As more of life moves online, people are finding an in-person connection somewhere unexpected: the aisles and food court of their local Costco.The membership warehouse club — known for its bulk grocery items and huge packs of home supplies — has joined the likes of bars, churches and parks as a public spot where people socialize, make friends and may spark or renew romance.Costco has become what sociologists call a "third place," a communal gathering spot where people build community outside their home and work environments, USA Today reported.GROCERY STORE SWITCH COULD SAVE AMERICANS MONEY WHILE SHAKING UP DINNER ROUTINES"Costco has turned shopping into an experience, not just an errand," Phil Lempert, a consumer and trend analyst known as the "SupermarketGuru," told Fox News Digital."You go in for paper towels and walk out having sampled food, discovered something unexpected and maybe bumped into someone you know.
Their secret sauce is the sampling."University of California, Davis students Sharon Hwang, Katrina Le and Steven Zhang organize a group of fellow students for a trip to their local Costco for a food-court meal once or twice a quarter, USA Today reported."If something small like a Costco trip can help someone meet new friends or feel a little bit connected, then I feel like we accomplished something," Hwang told the publication.Costco has become an unexpected place for shoppers to socialize, make friends and even find romance as Americans seek more face-to-face connection.(Patrick T.
Fallon/AFP via Getty Images)Friends and social media influencers Analyse Talavera and Carmen Rene Smith have traded costly dinner catchups for Costco errand runs."Especially in this economy, instead of going out and dropping $200 on dinner — which Analyse and I are good for — we go to Costco and stock up on meal prep for the week and then top it off with a $3 fro yo," Smith told USA Today."Costco creates a kind of retail ritual: the treasure hunt, the samples, the f...