Costco Muscles in on HOKA's Action With $32 Dad Shoes
Costco, America's best-loved bargain big-box, is much more than buck-fifty hot dogs. It is also... a running shoe store! At least for folks seeking a surprisingly savvy HOKA-style running shoe on the low, that is.
The plainly named "Kirkland Signature Comfort Walker" sneaker quietly arrived in Costco stores around April 2024, providing exactly what it sounds like: A plain walking shoe with a very HOKA-like chunky sole and mesh upper in a barbecue dad-friendly all-white colorway.
Costco's Kirkland dad shoes aren't quite as beefy as HOKA's running sneakers but an August 2024 tweet still deemed them "blatant HOKA dupes."
Which, well, they're certainly elderly enough.
Deal-craving Costco addicts — there is a truly insane amount of proud Costco guys — have since adopted the Comfort Walker with the enthusiasm of geriatrics filing into an early-bird special.
These folks are so enthusiastic about the Comfort Walker, in fact, that there's a Kirkland Signature Sneaker-specific section of the Costco subreddit packed with literally hundreds of raving comments.
The most popular Comfort Walker, white with a black outsole, is seemingly only available in-store for prices that range from $19.99 to about $40. But an all-black pair is available on Costco's website for $32.99 — look out, HOKA!
Now, personally, I abide by the principle that you get what you pay for.
Yes, the margins in fashion are infamously inflated to an often insane degree but when it comes to technical, lab-tested stuff like running shoes, I dunno how close a low-cost dupe can actually come to the real thing.
I'm thinking specifically of Costco's HOKA shoes, which cost upwards of $150 less than HOKA's conventional runners but same for the Kirkland Signature UGG-like slipper.
But the Costco Redditors are plenty pleased with their cheap walking shoes.
When the Kirkland sneaker even spreads to the oddly specific C8 Corvette subreddit, you know the love is real.
That even Costco is getting in on the chunky shoe scene that HOKA currently dominates is really a sign of times, reflective of HOKA's recent winning streak.
But say what you will about the perceived comfort of the Costco Comfort Walker — putting a little squishy foam underfoot goes a long way — they utterly lack HOKA's fashion-adjacent aesthetic. In fact, as one Redditor apty put it: "If you’re concerned about style, you’re not at the stage in your life where you’re ready to own these."
