9 things that might surprise you about Costco, according to a couple who visited over 200 stores

According to David and Susan, Costco's staple $4.99 rotisserie chicken — beloved by fans for its flavor, tenderness, and affordable price — is only sold on the shelf for approximately two hours.

Batches of the chickens are time-stamped as soon as they're finished cooking, David said. Once placed on the shelf, any birds that aren't bought within that timeframe are removed "because it doesn't taste as good after two hours," he added.

That's not to say that any leftover rotisserie chicken goes to waste, the couple noted in their book "The Joy of Costco: A Treasure Hunt from A to Z." They said they learned the meat is repurposed for things such as soups, salads, or tacos.

While Costco's rotisserie chicken enjoys widespread popularity (there is even an entire Facebook fan page dedicated to it with over 19,000 followers), it's not immune to controversy.

In 2019, the chain spent upwards of $450 million building a chicken-processing plant in Nebraska, CNN Business reported, in order to provide two million chickens per week for Costco and help maintain the rotisserie chicken's low price. In 2022, however, a lawsuit was brought in Seattle alleging "Costco illegally neglects and abandons its chickens." The suit is ongoing and Costco did not respond to Insider's requests for further comment.

Unlike in Costco locations in the US and the UK, the retailer's hallmark rotisserie chicken looks slightly different in Taiwan.

According to Susan, the chickens are sold with heads still intact, as is customary in the region.

Susan and David said one of their favorite things about Costco is how the retailer treats their employees.

"The turnover rate of employees says it all," Susan said. "If you make it through the first year, the turnover rate is less than 9%."

They said employees receive a number of benefits and perks for working at Costco. In the US, that includes taking home a free turkey each Thanksgiving.

The couple's finding is backed up by a number Costco employees, who confirmed the holiday tradition existed to Business Insider in 2019.

"Every employee at Costco gets a free turkey for the holidays," an employee from Minnesota said. "They can pick them up starting mid-November through Christmas."

The employee from Minnesota added that workers also have the option to donate the freebie turkey to charity.

David and Susan say they regularly shop at Costco during the holidays. From their experience, you need to "move fast" in order to snag festive staples as they tend to run out quickly.

It might only be the fall, but Susan said that traditional Christmas items and food have already been sold in the warehouses since August. "If you want to get your holiday things, you better get on it right now," she advised.

And speaking of the festive season, the couple said that during their research, they learned that Costco sells a wild amount of pumpkin pies each year between September and December: roughly six million.

One of the most popular items on the menu at any Costco food hall around the world is the signature hot dog and soda combo, sold for $1.50 since 1985.

The hot dogs are so popular that the authors say they learned Costco sells seven times more hotdogs than all major league baseball stadiums combined.

What many shoppers may also not realize is how different the hot dog toppings are around the world.

In the US, staple toppings include ketchup, mustard, and relish. But over in Iceland, for example, fried crispy onions are also an option for customers to enjoy with their hot dogs.

In South Korea, David and Susan said they saw shoppers create their own "custom" kimchi to eat with hot dogs, and in Mexico, pickled jalapenos were among the topping options.

At a glance, a Costco warehouse might look the same no matter where you are in the world. But upon closer inspection, there are key differences, according to the couple.

"It's always the same but it's always a little different," Susan said.

They estimate that about 40% of the 3,800 curated items in each Costco warehouse are region-specific.

Along their travels, they came across many local delicacies sold in international Costco's, such as reindeer sausage in Alaska, Montreal-style bagels and poutine cheese curds in Canada, dried sea cucumber and pizza with seafood topping in China, green tea soft serve ice cream in Japan, and golden kimchi in South Korea.

Costco employees might seem relaxed and eager to help when you walk into your local store, but according to David and Susan, they are in "pandemonium" just minutes before opening.

During the process of writing their book, the couple was granted access to observe how employees at a Costco in Sterling, Virginia, get the warehouse ready for opening, or what they like to call "showtime ready."

Costco in the US is typically open from 10 a.m. onward, but David said that at 9:30 a.m., the store is in "total pandemonium and chaos."

"You cannot believe what goes on," he added.

Despite the chaos, employees always manage to get things in order before opening, David said: "At 9:45, boom, it's ready to go. It's showtime."

Whenever Costco decides to open a new store, the couple says the company works with the local community to ensure that its new warehouse doesn't cause traffic jams that last "for the rest of eternity."

"When they're going into a new community, they will tell the community zoning people, 'Here's what we're gonna do, we're gonna plop this warehouse down, but we're also going to add landscaping to the area and we're going to redesign the traffic flow,'" David said.

David and Susan say they were particularly intrigued by how popular Costco is in different communities.

For example, during their visit to Lancaster County in Pennsylvania, home to an estimated 30,000 members of the Amish community, the couple say they learned just how much of a hit Costco was with the locals.

"The Amish love Costco," David said. While visiting, they even said they saw a shed in the parking lot of a Costco for the Amish "to park their horses and buggies" while they shopped.

"They're looking for ways to save money and they're looking for quality goods," he added. "Costco provides a very convenient way for buying large quantities for large Amish families."