In the Grocery Store

[Tom Bender]

Yesterday I drove my neighbor to Costco (a warehouse style store). It is a big store but it is not real near so I never go there. It was quite busy, anywhere I stood I could see several people, maybe 500 shoppers in all. What struck me was the quiet. And everyone was very patient and friendly. An interesting experience.

[Bill Dufour]

The thing about membership stores is you have to have a job or be retired to join. People who work tend to be better behaved then most This also reduces the amount of bad checks they have to cover.
Bill D

[Don Orr]

Kind of sad commentary on our world that quiet, patient and friendly seemed unusual. Hopefully that experience becomes much more common.

Happy New Year!!!

[Ron Citerone]

I've done a lot of grocery shopping for holiday meals lately and have found people patient and friendly. There are some people on the road driving wild though, be careful on the roads!

Happy New Years to all!

[Jim Becker]

Costco members for quite a few years now. I was actually at two of them yesterday; our normal location for stuff I needed plus for gas in my vehicle and a second to pick up the specific car battery I needed that was not in stock at our normal location. I was back at our normal one today to take back the battery core, fill up Professor Dr SWMBO's vehicle with gas (which I actually drive the most at this point) and to get two items I forgot yesterday since I was there anyway. We do very well on the things we regularly buy from them in price, get back a healthy rebate annually (much, much more than the membership fee) and get additional cash back with the Costco Citi CC that's our primary card for many things now. They have the lowest gasoline prices available and it's "Top Tier" fuel...with another 4% rebate using the above mentioned payment card. I paid $3.14 today and the local average is about $3.59 near where we live.

A couple pieces of trivia...Costco sells more takeout pizza than any other outlet in the country (US). They are also the number one provider of hearing aids in the US. (me included) And where else can you get a decent quality foot long (literally) hotdog and 16 oz fountain drink for $1.50...

[Jack Frederick]

We and my daughter share a membership, meaning we have two cards to get in. Wife has one, daughter the other. We are making a Costco run on Monday when the car goes in for service. 45 min to 1hr away. The thing about shopping at Costco is once you get down to about 17 bars of soap you begin to get nervous. Our youngest daughter lives 10 minutes from a Costco and it is the go-to spot for them. Have to agree that it is not unpleasant at all shopping there and the quality of food and products is quite good.

[Bill McNiel]

FWIW - Costco's Headquarters are approximately 2 miles from me (moved from Kirkland to Issaquah) as is their flagship store where they stage for all their stores. Allways a pleasant experience and provides an interesting overview of the surrounding populace.

[Ken Fitzgerald]

I was at the local Costco yesterday.

[Jim Koepke]

I like some of their meat as the do carry USDA Prime graded in some varieties. Their Stew Beef is USDA Prime and priced competitively to Kroger's USDA Choice. Of course you have to get a 3 or 4 pound package instead of 1lb. Mine gets broken into multiple packs and frozen.

jtk

[Rob Luter]

We've been Costco members for years. It's a great place to pick up a bale of toilet paper :D

Seriously though, they are tough to beat for paper products, household staples like detergent, meat, fish, booze, wine, and especially items that are normally high markup like appliances, electronics, jewelry, and the like. Their cost plus business model works out well there.

We buy all our meat and fish there. The salmon is especially good, as is the pork loin. Like Jim K, I portion both out and freeze. The steaks are usually decent but were better pre-pandemic.

[Scott Clausen]

I have a Sam's Club and Costco memberships. I think Costco staff seem happier in general. If you look at the bulletin board outside the office that has pictures of employees many have been there decades.

[Jim Becker]

I like some of their meat as the do carry USDA Prime graded in some varieties. Their Stew Beef is USDA Prime and priced competitively to Kroger's USDA Choice. Of course you have to get a 3 or 4 pound package instead of 1lb. Mine gets broken into multiple packs and frozen.

jtk

I also buy meat and fish from them. Yes, the package quantity tends to be larger, but I routinely vacuum bag individual portions of things like steaks, chops, fish, etc. with anything other than fish pre-seasoned and ready to go into the Sous Vide bath after thawing. I'm certainly careful about how much I buy because we have limited mouths and even more limited freezer space. :) But it's a very economical way to buy meat. One thing...packages often do not have uniform portion sizes in them. That works for us because Professor Dr SWMBO prefers much smaller portions than I do, but it can be a consideration for some. When I opt to buy, say...NY Strip...I choose the biggest/thickest ones and they cut in half before vacuum bagging. Yea, not the same "shape" on the grill, but even a half-of-a-steak is a hefty portion!

