Costco. What's the fascination?

[Serenoa]

In the other post about what stores/services TV is missing I see many repeated requests for a Costco store. I didn't want to hijack that thread by asking there, but what exactly is the fascination with Costco? I can understand how a Costco / Sam's might be popular with families who can save by buying mass quantities of food staples, but I can't imagine that being practical or appealing for retirees. We have a Costco here in B'ham & yes, it may be a nicer store than Sam's but we still can't see that their prices justify the annual membership cost. What are we missing? I've always suspected that these membership "wholesale" clubs were just a marketing ploy to make consumers think they were getting an extra good deal. Am I wrong?

[HMLRHT1]

We find that Costco has more unique things such as x-mas decorations. It is not so much the bulk items ( but we do get TP, paper towels and napkins and other smaller bulk things like peanut butter ) the frozen foods are very good as well as a lot of their bakery items. I suppose the number one thing about Costco is it's always clean and their employees are always very helpful and courteous. So I and my wife believe that a Costco here in The Villages would be very welcomed as well as being open to the surrounding communities.

[HMLRHT1]

We find that Costco has more unique things such as x-mas decorations. It is not so much the bulk items ( but we do get TP, paper towels and napkins and other smaller bulk things like peanut butter ) the frozen foods are very good as well as a lot of their bakery items. I suppose the number one thing about Costco is it's always clean and their employees are always very helpful and courteous. So I and my wife believe that a Costco here in The Villages would be very welcomed as well as being open to the surrounding communities.
Also I would add that Costco pays their employees a lot better than most if not all retail. It would be a plus for all on the economic side.

[graciegirl]

I like Sams and Costco. We have bought outdoor urns, a birdbath, an outdoor fountain, a nativity scene for a gift. Lots of gift packaged candies and nuts over time for customers and now for some friends here in the Villages at Christmas time. I buy a lot of meat at Sams. I will buy large packages of chicken breasts and put them in freezer bags in threes for us, ditto ground beef, and steaks and they have great baby back ribs. Their cookies and pies and cakes are WONDERFUL and much less expensive than at grocery stores. You can get a huge and yummy sheet cake for less than twenty dollars. Wrapping paper in bulk, high quality Christmas ornaments and other accessories for the home. Rugs, even mattresses. Sometimes their fresh fruits and vegetables are packages in too big a quantity, but I have a friend who will share.


At Costco we have purchased beautiful wooden shelving units for a room in Cincinnati, a chair, and canned goods, spices, meat and fresh vegetables. At both places their freezer entrees are good.


They both have huge buying power and as a result the savings are passed onto the consumer.


We have purchased clothing and books at both places and TV's and small appliances. They stand behind what they sell, so if you have a problem they will refund or exchange. Kitty litter and kitty food. TP, paper towels, napkins, great deals on holiday paper/plastic plates. We make a run to Sams about once a month. I think people don't quite understand about the bigger quantities. We always can break it down.


I don't work for Sams or Costco either.

[2BNTV]

I like Sams and Costco. We have bought outdoor urns, a birdbath, an outdoor fountain, a nativity scene for a gift. Lots of gift packaged candies and nuts over time for customers and now for some friends here in the Villages at Christmas time. I buy a lot of meat at Sams. I will buy large packages of chicken breasts and put them in freezer bags in threes for us, ditto ground beef, and steaks and they have great baby back ribs. Their cookies and pies and cakes are WONDERFUL and much less expensive than at grocery stores. You can get a huge and yummy sheet cake for less than twenty dollars. Wrapping paper in bulk, high quality Christmas ornaments and other accessories for the home. Rugs, even mattresses. Sometimes their fresh fruits and vegetables are packages in too big a quantity, but I have a friend who will share.


At Costco we have purchased beautiful wooden shelving units for a room in Cincinnati, a chair, and canned goods, spices, meat and fresh vegetables. At both places their freezer entrees are good.


They both have huge buying power and as a result the savings are passed onto the consumer.


We have purchased clothing and books at both places and TV's and small appliances. They stand behind what they sell, so if you have a problem they will refund or exchange. Kitty litter and kitty food. TP, paper towels, napkins, great deals on holiday paper/plastic plates. We make a run to Sams about once a month. I think people don't quite understand about the bigger quantities. We always can break it down.


I don't work for Sams or Costco either.

:agree:

I have found that buying selected items, that won't perish or go stale, to be a hugh savings over time. There are some items that may be cheaper in lesser quantities, at supermarkets but overall, Sam's club is the better deal. I like Sam's in that it is kept clean and organized. That is important to me, as I can't stand any store where items are strewed around. My tendency would be to leave. ASAP

I can see belonging to both, Sam's and Costo's, as it would not be cost effective as they carry very similar items. I hope someone's point of view, can enlighten me. :smiley:

[JB in TV]

Additionally to what Gracie and others have said, Costco is a great place to buy electronics, such as laptops, TVs, cell phones, etc..besides very competitive pricing, they extend the manufacturer's warranty by an additional year, and offer direct phone concierge service for these items. I believe Costco has a better return/satisfaction policy than Sam's on all other items, but I am not 100% sure. Also, Costco's gas pricing is almost always lower than any surrounding gas stations (as is Sams). We have memberships to both Sam's and Costco, do shop at Sams, but prefer Costco. We believe that the Costco employees provide a higher level of customer service to customers than Sams

EDIT: As 2BNTV questioned, these stores carry different brands/items in many cases.

