Forget about BOA and Citibank, Now Costco is Raising Membership Fees by 10%.
SMS
per year, and the executive membership is going from $100 to $110 per
year. You can live without BOA or Citibank, but there's no alternative
to Costco in many places.
terrable
"SMS" <scharf...@geemail.com> wrote in message
news:4e8cc2c7$0$1694$742e...@news.sonic.net...
the warehouse stores are worse than the sale prices at other stores.
I've never even seen a Costco. I went to the Costco website to check for
stores in my area. The five closest stores are in weird out of the way
places. Mutiple websites say that Costco places its stores in upscale areas,
but the store locations I see in NJ and PA are anything but upscale.
Warminster PA, Bridgewater NJ, Edison NJ and Lumberton NJ are not upscale.
Princeton NJ is as upscale as it gets and there is not a Costco in sight.
Mrs Irish Mike
sky-rocketed to $3.50 a pound. That's a 50 cents increase! And that is
in addition to the 50 cent increase last year. I'm already buying the
store brand. I might have to buy wieners or maybe chicken, or I could
consider fish or even beans. Maybe I'll just say "Screw it", and eat
steak once in awhile. Or coupons, I could clip some coupons or look
for sales. Stock up if it gets cheaper, like it did about six months
ago. I've been meaning to go on a diet, that's always a possibility.
Egges are cheap, anyone ever cook with eggs and pasta? I'm not sure,
should I be blaming Bush/Chaney or Obama and that other guy? That's
why I'm protesting tomorrow. It's the man keeping me down, man.
Malcom "Mal" Reynolds
wrote:
> None of the warehouse stores work for me. For what I buy the prices I see in
> the warehouse stores are worse than the sale prices at other stores.
>
> I've never even seen a Costco.
for you?
Rod Speed
>> None of the warehouse stores work for me. For what I buy the prices I see
>> in the warehouse stores are worse than the sale prices at other stores.
>> I've never even seen a Costco.
> If you've never seen a Costco, how can you say none of the warehouse stores work for you?
Malcom "Mal" Reynolds
"Rod Speed" <rod.sp...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
Rod Speed once again wrote just the peurile shit any 2 year old could leave for
dead
Bill
station. Why should I pay a yearly fee to pay higher prices?
Bob F
> On Oct 5, 1:49 pm, SMS <scharf.ste...@geemail.com> wrote:
>> Costco has announced that the basic membership is going from $50 to
>> $55 per year, and the executive membership is going from $100 to
>> $110 per year. You can live without BOA or Citibank, but there's no
>> alternative to Costco in many places.
>
> I know what you mean. Today I went to buy sausage and the price has
> sky-rocketed to $3.50 a pound. That's a 50 cents increase!
SMS
less than Costco. However every study on supermarket prices by
non-profit consumer groups shows a significant savings at Costco and
Sam's Club versus a traditional supermarket, typically 25-35% savings
depending on which stores the warehouse clubs are being compared against.
I like what Consumer Checkbook does in their comparisons where they do
two comparisons. One is for any size package at the warehouse store, and
one is comparing where the warehouse package is no more than twice as
large as the supermarket package. The savings are slightly less with the
smaller packages, but still in the 20-30% range.
Of course besides groceries, the big savings at Costco are on
non-grocery items. The savings on one set of tires more than pays for a
yearly membership, especially when you take into account that Costco
does not charge extra for road hazard warranty, they do not charge extra
for valve stems, they do not charge extra for nitrogen inflation, and
their mounting and balancing charge is lower than most tire stores.
On TVs and computers they include the second year of warranty at no
extra charge, something you'd pay a lot for at a regular store, plus
their prices on these items are usually the lowest.
The other big savings at Costco, at least in my area, is on gasoline.
You might find an Arco station with the same price, but the Arco station
doesn't take credit cards, and with a Costco Amex you get 3% or 4% back
on gasoline.
In short, for most people, the cost of the Costco membership is far
outweighed by the enormous yearly savings on items they'd be buying anyway.
SMS
> SMS<scharf...@geemail.com> wrote:
>
>> In short, for most people, the cost of the Costco membership is far
>> outweighed by the enormous yearly savings on items they'd be buying anyway.
> "apples to oranges" but if it is at all like Sam's Club then what you say may be
> true but only for people who place no value on the qualitative differences among
> products and who are willing to accept severely limited choices. It seems to me
> that folks who value qualitative differences and selection, particularly among
> foods, do not shop at such places.
I can't speak for Sam's Club as we don't have them in my area, but
Costco consistently stocks top-quality products. Often they'll have two
products in a category, a high-end name brand and their own Kirkland
brand which is of significantly lower quality but also costs much less.
I.e. we buy a lot of Greek Yogurt. Costco stocks the Fage brand at about
35% less than what other stores charge, and they have their own Kirkland
brand which is about 40% less than the name brand but isn't as good.
Amazingly, Costco even beats some of the Asian markets on stuff like
Tofu, though the package size is about 5x what you can buy at the Asian
market.
Where Costco doesn't do to well is on produce, compared to Asian markets
(compared to regular American supermarkets they are far cheaper).
Meat is especially good at Costco (all USDA Choice or Prime) whereas
most of our regular grocery stores are selling ungraded meat which is
probably "Standard" or "Commercial" grade meat.
