High-price ice among Costco attractions
A 3.02 carat pear-shaped clarity solitaire diamond platinum ring sits on one side of the new Costco Warehouse at Westgate.
Its price? $149,999.99.
Few goods displayed prices at the members-only megastore yesterday.
Australasian boss Patrick Noone wasn’t disclosing prices but all will be revealed when the store opens at 8am on Wednesday.
Diamonds, sapphires, emeralds and pearls in glass display cabinets near the entrance are among the items already priced.
So are hearing aids. A pair of Kirkland Signature digital rechargeable hearing aids are $1999.99, Phonak rechargeable aids are $3999.99 while Philips’ rechargeables are $2999.99 a pair.
Audiology tests will be free and Noone said the aids would be delivered in about three days.
Cartier glasses frames with 18 carat gold trims are $1399 with free tests from an optician available.
Noone said people had already booked tests online and are coming in next week.
“A turnaround of seven to 10 days is envisaged,” Noone said.
“We have a system where we take the prescription to Seattle and they collect the lenses and put them in the frame in Sydney then transport them to Auckland.”
An Omega Seamaster stainless steel men’s watch is $27,999.99.
A Versace men’s watch is $1249, while a ladies’ Longines is $6449.99. Fossil, Ostrich and Skagen are other brands being sold at the warehouse.
The 10ft Towering Animated Reaper is ready for Halloween, intoning “save the last dance for me”, his skeleton lighting up in neon green, life-like LCD eyes, “realistic head turning and jaw movement, suitable for indoor and covered outdoor use”.
He retails across the Tasman for A$319.99 ($362).
Beside him is the animated digiteye soothsaying Halloween witch in purple and black, near an animated life-size headless horse rider in a soldier’s outfit with a pumpkin.
“In Australia, they’re pretty much selling out. The scale and size is unique and local retailers would have nothing like this,” Noone says of the Halloween merchandise.
A nearby glass cabinet displays many luxury branded handbags.
A black Yves St Laurent Niki medium shoulder bag is $3999.99. A Bvlgari handbag is $4599.99, YSL’s Loulo small quilted black bag is $3199.99 while a Tory Burch Kira Chevron mini bag is $549.99.
These handbags are most popular at Valentine’s Day, Mother’s Day and Christmas, Noone says.
Life-sized 1.8m nutcracker soldiers with music and LED lights have been produced in red, green and gold.
They sell for US$499.99 ($856) at Costco in the States but the price of these statement Christmas pieces was unavailable yesterday. Overseas advertising says the soldiers sing up to eight different Christmas songs.
One of the most eye-catching products on entering the warehouse are the lines of 4-metre artificial pre-lit Christmas trees, with radiant micro LED lights, selling for more than $1000 each overseas.
Clothing brands include Calvin Klein, Puma, Ben Sherman, Tommy Hilfiger, Nordica, adidas, Sportscraft and Canterbury. Noone isn’t saying how much the popular 1.5kg roasted chickens will be, only that they sell for A$6.99 in Australia.
But he does point to eight huge ovens, which he expects to run throughout trading hours, selling “thousands” of the chickens a day.
Electric Sur-Ron off-road electric dirt bikes sell in Australia for A$5899.99 and are stocked here. Advertising says these are specifically made for mountainous terrain but are light and quiet with no clutch or complicated gears.