[laceylady]

I find that you can count on anything bought in Costco being of excellent quality and a. Better price than elsewhere. We bought leafgard gutters for our home in WA state as well as several cars through Costco programs. Also, as stated in a previous post, computers, TVs, printers, etc. i wish they had one here. Went in Sam's club once and was not impressed.

[hollander]

We Love Costco! We found Sams to be lower quality. Costco quality and customer service is awesome. You can tell Costco employees are paid well and have great benefits, just the kind of store we like to support!

[asianthree]

gas is less, wine is less, scrips can be less, we have both costco and sams, its not about bulk its about everyday things at a better price,,,so a fixed income goes a long way

[LittleDog]

When in NJ we were members of Costco and BJ's. We found that we preferred Costco for electronics and household items. We like BJ's for the food as we found that the quantities for sale were not bulk items where you had to buy large items and BJ's had smaller packages which were just right for 2 people. So for food BJ's was better but for other items we liked Costco.

John

[Madelaine Amee]

We shop Sam's, we would shop Costco too if there was one. There are just two of us, but we have worked out what works for us. Buy laundry detergent, toilet paper, cleaning supplies just two or three times a year. Buy meat, get really good roast beef, cut it in half and freeze. Pork, chicken, fish the same. We like cheese, buy huge blocks of cheese. They sell Legal Seafood New England Chowder which we love, also buy their frozen double packs of ravioli - one packet gives us two servings, so four meals for under $10.00. We also buy their milk. This past week milk in Publix was over $4.00, Sam's milk is still somewhere around $2.40ish for a gallon. We eat a lot of raw nuts and their almonds and walnuts in large quantities are a great buy. We have purchased Jack Nicklaus golf shirts in there for $17.00 a piece! We are retired and have the time to browse and if you browse that store you will find numerous ways to save money. Have you seen the price of their baby aspirin? Unbelievable. Shopping the big box stores is an art form, if you go crazy you can buy a load of stuff which you don't need!!!

[Steve & Deanna]

We have Costco very near us where we live in VT. They are top-rated by a 'leading consumer magazine' and part of that is customer service. We've used them from books, movies (but check Amazon), food, eyeglasses...and the list goes on and on.

[tommy steam]

We find that Costco has more unique things such as x-mas decorations. It is not so much the bulk items ( but we do get TP, paper towels and napkins and other smaller bulk things like peanut butter ) the frozen foods are very good as well as a lot of their bakery items. I suppose the number one thing about Costco is it's always clean and their employees are always very helpful and courteous. So I and my wife believe that a Costco here in The Villages would be very welcomed as well as being open to the surrounding communities.

They pay their employes well , provide pension and health benefits.

[l2ridehd]

Costco product quality is better then Sam's of B J's. Everything I have bought there has been an excellent value. If you need anything from tires, TV's, to bagels and ice cream, the value and quality is there. I can not say that about the other two.

[alanmcdonald]

Where we live in Georgia the Costco is closer than Sam's, but we are members of both. I prefer Costco for electronics and generic over the counter medicines I take.

Sam's has the Christmas shortbread cookies my mother loves.

I'm sure we will keep our Sam's membership when we get to TV full time, but not sure about Costco, it's quite a trip to Orlando just for shopping. (I will have to get the Vizio 5.1 home theater with wireless rear speakers and subwoofer at Costco before we leave!)

[manaboutown]

I am single but I shop at Costco for everything I can. Costco has the best return policies, warranties and prices. It sells only quality items. I have bought electronics including TV's and computers, luggage, wooden wall cabinets, picture frames, steel garage shelving, various tools, plastic trash bags, TP, napkins, kleenex, books, coffee makers, coffee, distilled liquor as well as beer and wine, bottled water, steaks, crab legs, frozen crab cakes, hamburgers and wild salmon patties, salmon, guacamole, hummus, dried fruits, fresh fruit and vegetables, almond milk, oatmeal, and spices. I buy my prescription eyeglasses there and obtain prescriptions and vitamins and other supplements there. I buy socks, jackets, shirts and pants there. I could go on and on.

Once I was in a Costco which had imported some wonderful European tapestries. The were large (63" x 87"), woven on 19th century style looms in France/Italy and close to a thousand dollars each. I was looking and looking at them until a couple who had lived in Europe for a number of years approached me. The man said "If you want any of these you should jump at the chance. They are the real thing and would cost two to three times this much in Europe. I know because we have a tapestry collection we acquired in Europe." I bought two along with the hardware and tassels to hang them and enjoy them every day. BTW they had all been sold the next time I went to that Costco.

A few years ago I was in Egypt. A man who was a pretty high up fellow was taking us around. He wore a suit every day but one. On that day he was wearing a pair of jeans having the Kirkland (Costco) label on them. I asked him where he got them in Cairo, that I did not know there was a Costco there. He smiled and told me his brother who lives in the USA had sent them to him.

