No More Costco Hotdogs for Non-members

This downtown Costco's food court is outside the warehouse

Costco's downtown on Expo Boulevard is in an excellent location, steps away from the SkyTrain station, across from BC Place and not far from Rogers Arena. What makes this Costco intriguing is that its food court is located just outside the warehouse store, not inside it.

And for years non-members have been taking advantage of the C$1.50 hotdogs with a cup of soda, pizza, chicken strips and poutine.

Non-members like the $1.50 hotdog and drink

It's probably the cheapest fast food around, beating out McDonald's at C$7.69. If you buy a hotdog at Rogers Arena, it will set you back a whopping C$9.49.

One would have thought having the food court outside at that particular location would be a great revenue stream for Costco, with streams of people coming there to get cheap food for a snack, lunch or dinner, but that will all come to an end on August 5.

Signs have gone up outside the Costco entrance, saying that customers will have to show their Costco membership card before being able to purchase items at the food court.

Today the media descended on this Costco location, asking people what they thought of this news and it was divided; members felt it should be a privilege to take advantage of the cheap food, why others who are not members and are on tight budgets are disappointed.

Signs went up today to dismay of non-members

One man interviewed said he came to this outlet two to three times a week for the cheap hotdogs.

The media tried to ask Costco why they made this announcement now, but the company would only confirm the signs were correct.

So what prompted this change? Was it complaints by members? Too much extra garbage? Unable to keep up with demand? Why have the food court outside of the warehouse store in the first place?

Many questions, and few answers...