No more Sam's Club. Costco tips or suggestions?

[Chaddie84]

Our local Sam's club is suddenly closing. There's another one in town, but it's in the middle of a really congested area we would rather avoid.

There's also a Costco in town right off the interstate, so it's really accessible. I've never shopped there and plan to check it out soon and will likely strike up a membership.

Any tips for a Costco newbie? I'm interested in some things which are better than Sam's in comparison or some exclusive items recommended to try out.

[kerg]

Never been to Sam's as we didn't have one around us so, have only been to Costco. We generally like their Kirkland brand stuff so, will buy that. For meat, we will buy meat there, carve it down, vacuum bag it and are satisfied with it.

Haven't had much success with their fruit, always seems to go bad pretty quickly. Also, If there are new things you try and like, might be best to grab more since sometimes things are only there once and gone.

Not sure how your local Costco will be, but never go on a weekend. Ugh.. freaking busy and all the damn sample stations drive me up a wall. Shopping is usually easiest at the Costco by me on weeknights.

[Seahawks fan]

Costco is waaaaaaay better than Sams club especially when it comes to quality in items and their meat/bakery.

[ntgm37]

Snag a slice of pizza on your way out!

[Vintage Collector]

I would stay away from the 50 cent hot dogs. My job super used to eat them then destroy the toilet.

Advice given, do with it what you will.

[Chaddie84]

Thanks for the tips!

Sounds like there's a place to sit down and eat by the checkouts. I used to get Pizza and a pop at Sam's for $2.49 over lunch. Hoping for something similar.

Do they do samples on weekdays?

[NickM]

Originally Posted by Chaddie84

Thanks for the tips!

Sounds like there's a place to sit down and eat by the checkouts. I used to get Pizza and a pop at Sam's for $2.49 over lunch. Hoping for something similar.

Do they do samples on weekdays?

Costco normally does more samples than Sam's, and for longer hours. Their food court is pretty similar to Sam's, although the soda selection is far inferior. Pizza and a soda will run you a bit more ($2.58 plus any tax).

There are a lot of things where their prices are just about the same. I shop at both routinely (it helps that they are essentially next to each other).

[Chaddie84]

Originally Posted by Vintage Collector

I would stay away from the 50 cent hot dogs. My job super used to eat them then destroy the toilet.

Advice given, do with it what you will.

$0.50 Hot Dogs?

Same effect as the morning coffee.

[r0yals2012]

You can call into Costco Food and order pizza. If you like Rotisserie chicken, it is a must buy. They pretty much lose money on them at $5.00 and they are huge. Instead of pretzels at costco they have churros, and they have bbq beef sandwiches as well. Their Kirkland brand is really good quality. And gas is super cheap.

[nabzy28]

If you shop often or a lot, sign up for the executive membership and get 2% back on everything except alcohol/stamps. If you spend around $250/month, it pays for itself and you can earn well over that. If you get their Citi Visa card, you get another 2% on purchases, 4% on gas and 3% on dining/food. This is the first full year they've had the Visa card offered and I am getting just over $300 back off that when they send the rewards checks next month. Just use that everywhere and pay it off with the debit card/checking card I used to use.

[ThoseBackPages]

wow! have not heard of a SAMs Club closing!

[majestik101]

I got suckered into joining Costco a year ago for their gas prices, but the one close by to us was always busy. The lines for gas were insane, especially on the weekends. Forget about shopping on the weekends too. Such a headache.

There is a gas station about 2 miles away from my work where the gas is only 3-5 cents more per gallon than Costco with no lines, so I cancelled our Costco membership.

We go to either Smart & Final or Aldi for our shopping. Both places have competitive prices on bulk items and no card needed.

[asujbl]

Sams is Walmart (obviously)
Costco is Target

Same prices though. Our Costco is awesome.

Easy

[TheHeel]

Costco is solid. I generally buy meat from there when I have a parties.

[jdandns]

Costco does not sell more pizza than all other pizza restaurants in America combined. Indeed, far from it. It's is ranked 15th among chains.

[asujbl]

Originally Posted by jdandns

Costco sells more pizza than all other pizza restaurants in America combined.

Making stuff up is fun

Costco is the 15th largest “pizza chain” in the country. Impressive

Your post is from a different planet.

[jmscoggin]

We had both for quite awhile and prefer Costco by far. Unfortunately, Costco is a much further drive and in an area we don't pass by very often. Sams is close and I pass it a minimum of twice a day so we let our Costco membership expire.

[jdandns]

Originally Posted by asujbl

Making stuff up is fun

Costco is the 15th largest “pizza chain” in the country. Impressive

Your post is from a different planet.

Sorry about that. I meant that Costco sells 4 times more hot dogs than all baseball stadiums combined. I conflated the two ideas when pizza was mentioned earlier in the thread (plus we had Costco pizza last night). I stand humbly corrected.

[arott23]

I also live in the Fargo area. I think you’ll like Costco. I definitely preferred it over the Sams Club on 13th. They do have samples on weekdays, although I’m not when they start. If I stop on a weekday, it’s usually around 6 or so and there’s still some out. You can grab a slice of pizza for like $1.50 I believe (and it’s a huge slice). We’ve had more luck finding things we like and new things to try at Costco than at Sams.

[2012 SP COLLECT]

Originally Posted by TheHeel

Costco is solid. I generally buy meat from there when I have a parties.

Absolutely the same.

[calculusdork]

Bogle Vineyards merlot, $8 per bottle, we usually buy a case at a time, don't judge us

Seriously, it's a very good merlot for cheap, best bottle under $20 I've ever had, and $8 was a lot less than $20 last time I ran the numbers. It's $11-12 at Walmart.

[gottagitdemjs]

They're basically the same store in a different wrapper. Although, I think the Kirklands products (Costco house brand) is what puts Costco a notch above Sams.

[Dobber2330]

The return policy at Costco is second to none. They will take back anything and not question you on it at all.

I had an original Garmin GPS that I paid about $400 for from Costco in the early 2000's. After about 9 months of use there was a software glitch in the item. Garmin wanted me to return it to them and they would update the software and then send it back to me after about 8 weeks.

I asked about it at Costco where I bought it and they took it back from me without a package, receipt (they looked up the purchase on their system) and gave me cash on the spot to purchase another GPS.

The quality of the products is 100x better than Sams Club - I drive 6 miles past a Sams Club on my way to Costco.

[no10pin]

Originally Posted by calculusdork

Bogle Vineyards merlot, $8 per bottle, we usually buy a case at a time, don't judge us

Seriously, it's a very good merlot for cheap, best bottle under $20 I've ever had, and $8 was a lot less than $20 last time I ran the numbers. It's $11-12 at Walmart.

I'm not sure about this one, but given your reputation here I'm inclined to believe you.

[hairysasquatch]

Originally Posted by calculusdork

Bogle Vineyards merlot, $8 per bottle, we usually buy a case at a time, don't judge us

Seriously, it's a very good merlot for cheap, best bottle under $20 I've ever had, and $8 was a lot less than $20 last time I ran the numbers. It's $11-12 at Walmart.

Booze + math FTW!