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Originally Posted by Stu from NYC
We have been members of Sams for over 30 years and members of BJ about 3.
Like both for different reasons. Can get deli counter meats and cheese at BJ as well as knishes. Sams has wider selections and more choices for shirts and pants.
Never lived near Costco so never a member but have gone there with our kids who are both members.
Concerned about traffic but expect to join Costco when they open and probably will over time drop one of them.
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I joined Sam's when we first moved in because we got that membership fee credited in store credit as a promotion, and there wasn't any indication that there'd be a BJ's in the area yet.
I really liked the place, liked the different prepared foods and butcher and seafood areas, the overall layout, and the variety of everything else. But I just didn't need stuff there often enough to justify having to take my car and not being able to take the golf cart, when I live within 2 miles of the place. I think I went shopping there twice the whole year. I found better prices for "bulk toilet paper" and for 6-packs of Pepsi at Walmart. You can't buy just a half gallon of milk, or just a single 8-oz package of cheese at these big-box stores, and I don't like throwing away food. My freezer has limited space, so I'm not going to buy a lot of perishable foods in large sizes and freeze them. So I have to get that stuff at Walmart anyway. I did end up using their pharmacy when I started needing periodontal and skin cancer surgeries, because Sam's was the closest pharmacy on the way back from each of those offices. But you don't have to be a member to use their pharmacy.
So - I let my membership expire and didn't renew. BJ's came around and I got free membership there, a discounted membership my second year. If I can keep getting discounted memberships I'll stick with BJ's. If not, I'll let that expire and not use any big-box store for awhile.
They're a nice option to have but definitely not a necessity around here, if you don't have a big family or a lot of storage space.