Inside Costco: 8 Kirkland Products That Flopped (And Food Court Fails)

I have worked in the media for many years and have witnessed the rise and fall of many retailers. Not many brands have captured the public’s imagination like Kirkland Signature. People associate the name with value and often surprisingly good quality. Walk into Costco and you’ll see familiar red and black labels everywhere inside.

This sense of trust wasn’t built by accident from the start. Keep in mind that Costco introduced the Kirkland Signature back in 1995. they named it after their first office location in Washington. Since then, they have launched hundreds of items.

There is a lot of work that needs to be done before the merchandise is approved for labeling. Even the CEO has to agree first. The CEO said that Kirkland’s products had to be high quality and low cost. This obsession is exactly why the brand has received so many accolades.

But truth be told, even the best brands fail or stumble at times.Kirkland Signature, while promising value for money, has its moments. Not all new products are big hits. Sometimes people’s favorite products disappear from the shelves for no apparent reason.

1. **Kirkland Hazelnut Spread**: Ah, something creamy and chocolatey always sounds great. nutella is a juggernaut in the marketplace, and is delicious spread on just about anything. So Costco saw an opportunity to introduce a cheaper bulk product. The name of this product was Kirkland Hazelnut Spread. they put it up against the popular name brand. People bought it cheaper as well.

At first, a lot of people liked it. But not enough Americans continued to buy it. Sales were too small to sustain it for a long time. It was reportedly only sold in U.S. stores for a short time before it disappeared.

Shoppers speculated that its failure in the U.S. was due to competition with Nutella. The U.S. market loyal to Nutella is very strong. The lower price was not enough to beat the trust of the big brands. Interestingly, the same spread apparently performed well overseas. This shows that market conditions are very different in different places.

2. **Kirkland Signature Light Beer**: In the United States, beer has always sold well. Goodwill (Costco) jumped in with a big box of cheap light beer. Buying 48 cans of beer for not much money seems like a dream. And it’s still under the trusted Kirkland name.

But unfortunately for flavors everywhere, it’s just too much of a no-brainer. Kirkland Light Beer quickly gets bad reviews. The price was okay, but the flavor was terrible for many.

However, the poorly made drink was soon taken off the shelves. It ended its stay there in 2018. But the story of its failure is still circulating for years now. The internet is still buzzing with people reminiscing about how bad it was. One post called it the worst beer ever. They said that some people would drink a warm beer or an old beer, but this one was thrown away. This kind of talk shows how badly it failed.

3. **Kirkland Signature Cola**: Some products quickly fade completely from memory. It takes internet users or regular customers to remember they exist. Like Kirkland’s Signature Cola, another unsuccessful attempt. People say Costco briefly sold its own sodas in the early 2000s.

These included Kirkland Signature Cola and a diet version. These sodas tried the flavors of the Coca-Cola or Pepsi giants. They offered inexpensive sodas in large packages. Unlike beer, Coke was not really disliked by people.

In any case, the feedback on its flavor was not very negative. But its problem is that it doesn’t get enough love to compete with the big brands. One shopper on the old site said that big brand Coke was the iconic name. Having a dominant market share is impossible to beat, they said. That’s too hard for Kirkland’s Coke brand. It crept out of the stores. Nonetheless, I appreciate what they’re trying to do.

4. **Kirkland Signature American Cheese**: Plastic American cheese slices can be debated. Some people really like the salty, meltable kind. For those fans, Kirkland had a product for a while. This bulk Kirkland Signature American Cheese looks like a Kraft single slice. It gives a similar feel, but at a cheaper price than the Costco bulk.

Most fans say this version is not bad. It fulfills the expectations of what people expect from this cheese. Unlike other failures, this one seems to be okay in terms of quality. Costco’s target demographic also had good things to say about it.

But despite this, the slices went out of business around 2019. And no one ever said why it was taken off the shelves. Shoppers speculated that perhaps people were buying less processed cheese overall these days. That could have dropped product sales too much. Whatever the reason, cheese fans are saddened and will have to look elsewhere.

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5. **Kirkland Signature boxed macaroni and cheese**: Boxed mac and cheese will satisfy parents’ need for a quick snack. Brands like Kraft and Annie’s fill the shelves where you see them. For a while, the Kirkland Signature label appeared on boxes of macaroni and cheese. It’s not clear from the text exactly when it appeared and disappeared.

But online accounts do confirm that it existed for a while. However, there were major quality issues with this mac and cheese. It is widely regarded as having a bad taste in food.

It’s not just a matter of preference; many people think it’s terrible. How did they make boxed mac and cheese taste so bad? The answer disappeared with the passage of time, and thankfully this awful product is now gone.

6. **Kirkland Signature Chocolate Chips**: Kirkland’s Signature Chocolate Chips have been a top choice for some time. Their cookies and treats are reasonably priced and trustworthy.
So when the news broke online in the summer of 2024, everyone was shocked. Costco had stopped selling these favorite chocolate chips forever. Confused shoppers asked why this good stuff was now gone. Costco staffers offered an explanation.

One fan shared the answer they got from Costco on Reddit. They said the cost of cocoa has recently risen by nearly 200 percent. The change affects all items within the category. The decision was tough, but the cost means that Kirkland’s chips are no longer valuable compared to the big brands. This breaks the promise made for the value of Kirkland’s products. Maybe this goodie will come back in the future when Cocoa drops in price.

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7. **Kirkland Signature cheeseburger**: What could be more American than a delicious, juicy burger? Costco tried selling the dish in food courts back then.In 2017, the Kirkland Signature Cheeseburger started being sold in some locations. It was testing the waters at the time, perhaps hoping for a big burger hit.

But like the hopes for the return of potato chips, the burger dream ended in failure. You see, the trial burger was underwhelming. It ended its trial run in 2020 and it wasn’t special at all. Feedback said the flavor was mediocre and not exciting enough.

In addition, big problems during the run added to the trouble. One person, allegedly a staff member, said the whole thing was a failure. They said the equipment needed cost a lot of money. Ordering patties for the food court cost too much. Keeping the burger grill running requires constant eyes. Despite some fans, the burger lacked broad appeal and faced too many problems for the cost. The lesson was learned the hard way that not everything new is a hit at Costco.

8. **Kirkland Signature Traditional Fruitcake**: Fruitcake is a holiday food that people either love dearly. Around Christmas time, this cake is a hot seller in the bakery section of Costco. This cake is filled with fruits like cherries and pineapple. Pecans and walnuts are also often found in this version.

Some fruitcake lovers may enjoy this cake. But unfortunately, it never lived up to the high standards of Kirkland Bakery. Many people have complained about the quality of its flavors. Some customers felt that the interior of this cake really lacked flavor. Its texture was often described as dry and crunchy to eat. No one expects a fruitcake to have this kind of texture.

Some people said it was the worst fruitcake they had ever eaten. It was probably one of the worst fruitcakes they had ever eaten in their lives. Feedback like this makes it easy for them to decide not to buy it again in the future. Long after Covid-19 time had passed, it disappeared.

Here today, you have seen plenty of samples. The path to Kirkland Signature and the food court hasn’t been clear-cut. The mistakes and improvements reveal how Costco keeps developing its outlets. They have struck a mix between maintaining consumer satisfaction and value of quality. The inner operations of this retail behemoth firm are amazing. Every object that vanishes reveals something and helps people to understand what it is actually like.

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