What I found at Sam's


 
Yeah some of the "so called" steak houses around here simply sell over priced grocery store meat. For the slight cost difference of Prime over Choice at Sam's that is all I am going to buy. There are 2 things coming to my area I just can't wait for. First we will soon have a Lou Malnatti pizza place. It will be carryout/frozen only but they said if they get the traffic they're anticipating they'll be opening a full service place perhaps by late summer YES!
Second is the aforementioned Costco. I am really looking forward to getting out of the Walmart feeling Sam's. Shopping experience there has REALLY gone down the toilet. They do have some really good items I cannot find elsewhere. Coffee beans for one, and now the Prime grade beef. Along with some other things like economically sized frozen veg, hell for what I pay for a huge bag with smaller individual bags I can barely buy one small bag at grocery store.
There are other things as well
 
LMichaels said:
I am really looking forward to getting out of the Walmart feeling Sam's.
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I'm not sure exactly what this means or what your stores are like,
but as a general rule, I can't tell the two of them apart.
Sure wish we had a Lou Malnatti's pizza place around here though.

One thing I don't think anyone mentioned yet is the booze. For those that
enjoy an adult beverage every now and then, they are hard to beat.
Jameson and Templeton available at both as cheap as you will find anywhere.
Also, Kirkland and Members Mark both offer many fine spirits at very low
prices. I highly recommend the gin and tequila from both.
 
Yes both stores have a store branded "French" Vodka. At Sam's it's Rue 23 I don't know what they call it at Costco but both are re-branded Grey Goose. And cost no more than a standard brand at normal liquor outlets. I buy the Rue 23 for about $23 for a 1.75 Liter bottle. Hell it's hard to find Smirnorff for that normally. For my occasional martini.
 
LMichaels said:
Yes both stores have a store branded "French" Vodka. At Sam's it's Rue 23 I don't know what they call it at Costco but both are re-branded Grey Goose. And cost no more than a standard brand at normal liquor outlets. I buy the Rue 23 for about $23 for a 1.75 Liter bottle. Hell it's hard to find Smirnorff for that normally. For my occasional martini.
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Kirkland is the proprietary brand. I have seen their beer but never had it. I heard it sucks. I heard some of the Kirkland wines are decent though.
Where they are permitted to sell booze, it's almost always a decent buy. Unfortunately they can't in NJ and PA but can in DE.
 
Same here depends from county to county.
Btw they had a very good beef brisket $4.99 at food court
No longer selling in GA for whatever reason. When I go see family in MI i always buy it at least 3 or 4 times while there.
 
With the caveat that not every store is the same, not every experience you or I will have on any given day will be the same, not every product is perfect, and with the understanding that everyone is entitled to their opinion...

No one has mentioned the experience of being a Costco employee. It's not perfect for everyone, like any employer, but I've got two brothers currently working at Costco, one as a stocker and one as a manager, and a third brother who rose to Asst. Store Mgr. before leaving for greener pastures. They pay good wages, have good benefits, and for the most part treat employees well. You can make a good career at Costco if you've got what it takes.

Also, no one mentioned the pharmacy. You don't have to be a member to use the pharmacy. Costco's no-insurance drug prices are often lower than your medical plan or other pharmacies. But you've got to shop the price of individual drugs using a site like GoodRX, Costco doesn't always have the lowest price.

As for the return policy, they reigned that in on electronics a number of years ago but still have liberal returns on most everything else. We've all heard the shocking stories, and my brothers confirm the truth to many of them. I once bought stinky pork ribs, they give me a refund no problem and I didn't have to bring the meat back to the store.

As for checking receipts at the door, despite what they say about "accuracy" and the fact that they do occasionally find errors that redound to the customer's benefit (e.g. forgot to pick up your $100 restaurant gift cards after check-out), we all know it's got a lot to do with loss prevention, and they can require it as a member-only store. I agree that it makes me feel like they don't trust me, but the fact is they don't! Again, lots of horror stories from my brothers about the things people try to get away with at the register and at the exit.

As for wine, Costco has some renowned wine buyers who scour the globe looking for very good wines and then sell them for very good prices.

As for store arrangement, someone earlier said it's haphazard. It may feel that way to a shopper, but it's strategically laid out and frequently rearranged to maximize your exploration of the store, keeping you there longer in the hopes that you buy more.

As for gas, when prices go up, Costco gas is almost always cheaper and it's good quality Top Tier gas. They're not trying to turn a big profit on gas, it's an enticement to get you to the store. In fact, it's often said that most profits come from selling memberships, not products.
 
Chris Allingham said:
As for gas, when prices go up, Costco gas is almost always cheaper and it's good quality Top Tier gas. They're not trying to turn a big profit on gas, it's an enticement to get you to the store. In fact, it's often said that most profits come from selling memberships, not products.
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Yup, also the price on their staples like the rotisserie chicken and the food court items like the hot dog and drink combo, pizza slice and whole pizza...I've never seen a price increase on those items for as long as I've been a member (10+ years).
 
Picked up three beautiful prime cap steaks for tomorrow’s dinner about $12 each, great deal in my opinion!
Non members can buy adult beverages and shop the pharmacy here as well, good deals for people that want to save a few bucks. Alcohol is state regulated here so the deals may or may not be as good as in other states, worth considering.
The blue trim Kirkland vodka is 12.99 around here right now!
Staff seems pretty pleasant most of the time, some are hilarious, some more reserved but, that’s the same as any other store.
 
We love Costco, we get our gas there it's always the cheapest in town and propane is always about $7.50 for a 20# bottle. Pork bellies, BB ribs and coffee are some of our staples. The only thing that upsets me is Sam's Club went belly up here and their customers migrated to Costco and the place is absolutely packed now. Parking is a nightmare.
 
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I was going to chime in with pretty much what Chris was saying. I know they treat their employees much better than Sam's and if we had a Costco I'd be all over it. Our Sam's just started carrying prime brisket so I might renew my membership for that reason alone. Back when I had a membership before, it was the only place to reliably get choice. My butcher carries a much higher quality prime but also at a higher cost.
 
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OKC is getting our first Costco , its gonna open in April. Even if its on the other side of town from me and 30 minute drive, I'm anxious to see what they've got.
 
We have 3 Costco's in our area, the closest is about 20 minutes away.
We pay for membership fees with rewards using the Citi card for their gas, store, and a few other places, with money left over.
Brooke, our 11 year old lab, has only had Kirkland brand dog food, starting with for puppies, now for mature dogs.
Reading about how they treat employees is what took us there, their meats alone would keep us there.
 
We've been using Aldi's for milk (specifically we buy the little guy organic whole milk). Aldi has the best price around
 
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