[grhazelton]

We were members of our nearby Costco for several years. Their meats were excellent and cheaper than the chain supermarkets, an excellent selection of sausages, coffees, and wonderful Parmesan Reggiano cheese, $2 or $3 cheaper than Whole Paycheck, er, Foods, for example. We found their Kirkland house brand uniformly good. I used their printing services for printing off digital files; the staff was knowledgeable and knew what a profile was! Try that at Walgreens!

But then, "our" Costco switched to a business model, with an extensive range of ... packaged snacks, etc. Gone were the variety of sausages, the Parmesan, the excellent meats. I refuse to buy a Select grade N Y strip steak! The nearest Costco with the sorts of merchandise we had enjoyed is about 30 miles away. We let our membership expire, and are now trying to decide whether to renew despite the trek involved. When state and federal reimbursement for mileage is over $.50 per mile the distance involved has to be considered.

I really do miss their printings services, though....and that Parmesan!

[Docrwm]

If you mean by grass fed, that the beef is raised on a farm where the cows graze freely, then yes. We buy it from an Amish farmer - best lean beef you've ever had.

Stan,

I am truly jealous. But only because I have had Kobe Beef and had Amish range beef and you're right - the beef from the Amish is better in my experience.

We have experience with all 3 of the warehouse clubs. These are my views based on those experiences over the years.

Sam's - We avoid them - period. Service is horrible, the stores we have around here are dirty, staff are useless. Deals can be had online from them on the things they are best on and we still buy items for the clinic online and have them delivered (furniture mostly). Prices can be excellent but they are not uniformly good. Have had better prices at a regular WalMart on some items in the past.

BJ's - smaller and fewer items generally than either other warehouse but they do a nice job overall. Fairly stable lineup of items so you can predict. GOOD bakery here in ours. Since meat is not a factor for you much of the potential savings are gone right there. Nuts, cookies, and such in bulk are far cheaper than at any grocery store we've visited. They tend to be far cleaner and the staff more interested in being helpful than Sam's in our experience too. Pharmacy pricing (over the counter) is better than WalMart IF you want precisely what they offer.

CostCo - Larger and cleaner in general. Excellent to average prices. Broader selection in almost every category over BJs. Crazy busy at any time other than first thing in the AM M-W. Has more gourmet foods than either of the other two. They also have a broader selection in many categories like paper products, sodas, etc. Lots more cameras and occasionally even Pentax Best Holiday deals and return policy of the three - hands down. Hardest for us to get to and busiest of the three so we go less often than BJs but the trips are almost always worth it.

Finally, all three do tires. We've saved hundreds of dollars getting the same brand/model of tire at Costco that we would have paid elsewhere but have also come out even - really depends. Gas is usually cheaper at Costco and BJs than any of the surrounding stations but only by 5-10 cents/gal.

Hope that helps.

[stormtech]

When state and federal reimbursement for mileage is over $.50 per mile the distance involved has to be considered.

This is one reason I am looking at these type stores. A grocery run costs me ~$25 in fuel where we are going now - would be the same for a trip to the nearest Sam's or BJ's.

I really appreciate all the responses and feedback. The way it looks we may be doing the best thing with what we are doing now. With only 2 people, plus not having to buy any meat, buying everything on sale and/or with coupons seems to work well. Any savings wouldn't be justified unless we were buying for 6 months or more at a time.

[stormtech]

Hope that helps.

We must have been posting at the same time Doc.

Great summary of the 3 stores. It seems the consensus is with Costco with most of the responses. Unfortunately the nearest Costco is out of range for a day trip being 110 miles away.

Summarizing a little more from my last post - my wife does really good with the sale flyers and coupons. 2 days before our bimonthly trek, she will go over the sales flyers and her gather coupons and find the best deal for all the items on our list. Yes, it takes time but it is one of her contributions to our budget situation. And the shopping day takes time also - like I said earlier, it is an all day event and takes both of us a couple days to recover from.

After watching that 1 hour piece on TV about Costco, I was pretty impressed about how they do business - a success in a tough economic market. If I had one closer I would certainly use them, but that's one of the prices I pay to live in the boonies.

[kenafein]

We must have been posting at the same time Doc.

Great summary of the 3 stores. It seems the consensus is with Costco with most of the responses. Unfortunately the nearest Costco is out of range for a day trip being 110 miles away.

Summarizing a little more from my last post - my wife does really good with the sale flyers and coupons. 2 days before our bimonthly trek, she will go over the sales flyers and her gather coupons and find the best deal for all the items on our list. Yes, it takes time but it is one of her contributions to our budget situation. And the shopping day takes time also - like I said earlier, it is an all day event and takes both of us a couple days to recover from.

After watching that 1 hour piece on TV about Costco, I was pretty impressed about how they do business - a success in a tough economic market. If I had one closer I would certainly use them, but that's one of the prices I pay to live in the boonies.

And they do it all without exploiting their employees.

If you mean by grass fed, that the beef is raised on a farm where the cows graze freely, then yes. We buy it from an Amish farmer - best lean beef you've ever had.

