Let's Talk BBQ
General => General Discussion & Topics => General Discussion => Topic started by: deestafford on September 10, 2013, 09:21:12 AM
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Awhile back I posted that I got a Costco membership for a Father's Day gift and my initial impressions of the place. I'd like to give y'all an update.
First, I'm retired military and as such I have the privilege of shopping at the military commissary. The one I use is one of the best in the Army, Ft Gordon, GA. The prices at the commissary are significantly lower than those at super markets such as Publix, Kroger, etc with the exception of some of their sales.
After doing a complete month and cycle of shopping for a month at both the commissary and Costco I'm able to make a pretty good comparison. What I found is Costco will beat the commissary on about half the items I buy. The commissary is cheaper on vegetables and meat -though the quality at Costco is somewhat better- for example, rebeye at the commissary is about $7.20 a pound and about $7.80 at Costco and about $11 at Publix. Of course, you have to buy more at Costco because of the packaging.
Cheese, dairy products, paper products, coffee, disposable aluminum pan, pecans , AAA and AA batteries are examples of things that are cheaper at Costco.
I saw nothing of inferior quality at Costco.
My purpose of telling y'all this is I never really thought about joining Costco because I didn't think I would save the $55 membership fee over the other benefits I have from the military. I was wrong. If you have a Costco (I can't speak for Sam's) available to you I recommend you join. The service is super. The employees are all friendly and seem to enjoy being there. The company apparently has an excellent training program to impress upon the the employees how important the customers are.
Hopefully, this will help some of y'all out.
Dee
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I keep hoping that Costco will build in my part of NC...thus far the closest one is Greenville, SC. About 1 hour. We have a Sam's Club close by, but I *DO* prefer Costco for almost everything.
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Great analysis. I concur.
In San Antonio, we have a number of military installations and the same is true. I generally go to Sam's Club up in San Marcos. The major reasons why is that it is less crowded, less traffic to get there, and easy to navigate. The converse is true going south to San Antonio. In addition, whatever savings I would receive, I use up on the price of fuel @ $3.32 per gallon. I go to Sam's Club for he quality of meats and prices on bulk items. I shop locally at Wal-mart and H.E.B for everything else. Both are very close.
It use to be a big advantage to shop in the commissary, but the older that I am and less mobile, it is much easier to shop locally with very little difference in expense. I would try Costco, but I have the same issue of traffic, miles and congestion. So, I am sticking to Sam's Club. Since I am growing more grumpy as I get older, I prefer to be in a relaxed, less tenuous environment.
I am glad that you report good service at Costco. Sam's Club seems to be improving in that regard.
I am on the same page.
Ed
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Costco...the $300 dollar store. I never walk out of there for less than that. Unfortunately that's weekly.
If you spend enough there, the executive membership is worth it. You get 1% back on all purchases, which for me more than pays for the membership fees each year.
Their American Express card is fantastic. We pretty much use the Amex for everything. You get some great cash rebates back each year with that. I have one for personal use and one for business.
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Costco...the $300 dollar store. I never walk out of there for less than that. Unfortunately that's weekly.
If you spend enough there, the executive membership is worth it. You get 1% back on all purchases, which for me more than pays for the membership fees each year.
Their American Express card is fantastic. We pretty much use the Amex for everything. You get some great cash rebates back each year with that. I have one for personal use and one for business.
My story too. Actually the executive membership is a no brainer. If you don't spend enough to make up for the higher annual fee, they send you a check for the difference at renewal time. You can't lose.
Love my $300 dollar store......
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Costco...the $300 dollar store. I never walk out of there for less than that. Unfortunately that's weekly.
If you spend enough there, the executive membership is worth it. You get 1% back on all purchases, which for me more than pays for the membership fees each year.
Their American Express card is fantastic. We pretty much use the Amex for everything. You get some great cash rebates back each year with that. I have one for personal use and one for business.
My story too. Actually the executive membership is a no brainer. If you don't spend enough to make up for the higher annual fee, they send you a check for the difference at renewal time. You can't lose.