Sometimes Costco will drop the name brand product and only carry the
Kirkland product. This is usually disappointing as most of the Kirkland
products are of mediocre quality.
Malcom "Mal" Reynolds
SMS <scharf...@geemail.com> wrote:
> Sometimes Costco will drop the name brand product and only carry the
> Kirkland product. This is usually disappointing as most of the Kirkland
> products are of mediocre quality.
I'd have to disagree with this. At worst, Kirkland products are just rebadged
from other manufacturers (ie, their paper products are probably from kleenex)
but quite a number are manufactured to their specs which are higher than
industry/govt requirements...plus they actively inspect their products
(Kirkland) food chain
The Real Bev
> "SMS"<scharf...@geemail.com> wrote:
>> Costco has announced that the basic membership is going from $50 to $55
>> per year, and the executive membership is going from $100 to $110 per
>> year. You can live without BOA or Citibank, but there's no alternative to
>> Costco in many places.
>
> None of the warehouse stores work for me. For what I buy the prices I see in
> the warehouse stores are worse than the sale prices at other stores.
Not around here. I wait until I have a long list and am going near
Costco/Sams, and then buy a lot. I really hate shopping at the
supermarkets now; they're trying to provide a shopping "experience"
rather than easy-to-find stuff at reasonable prices. Screw 'em.
> I've never even seen a Costco. I went to the Costco website to check for
> stores in my area. The five closest stores are in weird out of the way
> places. Mutiple websites say that Costco places its stores in upscale areas,
> but the store locations I see in NJ and PA are anything but upscale.
I would guess in cheap-land areas NEAR upscale areas. Like Fry's
(electronics, not groceries). Costco and Sam's around here are almost
the same, just slightly different stuff. Costco's prices seem to be
slightly better.
FWIW, there's a Costco in Tijuana.
--
Cheers,
Bev
O_________________________________________________O
"John Wayne toilet paper -- It's rough, it's tough,
and it don't take no crap from nobody."
The Real Bev
Sodas are always higher at Costco, but I see people buying it. No idea
why, unless they resell it for significantly more.
Gas, like everything else I buy at Costco, is almost always lower. If
it's not, I don't buy it.
The Real Bev
>
> SMS<scharf...@geemail.com> wrote:
>
>>In short, for most people, the cost of the Costco membership is far
>>outweighed by the enormous yearly savings on items they'd be buying anyway.
> I have no experience with Costco and a comparison between the two may be
> "apples to oranges" but if it is at all like Sam's Club then what you say may be
> true but only for people who place no value on the qualitative differences among
> products
I have no idea what on earth you mean. I've never seen Costco or Sam's
sell crap. Have you priced Costco's diamonds recently?
> and who are willing to accept severely limited choices. It seems to me
> that folks who value qualitative differences and selection, particularly among
> foods, do not shop at such places.
You sound like you believe that if you shop at Costco you have to shop
ONLY at Costco. You buy there when it makes sense; when it doesn't,
you don't.
Are you by any chance a union member?
The Real Bev
>>Are you by any chance a union member?
> That's a joke, right?
No. Union members tend to dislike non-union shops like WalMart and I'm
pretty sure that Costco and Sam's are at-will employers.
--
Cheers, Bev
=====================================================================
If violence isn't solving the problem, you're not using enough of it.
Bob F
> On 10/08/2011 08:25 AM, Derald wrote:
>
>>> Are you by any chance a union member?
>> That's a joke, right?
>
> No. Union members tend to dislike non-union shops like WalMart and
> I'm pretty sure that Costco and Sam's are at-will employers.
Costco has a much better reputation for treating its employees well. Maybe well
enough that a union is not needed.
About 13% are union members.
SMS
> On 10/08/2011 08:25 AM, Derald wrote:
>
>>> Are you by any chance a union member?
>> That's a joke, right?
>
> No. Union members tend to dislike non-union shops like WalMart and I'm
> pretty sure that Costco and Sam's are at-will employers.
Costcos that have always been Costcos are not unionized.
The supermarket alternatives, including Costco and Trader Joe's as well
as the ethnic markets have wreaked havoc on other retailers. We've lost
five "regular" supermarkets in my immediate suburban area.
Malcom "Mal" Reynolds
SMS
> I'll swear there's a
> Publix every three miles. Also have Winn-Dixie, Sweetbay (was Kash 'n Karry),
> Save-a-lot.
What we don't have in California are any supermarket chains like Publix.
I'm from Florida so I've very familiar with Publix. None of our
mainstream supermarket chains have bakeries or delis or meat departments
any where close to the quality of what Publix offers, with the two major
chains not even offering any USDA graded meat (except for at a few new
stores in wealthier areas where they have a small amount next to their
ungraded meat).
There are several smaller supermarket chains with slightly better
quality but the prices are very high, and the number of these chains is
shrinking. One shut down completely earlier this year, another is in
bankruptcy and shut down partially. Given the absence of a Publix class
of market, people go to Costco and Trader Joe's. It is not that common
to see someone at a regular supermarket with a cart full of stuff, they
go there for a few things when it's too far to go to Costco, or Costco
isn't open.
In my city of around 50,000, we've lost two Safeways, one Alpha Beta,
one "All American," one PW, and one Cala store, plus a Nob Hill just
across the city line. Three are now Asian supermarkets with excellent
produce and seafood at low cost. Two are empty. One is a furniture
store. One was subdivided into other stores.