Being Amish, I expect they don't take phone orders. I really need to look into this though. I don't like my kids eating food with antibiotics. And grass fed beef is so much healthier on its own. The trick will be getting them to eat it though.

[stormtech]

And they do it all without exploiting their employees.Being Amish, I expect they don't take phone orders. I really need to look into this though. I don't like my kids eating food with antibiotics. And grass fed beef is so much healthier on its own. The trick will be getting them to eat it though.

Ha! No phone orders! We are lucky in that my in-laws live in the middle of a huge Amish community which is only 60 miles away from us.

I don't understand re: tricking your kids into eating it - how would they know the difference? Would it be because of different packaging or something? When our order is placed ( a whole beef is split between 3 families) when it is time for butchering, it is taken to a local butcher shop (non Amish) where it is processed, cut into exactly what you want, then flash frozen. Everything is wrapped in white freezer paper and labeled.

I don't know if you are near any farming areas, but we've also done this in the past with a local farmer. He has since retired from raising beef/hogs so we are now going in with my in-laws. Same deal with these local folks - usually in the late summer they will take orders - they will sell it by the whole beef or side - if you only want a side they put your order together with someone else who wants a side. When it is time, they will call and tell you the day they are going to deliver it to the butcher shop. Then the butcher shop will call us and ask us for our processing details. 2 weeks later they call when it is ready - go pick it up cut, wrapped, and frozen.

Total cost including the beef and processing usually averages $1.20-$1.50 per pound all said and done. Yes, that includes steak, roast, ground beef, etc. The ground beef is so lean my wife has to add a little vegetable or olive oil to the pan so it doesn't stick.

[Docrwm]

Ha! No phone orders! We are lucky in that my in-laws live in the middle of a huge Amish community which is only 60 miles away from us.

I don't understand re: tricking your kids into eating it - how would they know the difference? Would it be because of different packaging or something? When our order is placed ( a whole beef is split between 3 families) when it is time for butchering, it is taken to a local butcher shop (non Amish) where it is processed, cut into exactly what you want, then flash frozen. Everything is wrapped in white freezer paper and labeled.

I don't know if you are near any farming areas, but we've also done this in the past with a local farmer. He has since retired from raising beef/hogs so we are now going in with my in-laws. Same deal with these local folks - usually in the late summer they will take orders - they will sell it by the whole beef or side - if you only want a side they put your order together with someone else who wants a side. When it is time, they will call and tell you the day they are going to deliver it to the butcher shop. Then the butcher shop will call us and ask us for our processing details. 2 weeks later they call when it is ready - go pick it up cut, wrapped, and frozen.

Total cost including the beef and processing usually averages $1.20-$1.50 per pound all said and done. Yes, that includes steak, roast, ground beef, etc. The ground beef is so lean my wife has to add a little vegetable or olive oil to the pan so it doesn't stick.

Stan,
Stop. Just Stop! I live in Georgia and am 600-700 miles from the nearest Amish community!

[stormtech]

Stan,
Stop. Just Stop! I live in Georgia and am 600-700 miles from the nearest Amish community!

I'm sure there are some small local farmers who do the same down in Georgia - just have to search them out. We actually found our first one years ago by just stopping in at a farm that had a dozen or so Black Angus grazing in a field. Also if you find a small butcher shop out in the country, they almost always have a bulletin board with small local farmers selling beef/pork like this. Don't even get me started on the pork chops, ham, and bacon.......

[kenafein]

Ha! No phone orders! We are lucky in that my in-laws live in the middle of a huge Amish community which is only 60 miles away from us.

I don't understand re: tricking your kids into eating it - how would they know the difference? Would it be because of different packaging or something? When our order is placed ( a whole beef is split between 3 families) when it is time for butchering, it is taken to a local butcher shop (non Amish) where it is processed, cut into exactly what you want, then flash frozen. Everything is wrapped in white freezer paper and labeled.

I don't know if you are near any farming areas, but we've also done this in the past with a local farmer. He has since retired from raising beef/hogs so we are now going in with my in-laws. Same deal with these local folks - usually in the late summer they will take orders - they will sell it by the whole beef or side - if you only want a side they put your order together with someone else who wants a side. When it is time, they will call and tell you the day they are going to deliver it to the butcher shop. Then the butcher shop will call us and ask us for our processing details. 2 weeks later they call when it is ready - go pick it up cut, wrapped, and frozen.

Total cost including the beef and processing usually averages $1.20-$1.50 per pound all said and done. Yes, that includes steak, roast, ground beef, etc. The ground beef is so lean my wife has to add a little vegetable or olive oil to the pan so it doesn't stick.

It's not that they'd be able to tell the difference, my kids just won't eat anything.

You are getting an incredible deal. I've not seen it that cheap when I've looked.