Love my $300 dollar store......
I didn't know that they refunded the difference. Good to know!
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love Costco. it my $200 store. can't leave w/ out spending at least $200. its where I got my traeger. we buy everything from Costco. beds, sheets, washer, dryer, frig, clothes (only me, my wife goes to macys). I do love that every year they send us a big check. one year the check bought us a big flat screen, another year a brand new bed. got to love ya some Costco. I really like going there when my wife isn't w/ me and I have no list. that's her fault all the way. I can't go into Costco w/ out my list or it gets ugly. oh, I need that. I need alum pans too, oh, ribs. I love shrimp. and bam. $200 and you haven't even gotten to the back of the store yet. :'(
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I'm with Tee -- would love to try a Costco and have heard good things but none are within any reasonable drive. Our Sam's in Hickory, NC is a pretty good one, though. The savings on my routine cooking supplies (foil, spices, condiments, etc.) fairly quickly makes up for the membership fee. They are also a dependable source for unbrined ribs and fairly decent packer briskets. Coffee K-cups (in huge boxes) are a lot cheaper, too.
Hub
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Maybe during the Gathering we can arrange a trip to Costco for those who don't have one...just to see what you're missing. Dee
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Awhile back I posted that I got a Costco membership for a Father's Day gift and my initial impressions of the place. I'd like to give y'all an update.
First, I'm retired military and as such I have the privilege of shopping at the military commissary. The one I use is one of the best in the Army, Ft Gordon, GA. The prices at the commissary are significantly lower than those at super markets such as Publix, Kroger, etc with the exception of some of their sales.
After doing a complete month and cycle of shopping for a month at both the commissary and Costco I'm able to make a pretty good comparison. What I found is Costco will beat the commissary on about half the items I buy. The commissary is cheaper on vegetables and meat -though the quality at Costco is somewhat better- for example, rebeye at the commissary is about $7.20 a pound and about $7.80 at Costco and about $11 at Publix. Of course, you have to buy more at Costco because of the packaging.
Cheese, dairy products, paper products, coffee, disposable aluminum pan, pecans , AAA and AA batteries are examples of things that are cheaper at Costco.
I saw nothing of inferior quality at Costco.
My purpose of telling y'all this is I never really thought about joining Costco because I didn't think I would save the $55 membership fee over the other benefits I have from the military. I was wrong. If you have a Costco (I can't speak for Sam's) available to you I recommend you join. The service is super. The employees are all friendly and seem to enjoy being there. The company apparently has an excellent training program to impress upon the the employees how important the customers are.
Hopefully, this will help some of y'all out.
Dee
I'm with you on this one Dee! I am also retired military and I also work at the commissary at Fort Stewart. I have both a Costco and Sam's Club membership. We do have a few things as you said cheaper but the majority of the larger items, especially the meat I will either buy from Costco or Sam's. I personally like the quality at those places versus the commissary. We have a couple of Sam's clubs in Savannah but no Costco. The closest one to me is Jacksonsville, which we like since we go and spend the weekends down there quite a bit. Especially now with the NFL starting and the Jaguars! 8) Hey they are heading in the right direction now..(I think) ???
Mike
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I keep hoping that Costco will build in my part of NC...thus far the closest one is Greenville, SC. About 1 hour. We have a Sam's Club close by, but I *DO* prefer Costco for almost everything.
That's the Costco I used to have a membership at. My wife got a free membership a month ago to Sam's Club so we started shopping at the one down the road on Woodruff Road. I personally like Costco better than Sam's since they seem to have a better meat selection at our local Costco. Prices also seem to be cheaper for stuff at our local Costco as well.
