Worst Costco stores where customers battle hellish parking and long lines revealed... along with the very best

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Few retailers can ignite brand loyalty like the members-only Costco chain, but its passionate customer base can be pretty picky about their favorite big box store.

The regular trip to buy everything from eternally $1.50 hot dogs to gasoline has become a ritual for those lucky enough to live near one of the 600 US locations. 

There's also a feeling of exclusiveness paying the $65 annual membership fee, that requires a certain level of quality, and a recent survey showed which Costcos live up to that standards — and which ones maybe don't.

'Costco members don't compare locations — they have their Costco. It's almost tribal loyalty,' wrote Carol Spieckerman, president of Spieckerman Retail and a retail analyst. 'They're not shopping around; they're committed.'

A survey of 6,000 customers found the highest-rated Costcos clustered across the heartland and the South, while the lowest-ranked were concentrated along the East Coast. 

Kansas edged out Kentucky for the top spot on the list, getting high marks across the  board in cleanliness, friendliness, stock quality of samples, quantity of samples and parking lots, according to FinanceBuzz.

The Meridian, Idaho location tied for top of the rankings scoring at least 9 points in five of the six categories, only just falling short in parking lot quality. 

The other top spot was the Fortune Road store in Indianapolis, Indiana, which fell shy of getting 9 out of 10 in both sample and parking lot quality.

Employee handing out food sample at a Costco store, Florida. Sample quantity and quality are measures of a store's quality in the FinanceBuzz survey

Crowded checkout lines at a Costco in Gaithersburg, Maryland

The state with the lowest rated Costcos overall, however, is Maryland, a state that overall scored 7 or 8 across five categories, but 6.7 on parking (good for 9th to last place).

'Where bottom-rated stores tend to suffer is in the areas of sample quality and quantity or, most commonly, parking quality,' said senior data researcher for FinanceBuzz Josh Kobert.

The complaints in the Baltimore and Maryland Reddits appear to bear that out, with Reddit users often noting their preferred Costco being the one with the best parking near them. 

'Owings mills is sooo stressful. The lines are always out the door and parking is hard to acquire during peak times. Definitely the best one stock wise though,' one user posted on Reddit.

Another Costco visitor wrote a scathing review for the Gaithersburg location: 'The parking lot is a major pain. It is usually not hard to find a spot on the first level, but one has to push the cart a very long way to get down there since stupidly there is no elevator.'

But Neil Saunders, managing director and retail analyst for GlobalData Retail, doesn't see enough of a difference across the rankings.

'The variance can be down to execution at individual stores, but Costco is pretty good at creating a consistent experience,' he said, while also stating he was a little skeptical of the sample size in the survey.

Members might be pretty forgiving of minor issues simply because of the sheer volume of offerings from the big box retailer. 

Few retailers can ignite brand loyalty like the members-only Costco chain

Cleanliness, friendliness, stock quality of samples, quantity of samples and parking lots were all categories considered in the state Costco rankings (pictured: empty boxes of frozen vegetables in a freezer case inside a New Jersey Costco)

The regular trip to buy everything from eternally $1.50 hot dogs to gasoline has become a ritual for those lucky enough to live near one of the 600 US locations

Carol Spieckerman, president of Spieckerman Retail

Cashback on Costco gas purchased on Costco credit cards would appeal to the cost-conscious saver, and upgrading checkout to allow purchases to be tallied up before a customer even reaches the register would help those in a hurry. 

Also, they even offer gold (sometimes) as another way of owning the shiny store of wealth.

Spieckerman's bottom lined the retailer's success in nailing that consistency, serving areas lacking in competition and providing great value, regardless of minor distinctions in store and parking lot sizes.

'The worst Costco is absolutely like the worst pizza — still delicious,' she said.