[Miguel]

Costco was founded in Seattle, and the store I frequent is the original site (though it was remodeled several years ago). I have a few acquaintances who work for Costco. The company is highly regarded in the community because, unlike some of the competition, they pay their workers (retail and office) a substantial wage that includes excellent benefits. The CEO has gone on record as this being intrinsic to the values of the company. I was friends with the CEOs mom (while she was alive) and can say that this is certainly not corporate BS.

Whether Costco is worthwhile depends on what you need and how much you consume. My wife and I have two teenagers so these days we are going through a lot of groceries and HABA (health and beauty) products. OTOH, I try to measure the value of bulk purchases of Costco stuff by gauging the cubic feet of storage in the house used. Like many of you, we simply have limited space and it may be more valuable using it to store discounted organic olive oil rather than junk food or sponges that may take three years to use up.

The quality of food can be quite high at Costco. Their pricing model is low because they can demand enormous production runs of products that meet their specific requirements (Home Depot and others do this as well). For Costco this often means that groceries sold have less artificial ingredients than what you will find at a general supermarket. Costco also has their own testing lab and procedures for detecting salmonella and other evil critters in poultry and has rejected whole lots from producers that were later accepted by well-known grocers.

If you run a business, then the consumables are worth purchasing. Their food prep tools (found only in a few specialty stores) are pretty cheap and good too. For food, their organics are competitive with Trader Joes, and a separate home freezer is worthwhile.

For us some worthwhile types of purchases include eyeglass frames and lenses, tires, batteries (automotive and gadget), and power tools. I think their clothing is mostly lousy quality excepting the wool socks. Costco contact lenses are a good deal, but just about all local opticians have exactly matched their prices over the past five years.

Regarding grassfed beef, we have local farmer friends who raise a couple of cows every other year for slaughter. We divvy up one of these with a couple other families. Dry aging will push this into remarkably tasty eating. I recommend folks visit their local food coop or natural foods store and check out the bulletin board for opportunities to find a source for grass fed beef.

M

[stormtech]

Miguel - your summary of Costco is much the same as I garnered from the show I watched. I usually don't pay much mind to shows like that, but I came away impressed by the way they do business and the demeanor of the just stepping down CEO. that is what sparked my interest.

The part about eyeglasses, tires, batteries etc. is of some interest to me. Around here stuff like that is a total rip off from the small local vendors. Since there are none of the wholesale type stores around here, as much as I hate to I've found our Super Walmart to be the best for those type items.

Again, it is the price I pay to live in a remote area, but it is worth it to me. Heck - I feel lucky to have electricity and an good internet connection (which I have by a kind of mistake......).

[grhazelton]

And they do it all without exploiting their employees.



Being Amish, I expect they don't take phone orders. I really need to look into this though. I don't like my kids eating food with antibiotics. And grass fed beef is so much healthier on its own. The trick will be getting them to eat it though.

As I understand it Costco is a profit sharing enterprise. I do know that all their employees I dealt with were most helpful and seemed happy. A far cry from the poor folk slogging away at WalMart.

[Docrwm]

Miguel - your summary of Costco is much the same as I garnered from the show I watched. I usually don't pay much mind to shows like that, but I came away impressed by the way they do business and the demeanor of the just stepping down CEO. that is what sparked my interest.

The part about eyeglasses, tires, batteries etc. is of some interest to me. Around here stuff like that is a total rip off from the small local vendors. Since there are none of the wholesale type stores around here, as much as I hate to I've found our Super Walmart to be the best for those type items.

Again, it is the price I pay to live in a remote area, but it is worth it to me. Heck - I feel lucky to have electricity and an good internet connection (which I have by a kind of mistake......).

Stan,

May I suggest that you go and visit one? You can get a visitors pass to take a look around, costs nothing and might be interesting to you and your wife.

-Robert

[stormtech]

Stan,

May I suggest that you go and visit one? You can get a visitors pass to take a look around, costs nothing and might be interesting to you and your wife.

-Robert

I would like to, especially just to see one of the Costco stores, but Costco is the farthest of the all as far as driving - 220 mile round trip just isn't in the cards right now.

I mentioned this to my wife - she reminded me of the time we were sent to Pittsburgh Pa (pretty big city) where I was to be given an award for work while staying at a fancy hotel and a river boat ride. When we first walked in the door at the hotel, the lobby ceiling must have been 4 stories high. As we both stopped in our tracks and stood there gazing up, I realized what we were doing and said "Ma and Pa go to the big city". I can image the same reaction to one of these huge cavernous stores.

[Docrwm]

I would like to, especially just to see one of the Costco stores, but Costco is the farthest of the all as far as driving - 220 mile round trip just isn't in the cards right now.

I mentioned this to my wife - she reminded me of the time we were sent to Pittsburgh Pa (pretty big city) where I was to be given an award for work while staying at a fancy hotel and a river boat ride. When we first walked in the door at the hotel, the lobby ceiling must have been 4 stories high. As we both stopped in our tracks and stood there gazing up, I realized what we were doing and said "Ma and Pa go to the big city". I can image the same reaction to one of these huge cavernous stores.

Well, if you ever find yourself over that way it would be free entertainment.