On a side note...did you see a new Cabela's is being built next to that Costco in Greenville.? I was hoping for a Bass Pro Shop since they carry a lot of good BBQ rubs I like. Either way a Cabela's will be nice as well. :)
~Jay Prince
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Costco makes it a point to only carry quality merchandise, I like there Kirkland signature jeans for 13 bucks a pair. I recently bought a pair of Levis for $50 bucks and 2 belt loops broke in 1 month. Levi Straus would be ashamed :)
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Prince, A Cabela's is opening next to our Costco the spring of 2014 and a Bass Pro late fall or so 2014 about four miles away. Dee
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Prince, A Cabela's is opening next to our Costco the spring of 2014 and a Bass Pro late fall or so 2014 about four miles away. Dee
That will be really cool! I like all the grills and smokers and BBQ rubs/sauces that Bass Pro carries. Cabela's seems to only want to carry there own rub and like one other brand from what I've seen. I've heard talk of a Bass Pro Shop coming here, but I'm not holding my breath. ;)
~Jay Prince
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Prince, A Cabela's is opening next to our Costco the spring of 2014 and a Bass Pro late fall or so 2014 about four miles away. Dee
That will be really cool! I like all the grills and smokers and BBQ rubs/sauces that Bass Pro carries. Cabela's seems to only want to carry there own rub and like one other brand from what I've seen. I've heard talk of a Bass Pro Shop coming here, but I'm not holding my breath. ;)
~Jay Prince
DOn't know about the Bass Pro - but I do know for a fact ;) that you guys in Greenville are getting a Cabela's...which is kind of Bass Pro+ IMHO...
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Been a Costco member since 1986 ... before it was Costco 8) Costco evaluates products and then only carry 1 of that product. Unlike super markets that carry 5-10 different brands of that product. It may not always be the cheapest but you know you're getting a quality product.
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Awhile back I saw a special on the founder of Costco and he said one of the things he does is limit the selection to just two or three brands. That way people don't waste time trying to make choices having to evaluate a lot of different brands of the same product. Dee
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Prince, A Cabela's is opening next to our Costco the spring of 2014 and a Bass Pro late fall or so 2014 about four miles away. Dee
That will be really cool! I like all the grills and smokers and BBQ rubs/sauces that Bass Pro carries. Cabela's seems to only want to carry there own rub and like one other brand from what I've seen. I've heard talk of a Bass Pro Shop coming here, but I'm not holding my breath. ;)
~Jay Prince
DOn't know about the Bass Pro - but I do know for a fact ;) that you guys in Greenville are getting a Cabela's...which is kind of Bass Pro+ IMHO...
Yeah the Cabela's is going to be pretty much right next door to the Costco. Woodruff Road is already crazy busy with traffic. The good thing is that part of Woodruff Road has a little less traffic. I think it's going to be a pretty nice looking Cabela's. I heard they were thinking of building a Bass Pro Shop in Greer, SC, but that was a couple years ago. I like Bass Pro because they have a better selection of grills/smokers and some good BBQ rubs and sauces. Either way Cabela's will be great for our area. :)
~Jay Prince
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Costco has a great business philosophy (obviously) and the CEO has some great ideas.
I read that one of his analysts told him if they raised the price of the hot dog combo a few cents they would bring in another 22 million annually or something like that. He told the guy to stick it and said that that combo will always be $1.50.
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It's hard to beat that hot dog, or sausage dog, and drink for a $1.50. That's why the tables are always got folks at them.
What amazes me though is how the founder is such a great businessman is an unabashed liberal. (Hopefully, this is not too political. It just appears to be incongruent. Oh, well that's what makes this a great country.)
Prince, it wasn't that long ago that Greer and G'ville were separated by woods. Now they ain't separated by nothing.
Dee
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It's hard to beat that hot dog, or sausage dog, and drink for a $1.50. That's why the tables are always got folks at them.
What amazes me though is how the founder is such a great businessman is an unabashed liberal. (Hopefully, this is not too political. It just appears to be incongruent. Oh, well that's what makes this a great country.)
Prince, it wasn't that long ago that Greer and G'ville were separated by woods. Now they ain't separated by nothing.
Dee
Very true! I have read they have a 7% margin on goods sold. And make the vast majority of profit on the membership fee. I am a shareholder, and the stock has done very well. Excellent business model.