<p class="ingestion featured-caption">Costco and Trader Joe's provide very different shopping experiences.Daniel Pockett/Getty Images, Robert Alexander/Getty Images</p><ul class="summary-list"><li>As an adult living in the US, I usually buy groceries at Trader Joe's. </li><li>I love the frozen food, the cozy interior design, and how I can be in and out within 20 minutes.</li></ul><p><a target="_blank" href="https://www.insider.com/which-foods-to-get-from-trader-joes-list-photos">Trader Joe's</a> and <a target="_blank" href="https://www.insider.com/costco-shopping-list-empty-nesters-travel-out-of-state-2023-11">Costco</a> both have huge cult followings.</p><p>But up until recently, I didn't have enough first-hand experience with Costco to understand its appeal. For the most part, I do my grocery shopping at Trader Joe's. My reasoning is pretty simple: it's convenient, the prices are reasonable, and I love the cutesy aesthetic.</p><p>That said, I've been curious to see what Costco is all about since I first spoke with superfans David and Susan Schwartz, who have <a target="_blank" href="https://www.insider.com/costco-super-fans-visited-over-200-stores-around-the-world-2023-9">visited over 200 warehouses</a>. They love Costco so much that they self-published <a target="_blank" class href="https://affiliate.insider.com?h=f016bffbe48222d04d097776b4426c2b46286050d390cc404b3875f75c6eeec9&postID=6578afbef1dbb59a62a8881d&postSlug=grocery-shopping-costco-trader-joes-comparison-photos-2023-12&site=bi&u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.amazon.com%2FJoy-Costco-Treasure-Hunt%2Fdp%2F1959505009%2F%3Fasc_refurl%3Dhttps%253A%252F%252Fwww.insider.com%252F%26asc_source%3Dbrowser%26asc_campaign%3Dcommerce-pra%26tag%3Dbiauto-62393-20">their first book about the wholesaler</a> in September.</p><p>I got to see Costco through their lens on <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/costco-surprising-things-i-learned-shopping-with-superfans-2023-12">a recent tour</a> of the Brooklyn warehouse and found it to be a vastly different shopping experience from Trader Joe's. Here's why.</p>