[Dave Fritz]

We shop at Costco when were in town (65 miles away). We always get gas but have decided no to tires. The wait time is unpredictable. I may have an appointment but have waited over an hour anyway. That said, we do stock up on paper products, fish, some meat and canned good when they have them. It's hard to pass on all the prepared meals and yummy looking stuff however. I need blinders I guess like the old horse used to have. The credit card is sweet and the rebate lasts for a long time as our cash reserve.

[Jim Becker]

Dave, I use Costco for tires and don't even make an appointment once my tires are there...I arrive about a half-hour before the store "officially" opens and when the gates go up at fifteen minutes before the "official" opening time, quickly make my way to the tire center desk and do a walk-in for which my store permits. They generally pull mine in before the day's appointments start a half hour after "official" opening time and have the work done in about 45 minutes...just enough time to spend too much money in the store. :D Even if I had to wait, I'd still buy my tires there because of the excellent install/road hazard/lifetime rotate/balance that comes with the very low installation fee. And the tire price is better than I can get anywhere else with the usual manufacturer rebate-discount plus the membership rebate plus the Costco-Citi card rebate.

[Derek Meyer]

My wife and I are going to Costco this afternoon for our annual big buy, where we stock up on non-perishables for the year. We have and use the Costco Visa (Citibank) and love the cash back on purchases, especially for gas. Last time I got gas at our Costco, it was $2.92/gallon, whereas our local stations in Moscow were all $3.67. This was about a month ago. Our local stations have since come down a whopping 7 cents, to $3.60. I don't know what Costco is but I will find out today as I will be filling up.

[Brian Elfert]

The Costco stores near me are a madhouse on Friday evenings and Saturdays. Friday evenings more so in the summer when everybody is buying mass quantities of food for get togethers over the weekend. It is not uncommon on a Saturday afternoon to have 50 to 75 customers in line to check out, but it usually fairly orderly. I went to Costco on Wednesday during my lunch hour. I had to park in the back 40 during the day on a weekday. I suppose a lot of folks were off work this week.

The only reason I have a Costco membership is for my concession stand once a month for the warmer half of the year. My membership expires today and I don't plan to renew until April or May to save a few bucks. I would save enough for myself to justify a membership, but I save plenty on stuff for my concession stand.

[Adam Herman]

saves us a ton just on dog food alone.

had a delicious hotdog lunch a couple days ago at their location near fort Collins.

the store we used to go to burned down yesterday, along with the entire shopping center around it including a target due to the fire near boulder co.

[dennis thompson]

We have been members for years, I’m usually there every week or two.
Pretty good stock too, up 51% this year😊

[Lee DeRaud]

The thing about membership stores is you have to have a job or be retired to join.
Eh? Costco gives membership discounts to people in certain professions, but anybody with a valid government-issue photo ID and $60 can join.

[Bill Dufour]

Eh? Costco gives membership discounts to people in certain professions, but anybody with a valid government-issue photo ID and $60 can join.
Used to be you had to be employed or retired from a government or large employer. Ironic that costco was not really good enough to let their own workers join. But they bent the rules and let them shop there.
Bill D

[Lee DeRaud]

Used to be you had to be employed or retired from a government or large employer. Ironic that costco was not really good enough to let their own workers join. But they bent the rules and let them shop there.
Bill D
You may be thinking of the UK version of Costco, which runs by different rules than its US counterpart even now. https://customercare.costco.co.uk/app/answers/detail/a_id/85/kw/membership

One of Costco's predecessors (Price Club) required you to be a business owner, but that went away with the Costco/PriceClub merger in the '90. AFAICT Costco itself never had membership restrictions, just different membership price tiers.
https://www.mashed.com/283026/costcos-membership-requirements-used-to-be-a-lot-different/

[Perry Hilbert Jr]

