Costco is secretly becoming a go-to beauty destination

Costco has a much older core demographic than other retailers including Sam’s Club, Walmart, and Target — their typical shopper is aged 65+. While older shoppers tend to be wealthier, still, every retailer wants to be perceived as trendy, and for this you need young customers. So Costco figured, what is it that all the kids are into these days? Taking selfies, of course. And carefully curating their best lives all over social media. And who doesn’t want to put their best face forward when it’ll be appearing on thousands of other people’s feeds? Ergo, much need for beauty product.

As Glossy tells it, as far back as 2013 Costco was partnering with Hatch Beauty for in-store promos that included products designed by celebrity hairstylists and makeup artists. By 2015, Costco’s budget-friendly bespoke beauty products led Refinery29 to call them “the best new beauty store.” In 2017 Costco added premium brands like SK-II to its selection, and 2018 brought natural, Ayurveda, and Korean beauty products. In 2019 the retailer expanded its range of Japanese beauty products, and also began adding trendy hair and skincare brands like Coola, Briogeo, Boscia, and Perricone MD.