slo’s SATURDAY poll - Sam’s Club vs Costco

[nicolita3]

I'm in AZ and they are still doing senior hours.....M-F, 9-10 am. Was there last Friday

Oh ok that explains it, I usual go Saturday at opening. My bad.

 

[E&Cmom]

No Sam’s Club here....only Costco.

 

[disney4us2002]

In rural MD there are neither of those. There is a BJ's within a 45 min drive but since there is just me and dh, why would I bother? I have no use for wholesale. As it is, I throw out quite a bit weekly that we never got around to eating.

 

[PrincessShmoo]

I'm in AZ and they are still doing senior hours.....M-F, 9-10 am. Was there last Friday

Sam's Club (here, at least) have dropped their Thursday senior hours, and only have it on Tuesdays now.

 

[tvguy]

Are they still doing the special times at Costco? They haven't done those at any of my Costcos in Arizona for awhile now.

Well, either your store needs to get with the Corporate Policy or Corporate needs to update their website since it says all stores are supposed to offer special times for those over 60 or with special health considerations. https://www.costco.com/covid-updates.html

 

[nicolita3]

Well, either your store needs to get with the Corporate Policy or Corporate needs to update their website since it says all stores are supposed to offer special times for those over 60 or with special health considerations. https://www.costco.com/covid-updates.html

I didn't know it was mon-fri. I usually only make it on the weekend or nights. I was wrong in the comment I made earlier.

 

[CynBeth]

Neither. There are 2 of us no need to buy in bulk. Plus, the grocery store we go to has a lot of items for my DH’s food allergies and the pharmacy for his meds.

 

[DisneyJamieCA]

Costco, all the way. The quality is far superior and they're customer service can't be beat. Plus their travel services are great!

We don't have a Sam's Club here, but the one time I went into one, I was completely underwhelmed.

 

[bcla]

I had both memberships at one time. It was kind of strange as there was a specific item that my wife wanted and we plunked down $40 on a membership just to get that. I ended up using it when I worked close to one location. I do like the hot dogs at some of the Sam's Club plus Coke products instead of Pepsi.

The one thing Costco has in its column is the special Costco Business Centers. They're not that close to me, but I'll stop by to get restaurant supplies (just for our kitchen) or snacks in individual packages.

 

[_19disnA]

Neither. Have been to both with friends who have memberships and wasn't impressed. Never see the need to go there very often, how many household items do you really need to buy in bulk? You need to know your unit prices since they sell so many items in HUGE sizes, seems like a bargain but really isn't. With some items that go stale it isn't a bargain if, for example, the 1 lb container of garlic powder sits in your pantry so long that it loses its flavor and you end up tossing it in the trash.

 

[DisneyJamieCA]

Neither. Have been to both with friends who have memberships and wasn't impressed. Never see the need to go there very often, how many household items do you really need to buy in bulk? You need to know your unit prices since they sell so many items in HUGE sizes, seems like a bargain but really isn't. With some items that go stale it isn't a bargain if, for example, the 1 lb container of garlic powder sits in your pantry so long that it loses its flavor and you end up tossing it in the trash.

As a family of 6, most of our stuff is bought in bulk But we do price out a lot of it compared to the grocery store, Target, etc. Most things are deal, but not all.

 

[PrincessShmoo]

how many household items do you really need to buy in bulk?

In my case, I joined PACE (bought out by Sam's Club) because of the price difference in milk between our regular grocery and their price. The cost of the membership was more than covered in that difference. I was buying 5 gallons of milk a week (3 kids and a husband who all were avid milk drinkers).

 

[tvguy]

Neither. Have been to both with friends who have memberships and wasn't impressed. Never see the need to go there very often, how many household items do you really need to buy in bulk? You need to know your unit prices since they sell so many items in HUGE sizes, seems like a bargain but really isn't. With some items that go stale it isn't a bargain if, for example, the 1 lb container of garlic powder sits in your pantry so long that it loses its flavor and you end up tossing it in the trash.

I won't say how past due our garlic powder is but it has never lost flavor. But we shop at Walmart, and to be honest, even if we had to toss half of it, the price was so low it was worth buying the bigger price.

 

[ronandannette]

Unlike Costco, I’ve never seen a $35,000 diamond ring at BJ’s.

5-figure jewelry on your weekly grocery list? This made my day, Red.

 

[bcla]

I won't say how past due our garlic powder is but it has never lost flavor. But we shop at Walmart, and to be honest, even if we had to toss half of it, the price was so low it was worth buying the bigger price.

I've got some that's well past its supposed use by date. Still pretty potent. As long as there's no mold growing on it, it should be safe. I'm more recently using it to make garlic bread.

 

[tvguy]

I've got some that's well past its supposed use by date. Still pretty potent. As long as there's no mold growing on it, it should be safe. I'm more recently using it to make garlic bread.

Yeah, not sure how old some of our spices are. They were purchased before BEST BY dates were put on products. And we've been married 39 years.

 

[bcla]

Yeah, not sure how old some of our spices are. They were purchased before BEST BY dates were put on products. And we've been married 39 years.

Depends on what you have. I'll just say that ketchup can turn pretty unusual after a while. But dried stuff can typically last for years.

I have seen some of my supposedly organic herbs/spices labelled as not being irradiated. I guess irradiation would be one way to get it to last longer.

 

[MillauFr]

Costco is far superior to Sams. They customer service is outstanding. They pay their employees very well. Other in Western Washington must agree as Sams decided to close all of their stores because they couldn't compete with Costco.

 

[tvguy]

Depends on what you have. I'll just say that ketchup can turn pretty unusual after a while. But dried stuff can typically last for years.

I have seen some of my supposedly organic herbs/spices labelled as not being irradiated. I guess irradiation would be one way to get it to last longer.

Yeah, I consider ketchup a perishable not a spice. I hear pepper corns can loose potency as they age, but we don't use much pepper, so Lord only knows how old that is.

 

[bobbiwoz]

We only have Sam’s Club membership. I visited Costco once and bought a wonderful tabletop Christmas tree with trains circling it. Sam’s club is 35 miles away, the Costco is more like 60 miles. We don’t often go to Sam’s, but I do stock up on some things I like there.

In NJ you don’t have to have Costco membership to get gas there and I have bought gas at one off the parkway. It was a good price.