A core memory has been unlocked for hordes of Bay Area women who came of age in the late 1980s and early 1990s, coveting a certain brand of clothing. And it’s all going down at Costco.
On Wednesday morning, female shoppers were gathered around a table in the clothing section of the Concord warehouse store, sifting through piles of brightly colored Esprit sweatshirts and connecting with absolute strangers over one of the biggest symbols of Gen X nostalgia.
“No rainbow?” said Maritza Carranza-Stafford of Martinez, referring to the throwback white version with the famous, crayon-colored “Esprit” logo in block letters. Instead, she modeled the alpine green, which has white lettering, and the monochromatic navy versions for her toddler squatting in a giant shopping cart. “Benji, this is what you call retro mania,” she said. “People are looking for comfort.”
It’s true. Shortly after unveiling the collaboration this week, Costco sold out of the item online. But here in the Bay Area, you can still find it at a few locations. In fact, SFGATE reached out to a total of five Bay Area Costco stores, including Danville, Pleasanton, San Francisco and Redwood City, and all reported having at least a few hundred units still available in their warehouses.
The sweatshirts, true to size and made primarily of cotton, cost $16.99 each at the Costco in Concord. They have a relaxed fit and are extremely soft; wearing one may trigger extreme memories of MTV and Orange Julius.
Esprit was founded in San Francisco in 1968. The brand lost its mojo in the early aughts, closing its remaining U.S. stores in 2012 and filing for Chapter 7 bankruptcy in October 2024. While you can still find traces of Esprit at a few retailers — Nordstrom Rack carries a handful of shoes, for instance — most finds are relegated to vintage stores and secondhand sites like Poshmark.
Back at Costco, which doesn’t have dressing rooms, customers were trying on the cozy crew necks right in the aisle and asking one another to act as mirrors. Jackie Kuennen, visiting from Iowa, was debating between an extra small and small. She wasn’t a teenager in the ’90s, but her aunt was, so she knows the reverence around the brand.
After savoring online comments that celebrated the retro item, she headed out for a grocery run and made a beeline for the clothing department.
“I was hoping they had the rainbow, too,” Kuennen admitted. “I still think it’s fun though.”
Vanessa Fernando of Benicia saw the Esprit collaboration on Instagram and rushed over to the Costco in Concord. She grew up in the Philippines wearing Esprit. She had the shoes and the T-shirts — but not the oversized crew necks. “It was too humid in the Philippines for sweatshirts, but I’m buying one now.”
And, Costco, if you’re reading this, every woman interviewed for this story had one request: Please bring back the tote bags.