing itself is to use Costco's U.S. policy of trying to guarantee its prices are the market's lowest (Costco has worked with local vendors to cut costs and prices), but it's not difficult to find lower price goods in some other supermarkets in Taiwan, like RT-mart and French Carrefour.

   Below please find some examples  :

  (1) VitaMix blender in Costco Taiwan is asking about USD 800, compare model 5200 blender in USA for only USD449.

       http://www.vita-mix.com   or   https://secure.vitamix.com/acb/stores/4/Vita-Mix-5200-P748C108.aspx

       Besides, Costco's Vitamix is made for Taiwanese or Asian only, not same as Vitamix 5200 in Costco USA. 

  (2)  As for steaks imported from USA, Costco's tag price is not the lowest.

  (3) Costco's Centrum is made for Taiwanese (or Asian?) too, not those sold in USA or some international airports.  (I cannot find many items for elders in Nei-hu, like <supports alertness & short-term memory>)

  (4) Ralph Lauren POLO clothes and pants is more expensive than some widely-known "outlet" garment shops in Taipei, Macau (Trav. Praia Grande; Avenida de D. Joao IV), China (Shanghai Taobao City, XiangYang Market, but I heard 90+% of them are fake ones, and many other places like GuangZou, Zhuhai ), etc.

        Ralph Lauren official outlet online, Macy's (USA) clearance sale and some others provide with good-price, more assorted products,
        i.e.,   Macys is offering Ralph Lauren Andrew Stretch Lorduroy for big & tall, original price USD 125 down to USD24.99,
                 Shirt - Batik Striped Henley USD 98 down to USD 41.99.     May 15, 2010
        i.e.,   Ralph Lauren POLO outlet online offers 35 categories : Suits, Ties, belts, outwear, coats, leather goods, accessories, hats, etc. Costco Taiwan has
                 comparatively a lot smaller items to sell.

   (5)  Costco has not many watches (few kinds for each brand), I saw (early May 2010) a TISSOT - PRC200 leather ( watch for men ) for about USD 320 (NT9799), but Amazon offers cheaper price for about USD 259.99

          http://www.amazon.com/Tissot-PRC200-Mens-Watch-T17-1-526-52/dp/B000KKO894/ref=pd_sim_dbs_watch_1

          Omega is bringing a suit case against Costco for selling their products, but I don't see any Omega watches in here.

   (6)  CostCo Taiwan doesn't have online products , but Costco USA and Canada do.  see below :

   (7)   <Fast Company> described Costco as an enterprise thinking highly of customers (higher than Costco stock-holders), but, Costco Taiwan Neihu doesn't have any email-box for customer's suggestion and communication since 1995,  in contrast,  Carrefour Taiwan, RT-Mart Taiwan, and Costco USA all do have.

   (8)   I only saw small number of top brand sport-shoes (for running, basketball, etc, May 2010 ) in aisles of merchandise stacked floor-to-ceiling.
          Costco sells less than 4000 kinds of products, others ( major rivals are RT-Mart of Taiwan and China, French Carrefour ) are between 40000
            and 80000 .

   (9)   Costco declares giving U.S. merchandise a local twist, but NeiHu store only has some sushi, I don't see (middle May '10) any fresh Japanese
          sashimi, which is  most favorite food in all 5 star hotels in Taiwan.

   (10)   Quite many items Costco sells are large-packed, if you don't have large refrigerator, probably better choose RT-mart or Carrefour nearby. 

Costco Taiwan focuses on high-income, high-education market segmentation.

Costco said Taiwanese love imported products, unlike Japanese and Korean have strong brands of their own.  So, about two-fifths of the chain's merchandise is imported from USA.   Costco wants to make it as authentic as possible,  also localize.

Some customers feel Costco treats them as thieves for Costco's double checking customers receipts, Costco said their barcode scanner sometimes may make mistakes, that's why .... 

( reported 2010)

　

Costco legal events

costco

Costco imported sausage suspect to be contain Salmonella CNA (Central News Agency) Published: 2010-01-26 09:18 PM Costco's exclusive, US imported DANIELE Italian-style sausage is suspected to be polluted by Salmonella, Costco informed the related authority and members to return the goods. Taiwan government stated the 283G×3PK goods looks abnormal, Costco is informing customers by telephone or email.

　

costco

COSTCO sells false NuBra     Aug. 16, '05   Apple Daily News, Taiwan 看現場... 　  Two Costco stores in Taiwan were accused by NuBra (brought a law suit by Mr. Jasper Chang) for selling low quality NuBra which is imported directly  from Costco USA, instead of being imported from NuBra company.

to be continued ...
　

PS: Liberty Times , Feb. 13, 2012:  Carrefour and RT-Mart in Neihu were found by Taiwan's government that their beef imported from the US contain banned drug, Ractopamine.

article ref : www.cw.com.tw , The Wall Street Journal, Apple Daily News, and Chinese magazine 《經理人月刊》      facial palsy