Those big member shopping warehouses really tick me off. In the past 25 yrs, I have been members at Costco, BJ's and Sam's Club as well as two others that went out of business. BJ's has a much bigger selection than the others, but the prices are often a few cents higher than our grocery store. I can frequently find things cheaper at Walmart than at Sam's Club and the lines and waiting at costco in Lancaster pa are just ridiculous time wastes. In addition, the electronics are often higher than at Best Buy and Best Buy carries newer stock. To top it off, we have a couple of discount grocery and produce outlets near here. Went to the grocery outlet yesterday morning. 8 oz pkgs of Brie were 2 for a $1. The expiration date is January 1, 2022. I bought six of them. We don't eat brie, but that is dirt cheap just to cut into chunks as dog treats. They had holiday cheese trays on close out, $1.50 for 24 oz of cheddar and colby cheese chunks. Exp date January 14, 2022. I'll freeze it and use it for broccoli cheese soup or mac and cheese. 3 lbs of Canadian bacon slices for $3.00 same thing buy it and into the freezer. Tropicana Orange juice Expiration date 1-10-22, (we had screwdrivers last night) Two 48 oz bottles for $2.00. The problem with the grocery outlet, is you never know what they will have. We have a produce auction nearby every Tuesday evening. Anything and everything. A couple years ago, I bought 80 pounds of limes for $4.00. I squeezed them all and froze the juice. I am still making Limeade. Bought a case of pluots for $2. One New Years eve, I bought ten gallons of rum raisin ice cream for $3.00. I fed it to the hogs we had at the time. Bought a case of fresh ginger once. 25 cents. Took it home, sliced and candied it. Again, you never know what they will have, but they will have lots of it. My wife had never had butternut squash and we bought three cases of the stuff for 10 cents each. We made cookies, soup, roasted, pies, etc. It is loud and rowdy and the auctioneer is always cracking stupid jokes. A hell of a lot more fun than Costco. Ever get to Mannheim PA on a tuesday afternoon or evening, stop at Roots Farmer's Market.

[Jim Becker]

The thing about membership stores is you have to have a job or be retired to join. People who work tend to be better behaved then most This also reduces the amount of bad checks they have to cover.
Bill D

Nope. If you can walk in the door and give them either $60 or $120, depending on Star Membership or Executive Membership, you are a member. Maybe you're thinking about some other firm.

[Brian Elfert]

saves us a ton just on dog food alone.

had a delicious hotdog lunch a couple days ago at their location near fort Collins.

the store we used to go to burned down yesterday, along with the entire shopping center around it including a target due to the fire near boulder co.

Do you have any links to news articles talking about the Costco store actually being involved in the fire other than the store being smoke damaged at minimum? I have done several web searches and all of the articles about the Costco store just mention the emergency evacuation of the store. There is a video going around that someone took showing his evacuation from the store and the huge clouds of smoke. Costco has not issued any news release about the store and the store finder on their website doesn't mention the store being closed.

[Lee DeRaud]

Do you have any links to news articles talking about the Costco store actually being involved in the fire other than the store being smoke damaged at minimum? I have done several web searches and all of the articles about the Costco store just mention the emergency evacuation of the store. There is a video going around that someone took showing his evacuation from the store and the huge clouds of smoke. Costco has not issued any news release about the store and the store finder on their website doesn't mention the store being closed.No link, but an aerial clip of that shopping center showed up on ABC news Friday(?) night, showing the front of Target and Costco with what looked like portions of the roof burned off.

[Stan Calow]

As I recall, when Sam's Club first opened, way back when, membership was limited to people in certain professions. But it hasn't been that way for awhile.

[Jim Becker]

I saw the same in news coverage this morning...that shopping center definitely had major fire damage. The local official also mentioned loss of the Target and Costco.

[Bert Kemp]

is it worth it for a single guy to get a membership

[Stan Calow]

is it worth it for a single guy to get a membership

I'd say no, unless you can store large quantities (rolls of TP come in packs of 32). If you buy bulk, you probably wont go often enough to make it worthwhile. Gas is usually cheaper, tires. Find a friend who is a member and get them to take you occasionally.

[Doug Garson]

is it worth it for a single guy to get a membership
I'd say for $60 what do you have to lose? Only you know your buying habits and how close you are to a store. One or two big purchases might be all you need to break even. After the year's up you can renew or walk away.

[Bert Kemp]

I was basically interested in grocery's. After looking at the prices for bulk items like fish and stuff I find its cheaper at Fry's.