[gustavo]

In the other post about what stores/services TV is missing I see many repeated requests for a Costco store. I didn't want to hijack that thread by asking there, but what exactly is the fascination with Costco? I can understand how a Costco / Sam's might be popular with families who can save by buying mass quantities of food staples, but I can't imagine that being practical or appealing for retirees. We have a Costco here in B'ham & yes, it may be a nicer store than Sam's but we still can't see that their prices justify the annual membership cost. What are we missing? I've always suspected that these membership "wholesale" clubs were just a marketing ploy to make consumers think they were getting an extra good deal. Am I wrong?

A few years back I was amazed to read that the bulk of the profits Costco made were from the membership fees. So they must sell at low cost.

[OBXNana]

In addition to all the other posts, we buy grandkids clothes. They carry Nike and other brands at greatly reduced prices. We also get our tires, prescriptions, and glasses at Costco.

When our son was updating his house, he was able to save a tremendous amount with name brand faucets and lighting. We purchased one of the wooden swing sets a few years ago at Costco for the grandkids and saved about $500.00.

Finally, when we do any entertaining it's great to buy some of the unique items in bulk you'd never eat on a regular basis. From appetizers, desserts, and cheese, to huge trays of shrimp. The variety can't be beat.

[CFrance]

I had really good thin-crust pizza from Costco at our son & dil's house. They prefer Costco over Sam's for the overall quality. We've never lived in an area with a Costco, so I would like to have one in TV.

[zonerboy]

Like almost everything discussed on TOTV, there will be some who think it's the greatest thing since sliced bread, while others will say they can't stand it and will never set foot there again.
Why should it be any, different with Costco?
If you like it, keep on going there. If you don't, we'll just shop somewhere else.
As for me, I'm a fan. I even own stock.

[kwtoman]

Costco may have good deals, but not good enough for me to either invest in an AmEx card or pay cash for everything. Should they loosen up a little and start taking other cards, then it would be worth considering. Until then, there's Sam's.

[JB in TV]

Costco may have good deals, but not good enough for me to either invest in an AmEx card or pay cash for everything. Should they loosen up a little and start taking other cards, then it would be worth considering. Until then, there's Sam's.

FYI, Costco accepts Debit cards...

[kwtoman]

FYI, Costco accepts Debit cards...

same as Cash to me.

[Shirleevee]

Like almost everything discussed on TOTV, there will be some who think it's the greatest thing since sliced bread, while others will say they can't stand it and will never set foot there again.
Why should it be any, different with Costco?
If you like it, keep on going there. If you don't, we'll just shop somewhere else.
As for me, I'm a fan. I even own stock.

Quality....I have been a member since it was Price Club and have Never returned any food item...not so with Sam's Club.

[kaydee]

We feel Costco has great quality steaks and great quality frozen raw shrimp.

[FoPAA]

I'll make the drive to Costco every 3 weeks or so, and although we belong to both I tend to avoid Sam's.
Kirkland brand goods are generally very highly rated by Consumer Reports in every category. Sam's, not so much.

[jblum315]

We had a Costco card for many years in NY. Loved the Kirkland coffee, better than Dunkin. They had a separate cold room for fresh produce, excellent quality and in manageable quantities. They had the best fresh bake-at-home pizza.

[LndLocked]

I have in the past shopped and purchased from Costco and would do so again if one were in the area ..... if for no other reason than their corporate policies that I completely and totally agree with.

[pooh]

I, too, have belonged to Costco since it was Price Club. Actually, I have memberships to all three warehouses, Costco, Sam's and BJ's. Costco is my favorite, always has been. In CA, Costco was less than a mile from my house. We did most of our shopping there each week, supplementing what they didn't have, from the local grocery chain.

Costco has a great return policy and have had to use it once, for a mattress. Had a 5 year warranty and after 4 years and about 300 days, it had a sag in the middle. Couldn't notice the sag on visual, but it was apparent when you tried to sleep on it. They said, "return it and pick out another." No one even tried it to see if I was fibbing about the sag.

Their meats are amazing, Kirkland products are great. We still make a trip to Altamonte Springs every couple of months. Sam's is used more often, they are closer. BJ's we visit less often, but they have items available there that the other two stores do not. We've also used Costco online shopping....easy, fast and again, great values.

Costco is always a surprise....you never know what they might have, but do know if there is something you just cannot live without, it will be a good value and of great quality.

We have been just the two of us for years, and still use the warehouse stores for shopping.....just wish that Costco was a bit closer....we were spoiled having it so close to home for so many years!

[graciegirl]

We have had memberships to both.


Does anyone remember a previous conversation about the two some time before on this forum, and something was said that someone on here spoke to someone in corporate customer service at Costco and they felt at this time we could not support two similar venues here in TV. Or am I off my meds?


Somebody want to contact them again?

[14thMed]

We use Costco for the travel benefits. Found the best deal on some cruises. 14

[Serenoa]

Thanks everyone for the great responses. You guys & gals are the best!

Sounds like we need to take a closer look at Costco.