Costco Versus Others

[roger wiegand]

Long time happy costco members, not happy about their switching to a credit card I don't have. One of the main reasons I strongly prefer it over its competitors (and the reason they seem to have fairly consistently happy, helpful employees), is that they treat their people well, both with regard to salaries (close to 2x Walmart on average) and benefits. Night and day vs Walmart/Sams. Not only that, they are a more profitable company than Walmart, giving the lie to the argument that extremely low wages and lousy benefits are a business necessity in retail.

[Montgomery Scott]

We do not have Costco in my area. We have Sam's Club. My understanding is that they are about the same. Do you have to be a member to shop there like you do at Sam's?

Sam's club is the ghetto version of costco. everything in it is a lower quality version of what costco sells.

you can get great deals on cars through costco, insurance, business products and services. it treats it employees far better and even pays pharmacy interns $40/hr.

[Larry Browning]

Wow! I had no idea this was such a sensitive subject. Lots of Costco and Sam's Club lovers and haters. Makes me sort of glad we only have 1 choice in my neck of the woods.

[Jim Becker]

Despite the fact we are poor, I have never, and never will set foot in a Walmart, due to how they treat both their employees and their suppliers. I have a friend who worked for two nurseries that were both put under by Walmart reneging on a contract. Their attitude was "go ahead sue us" as they knew they had more money to wait out a lawsuit.

As noted, I feel the same. What I didn't say previously is that my brother was a victim. Twice.

[paul cottingham]

That sucks. Sorry (but not surprised) to hear that.

[Erik Loza]

Despite the fact we are poor, I have never, and never will set foot in a Walmart, due to how they treat both their employees and their suppliers...

At a personal level, I feel the same way but let me float a scenario out there. My wife and I recently sold our rental house that was up in the burbs. As much as I don't care for Walmart, I shopped there a number of times when I was getting the place fixed back up. Why? Because was the only option. Being so far out in the burbs, it was literally the only place around that had all the stuff I needed. Costco (of which we are members) would have meant a 3 hr. round trip through traffic. My mother in law used to own a place in East TX that was very rural. Walmart was the only place in town to get some of the household stuff. Otherwise, a 4-5 hr. round trip.

I hear the sentiment and agree with it but for many folks, what if it's the only option. I feel that many folks who need a job are in the same boat. Your choices as an unskilled worker could be Sonic, Whataburger, or Walmart. So, you go Walmart. Not saying I like it but I see and understand it.

Erik

[Jim Becker]

Erik, you're correct that in some areas, Wally-world is "the only game in town" and folks gotta do what they gotta do since so many more locally owned resources no longer exist. (because of the big box stores)

Of course, the comparison here is more around Costco vs Sam's Club. Wally-world came up purely because they happen to own Sam's Club...and that's something that matters to some of us.

[Erik Loza]

Oh, Jim, I did not realize that.

We're big fans of Costco. Never felt the need to go to Sam's. All these Feit LED bulbs in the house, that I like so much, all from Costco.

Erik

[Larry Frank]

I shop at Samsclub and am happy with it. We always go with a list and attempt to follow it. The produce at mine is very good and the produce manager a nice guy. I asked one time why there was not lettuce and he told me had rejected it due to low quality. The meat is also good quality. I save money over other grocery stores.

[Chris Padilla]

Long time happy costco members, not happy about their switching to a credit card I don't have.

Roger, if you just do nothing, the VISA company that bought out Costco's AMEX customers will simply send you a new card and supposedly everything is the same on it including all rebates and such; everything transfers over. VISA is accepted at more places than AMEX so I don't think it is a big deal. I'm sure there will be SOME differences but that is a subjective call. I do like AMEX's (if you turn it on) rental car insurance. Supposedly you could drive the car off a cliff and you won't pay a single penny...even outside the US including Mexico. I liked that protection driving around Mexico a few years ago on vacation with my family.

Oh, we are big fans of Costco and do 95% of our grocery shopping there. My wife always picks up 1-2 roasted chickens ($5 each) every weekend. I'm surprised we aren't laying eggs and growing feathers but they are quite tasty birds--hard to get tired of them.

[Doug Garson]

Costco Canada switched to Capital One MasterCard last fall. They had tables set up at the stores where we signed up for the new cards. Rebates pretty much unchanged. Funny thing is since the switch my wife has received 2 or 3 calls from Amex they apparently noticed we weren't using them anymore.

[Mike Ontko]

I bought my last 3 sets of tires at Costco, and fill up my gas tank there whenever I can. I like that they fill and will recheck and refill the tires with nitrogen, which seems to keep the tires inflated longer.

I found that I can successfully make it in and out of there spending less than $100 by not using a cart--you can only fit so many 24-packs of cake muffins in your arms at one time.

[Garth Almgren]

I found that I can successfully make it in and out of there spending less than $100 by not using a cart--you can only fit so many 24-packs of cake muffins in your arms at one time.

That's a good tip. I hate going in for just one or two items, but having a cart almost guarantees a $100 minimum.

[Mike Ontko]

...having a cart almost guarantees a $100 minimum.

Those carts come with a $125 minimum usage charge That place is the worst temptation for impulse buying.

[Brian Elfert]

I have used both Costco and Sam's Club in the past. I use Sam's Club now because they have what I need for my concessions business. They are both a long ways away at my new house so I get less from my membership now as I don't go very often. I wish I had a better alternative to avoid the 45 minute round trip, but nobody else carries the stuff.