[Brian Elfert]

Costco and Sam's Club can be significantly cheaper on a lot of brand name grocery items if you like the brand name and can eat it before it spoils. Aldi is going to be cheaper on many grocery items if you don't care about brand names and just want to the cheapest possible groceries. Costco generally sells only good quality items. Sure, you can get paper towels cheaper elsewhere if you don't care that they are so thin that you can read through them. Costco sells good quality store brand paper towels and they sell Bounty. If you like Bounty you'll find Costco sells Bounty cheaper than just about anywhere.

A co-worker of mine says his kids eat so much fruit that he saves way more than the membership fee just on fruit. I never buy fruit at Costco/Sam's Club because I couldn't eat it all before it spoiled in most cases.

[Jim Becker]

is it worth it for a single guy to get a membership

Most likely it can be. My suggestion would be to go to a store with a friend that has a membership and take some time to walk though to familiarize yourself with the store. Spend a few minutes on the website, too, as there is a much larger selection of many things available that way, too. If things look reasonably attractive to you, join and try it for a year. As someone already mentioned, $60 for the basic membership isn't a huge gamble.

[Ole Anderson]

And Costco tends to cater to locals. I drive a half hour and shop in the Bloomfield Hills MI store as it is near my allergist. Somewhat affluent area. I have seen Yamaha $50k grand pianos for sale there. Crazy. I joined five years ago when I wanted to purchase a 65" curved screen 4K TV. I have a friend that shops both Costco and Sam's Club. She claims the Sam's Club bakery is superior in everything but pumpkin pies to Costco.

[Brian Elfert]

There are a number of ways to get into Costco or Sam's Club to just look around. No friend required. Just tell them you want to go to the membership desk to sign up. Just go past the membership desk and into the store. In some states they have to let you in to use the pharmacy or buy liquor without a membership.

[Brian Elfert]

Nope. If you can walk in the door and give them either $60 or $120, depending on Star Membership or Executive Membership, you are a member. Maybe you're thinking about some other firm.

I think the point is that low income people without jobs are unlikely to spend the $60 to shop at Costco, not that there is any restriction on joining.

When Sam's Club first came to the Minneapolis area you had to work for certainly employers or be a member of certain organizations to be qualified to join. That requirement has been gone for years.

[Doug Garson]

I still recall my first visit to Costco (it was still called Price Club), the first week the store opened in Kitchener Ontario. I overheard two guys talking, I assume one was a automotive garage owner. They were looking at a barrel full of windshield wiper blades and one said "these are cheaper than I pay my wholesaler and I have to buy them in lots of 100".

[Rick Potter]

About those restrictions...I remember when I was still in high school, 1959, there were several membership stores. GEMCO was pretty well known (Government Employees Membership Co-op, if memory serves), and SCOA (Serving Communities of America. They both had membership restrictions, which were eased up enough that my family could join, about then.

I remember GEMCO very well, as I took my fiancé to the jewelry counter there to pick out an engagement ring in 1963. We found one with an almost invisible flaw in the diamond for $78, which was a weeks take home pay then. She still wears it, and will not take a better one.

[Scott Clausen]

I was basically interested in grocery's. After looking at the prices for bulk items like fish and stuff I find its cheaper at Fry's.

A couple of things come to mind here. Buying paper products in bulk means you need to store them too so storage space is something to account for and the savings won't likely justify it. As stated above most produce is going to of a quantity too large to finish before it spoils. Meat Department is where you can do well but a deep freezer may be needed. We break up steaks into individual bags and freeze. Frozen fish and other foods are often frozen in individual bags. The wife and I don't eat junk food or bread so if you do you save money on that. Wine is pretty reasonable there too. I made steaks from there last night and had enough for steak at lunch today. In fact other than wine the only thing I eat is meat so it is well worth it for me.

[Jim Becker]

There are a number of ways to get into Costco or Sam's Club to just look around. No friend required. Just tell them you want to go to the membership desk to sign up. Just go past the membership desk and into the store. In some states they have to let you in to use the pharmacy or buy liquor without a membership.
The stores in this area have the customer service desk just inside the "exit" so folks can't actually pass into the store without going backwards through the checkouts. You actually walk in the "out" door to get to the desk. I'm sure some folks do pass in backwards, however. :)

[mike stenson]

There are a number of ways to get into Costco or Sam's Club to just look around. No friend required. Just tell them you want to go to the membership desk to sign up. Just go past the membership desk and into the store. In some states they have to let you in to use the pharmacy or buy liquor without a membership.

