Creeping price hikes have become all too common for consumers recently and Costco has generally been a safe haven for savvy shoppers due to its bulk buys and competitive prices. 

However, the retailer has upped the prices on some of its popular goods recently.

For instance, while most Costco warehouses have gas stations with prices lower than competitors in that area, the company has quietly increased its prices on gas. Costco gas tends to be thirty to fifty cents cheaper than other gas stations, according to GoBankingRates, which is based on prices listed by the GasBuddy app.

EatThis,NotThat! (ETNT) reported that shoppers across the U.S. and Canada saw notable price increases on Kirkland Signature organic extra virgin olive oil. At one store in Brooklyn the oil jumped from $16.99 in March 2023 to $24.99 this year, according to ETNT.

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Membership fees, according to reports, may see an uptick in price. During the chain’s fiscal-first-quarter earnings call, former Costco CFO Richard Galanti hinted at a price increase on the company’s popular CostcoGold and Executive memberships — the first time the memberships have increased since 2017. The increase could be anywhere between $5 and $10. The company reported its total cardholders increased to 132 million as of the end of the second quarter, a 7.3% increase over the same period a year ago.

Galanti added that there’s been improved profitability in gasoline, however, and the club has been able to increase prices in line with the market, according to The Street.

“What we have found is we’ve been able to see improved profitability, not just in the last quarter or two, but over the last few years, the last three to five years, improved profitability in gas because others are making more and we’re allowed to make a little more,” Galanti said. 

“When we do our competitive price shops on gas, which we do weekly at every gas station we operate with neighboring competitive gas stations, our value proposition is actually increased — increased number of cents per gallon than we’ve ever seen,” he said. “So, that’s been, if you will, a win-win for us.”

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However, Galanti said at the earnings call that some items like furniture and other bulky lower-priced items may start falling in price due to reduced freight costs, The Street reports. 

“Some deflationary items were as much as 20% to 30% and, again, mostly freight-related,” he explained.

Meanwhile, in better news, Galanti said the $1.50 cost of the warehouse retailer’s hot dog and soda combo “is probably safe for a while.”

The hot dog and soda combo has long been a fixture of Costco’s food court, and so has its $1.50 price. The company hasn’t increased the combo’s cost in the roughly four decades it has offered it, thanks to a pledge from its founders, FOX Business previously reported.

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Elsewhere, Fox Business reported last month that the retailer is now selling Kimbap, a dish similar to sushi, at competitive prices. It consists of rice and various ingredients wrapped in seaweed. The item has been a popular feature at Trader Joe’s, often selling out.

“You get 6 kimbap for $18, making it slightly cheaper than TJ’s,” one Reddit user wrote under the Costco thread. “Solid 8/10. We will definitely be getting it again once it’s back in stock.”

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James Simons left behind a legacy in mathematics, finance and philanthropy, as well as a massive personal fortune and a yacht, when he passed away at age 86 last week.

The billionaire, who founded the extremely successful hedge fund Renaissance Technologies, built up a personal fortune worth $31.4 billion over the course of his lifetime and used billions of that money for charity, according to Forbes. His charitable organization, the Simons Foundation that he co-founded with wife Marilyn, provides funding for science, education, autism and other areas.

At one point in the 2000s, Simons reportedly used some of his wealth to acquire a yacht for himself. Outlets like the BBC and CNN have identified him over the years as the owner of the Feadship-built Archimedes.

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The yacht, built in 2008, is about 222 feet long and can sail at speeds of up to 16 knots, per BOAT International. In 2018, it received a refit. 

The Plymouth Marine Laboratory said in mid-February that Simons and his wife were “support[ing] marine research in some of the most remote and least studied parts of the ocean” with the Archimedes. Scientists affixed a light-measuring instrument to the vessel to help with their research, according to the organization. 

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In March, the yacht received a Science & Discovery award at the YCM Explorer Awards in Monaco for its contributions to ocean exploration and research, a Feadship press release said.

FOX Business reached out to the Simons Foundation for comment regarding the yacht.

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Simons and his wife together have dolled out charitable contributions totaling around $6 billion, Forbes reported. 

He left his role as chairman of Renaissance Technologies, which operates the Medallion Fund, back in 2021, over a decade after his retirement as the hedge fund’s CEO.

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