Costco Food Court Change Triggers Frenzy Over Must-Have Collectible
Costco’s Pepsi-to-Coke move makes food court history a hot collectible.
How much would you pay for a Costco food court sign featuring the iconic $1.50 hot dog?
That's a question superfans of the big, beautiful membership-only box store are pondering as Costco begins its pivot from Pepsi to Coke as its signature fountain drink option.
With that change came the need to switch out the hot dog signs. You know where we're going here — those signs are now valuable pieces of Americana art.
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According to Costco employees who post on Costco Reddit, at least one store in Ohio auctioned off its $1.50 sign to store employees. "Switching to coke, we have had requests for the old hot dog sign. Because of this, we will auction it off to the highest bidder," a notice read in the Ohio store.
The iconic Costco hot dog signs are now popping up on Facebook Marketplace after the big box store changed its food court signature drink from Pepsi to Coke. / Stephanie Keith/Bloomberg via Getty Images
A Reddit user in that same thread claimed to have secured one of the hot dog signs at a store in suburban Chicago. That sign is now on Facebook Marketplace with a $700 asking price. Faris Shadid, the man who listed the sign, tells OutKick that his icon sign find is plastic.
"Right place at the right time. And it’s not for sale. Just happy to have it," Shadid told a Reddit user before having a change of heart.
Meanwhile, an employee at a Costco in Columbus, OH reported that an employee had bid $150 for the store's hot dog sign.
Will someone blow $700 on a piece of iconic pop art? What's a conversation piece worth these days?
Why is the Costco hot dog sign so iconic?
Legend has it that the Costco hot dog price was set at $1.50 in 1985. Based on inflation, that $1.50 should cost $4.59, but company co-founder Jim Sinegal, who is now 89, famously told one of his successors that changing the price of the hot dog combo was out of the question.
Craig Jelinek, who served as Costco CEO until 2023, approached Sinegal years ago about the price and got an ear full.
"I came to (Sinegal) once and I said, ‘Jim, we can’t sell this hot dog for a buck fifty," Jelineck said in 2022. "We are losing our rear ends.’ And he said, ‘If you raise (the price of the) effing hot dog, I will kill you. Figure it out.’ That’s all I really needed."
Jelinek added: "By the way, if you raised (the price) to $1.75, it would not be that big of a deal. People would still buy (it). But it’s the mindset that when you think of Costco, you think of the $1.50 hot dog (and soda)."