Arizona is one of those states.

[Jim Becker]

NJ Store have to sell gas to anyone...no membership required.

[Bert Kemp]

Well I'm still looking at prices online and I still do better a frys with my discounts. Brand names don't mean anything to me. I find store brands just as good in most cases. I have a Chest freezer, so I can take advantage of sales on meat and fish. So I guess for me a memberships is not the way to go.

[mike stenson]

The online prices are different if you log in as a member.

[Bert Kemp]

The online prices are different if you log in as a member.


Next time I'm near Costco I go in a take a look around.

[Frank Pratt]

There are a number of ways to get into Costco or Sam's Club to just look around. No friend required. Just tell them you want to go to the membership desk to sign up. Just go past the membership desk and into the store. In some states they have to let you in to use the pharmacy or buy liquor without a membership.

We have no Sam's Club, but to shop at Costco, you gotta have a membership. Even if you manage to sneak past the person checking at the entrance, you have to present your card at checkout. No card, no checkout.

[mike stenson]

We have no Sam's Club, but to shop at Costco, you gotta have a membership. Even if you manage to sneak past the person checking at the entrance, you have to present your card at checkout. No card, no checkout.
Yep, but if you're checking it out to see if you want to become a member.. You can browse, and perhaps graze a bit.

[Brian Elfert]

Well I'm still looking at prices online and I still do better a frys with my discounts. Brand names don't mean anything to me. I find store brands just as good in most cases. I have a Chest freezer, so I can take advantage of sales on meat and fish. So I guess for me a memberships is not the way to go.

The Costco online prices for groceries are higher than in store to account for the cost of delivery. I wish they had the in store pricing on the website like Sam's Club does. As I said before if you don't care about brand names and just want cheap food you can buy less expensive food elsewhere. Many generic grocery items are very good, but some thens in the brand names are much better.

[Alex Zeller]

Way back when I was working at a glass company when a very attractive young woman pulled into our parking lot. The owner's son said "what ever she's selling, we're buying". She was selling business memberships so a few of us got the business membership cards. Costco had almost nothing we would use at the business but it allowed the owner's wife to shop there tax free. I have no idea if the accountant for the company kept track of it but I know a lot of stuff was purchased without paying sales tax. Anyway the business card allowed for early access to avoid the rush of people. Years later my father got a membership which allowed for another person to also get one so now I had two memberships.

At some point they offered a Costco credit card which I got. Because it was in my name but my account was under my father's name it created problems so they just gave me my own account without charging me the fee (I think it was $30 back then). I never go anymore because they are over an hour away so any savings gets quickly ate up by the extra driving and the long lines. As for food, I doubt I saved much at all. Buying in bulk is fine but only if you can eat all the food. I threw out lots of food that I just couldn't eat quick enough. So then I shifted to only buying what I could eat and realized that I wasn't buying enough food there to justify it.

It is a fun place to shop. I remember seeing petit ladies trying to push/ pull three large carts heaping full through the checkout. It was rare to see anyone in the checkout line with a cart only half full. Back then it seemed like the average person was dropping at least $400 (mid 90s) at the register. If they could do something about the checkout lines I might think about going back. I do have friends who still shop there.

I always thought that if they were to offer a auto detailing service (clean the interior, wash the car, and full up the tank) while people shopped it would probably do well. Pull up in front of the store, hand them your keys, and once you are at the register paying they pull your car around. I can't remember the last time I spent less than an hour in the store. I bet plenty of people would drop $50 (plus the cost of the gas) to not have to walk a half mile to their car dragging a cart.

[Jim Becker]

Interestingly, a lot of the food products I buy at Costco are not really bulk quantity. What I get there are meat products (beef, pork, chicken) and while they are slightly larger packages than the regular market, I vacuum bag individual portions and freeze anyway. (and we have only the tiny freezer on the bottom of the fridge) I buy less of that these days, however. I also buy frozen fish that's already portioned, typically mahi-mahi and cod.. I generally do not buy product there, other than, perhaps, berries and occasionally a bunch of bananas or a package of apples. The produce is nice, but yes...the quantities are too large for us. It works for me but may not be for others.