Costco’s Kirkland Signature pumpkin pie is back in the bakery case, and it is the same question every year: is the big one still cheap enough to bother.
Reported warehouse prices this fall put the pie at about $5.99 to $6 for a 58-ounce, 12-inch pie. That is the figure shoppers and bakery price sheets have been quoting since the last increase, around 2021. Treat it as a reported ticket. A Columbus or West Chester warehouse can differ by a little, and the pie is seasonal, not a permanent item number you can count on in July.
What you actually get is a whole pie, not a slice program. The label is built around 12 servings. In practice it cuts closer to 12 to 16 if you are feeding a weeknight table and not a photo. At $6, that is roughly 40 to 50 cents a slice before tax. A grocery-store pie in the same week is often smaller and not much cheaper. A bakery pie from a local shop will beat it on crust and lose on price.
The crust is the complaint that shows up every year. Filling is consistent, sweet, and fine next to coffee. Crust is the commercial kind. If the crust is the point of pie for you, this is not your pie. If the point is a pumpkin dessert on the table for the price of two gas-station slices, it is.
Ohio shoppers do not need a liquor-law detour for this one. The pie is a bakery item. Membership is required. Food-court counters at Costco now ask for a card too, so the old trick of walking in only for the hot dog does not cover a bakery run. Nearest warehouses for Ross, Pike, and Pickaway readers are in the Columbus and Cincinnati rings, not in Chillicothe. Call the bakery counter before you drive. Seasonal pies sell through on the weekend before Thanksgiving, and a Tuesday pallet is not a Saturday pallet.
It is not a collector item and it is not a loss you should freeze and forget. Pumpkin pie freezes, but the crust pays for it. Buy it the week you mean to serve it.
Bottom line: if your warehouse has it near $6 and you need a plain pumpkin pie for a crowd, it is still the cheap whole pie in American grocery. If you want a crust people talk about, spend the money in town.
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