Costco by a country mile, no comparison. Been into Sam's maybe half a dozen times with family members and the experience was more like Walmart. Costco is awesome.

Costco on a Saturday is like walking a Indo-Paki souk.

Have both, but Costco gave large sums of money to Clinton’s campaign and other left leaning causes. They no longer get my money. Costco doesn’t carry name brand stuff (very little) just their own brand..... so where is Kirkland stuff made?

I am a member of both but I prefer Costco. I use Sam's Club mainly for the cheap gas because it is closer than Costco. The gas savings alone offsets the price of the membership.

Costco has a much better variety of products and the employees are more customer friendly.

quote:

Originally posted by beltfed21:
Costco doesn’t carry name brand stuff (very little) just their own brand.....

Huh? They have thousands of name-brand items, in addition to Kirkland products.

Another vote for Costco here. I, like JAllen, love the shirts. Looks like they are also selling the Kirkland Signature golf balls again - great ball for the price!

quote:

Originally posted by zoom6zoom:
I've found that Costco's selection varies by location, too. I found Duke's mayo by the gallon in Richmond stores (for less than the price of two quarts at Safeway), but at my local store 70 miles away, no joy.

Any of the warehouse clubs will give you a day pass so you can check them out before committing. We have Costco, Sams, and BJ's (which no one in the thread seems to have mentioned) all within a half mile.

Where did find a you Safeway store in Richmond ?

Costco has super hot dogs....

flashguy

I belong to all three. Costco has the best food and the best clothes. The worst clothes selection is at BJ's, really lame, the best is Costco. I have a closetful of the Kirkland pinpoint dress shirts although I notice lately that they no longer come in specific sleeve lengths. Instead of 34 or 35, it's now 34/35. I have always associated that with lesser quality . The Costco pizza by the slice they serve you at the front cafe is great but be aware it is not the same pizza as the whole pizzas they sell in the food section. That is not as good. Costco still cards you at the door. BJ's never has and the local Sams Club has recently stopped doing it. Costcos around here have regular hours. I can't even keep track of who does and who doesn't take credit cards and which ones anymore. I would rate them, Costco, Sams Club and BJ's in that order.

I prefer Costco. Much of it is good products and the fact they are just under 5 miles from my house.

You can buy VERRRY high end GIA certified Diamonds at Costco!! Not every store, but my local Laguna Niguel Store in So Cal has them from time to time! Simulants in the case, the real stuff in the safe. They have very good prices! I am a graduate of GIA and I was impressed!

Costco has about 10% more square footage (More stores) than Sam's club, but makes about 100% more than sams.

That alone should tell the whole story.

They sell plenty of name brand stuff. Their in house brand is fantastic. For example, the Kirkland standard white T shirts, they are the best T shirts you can buy. Pick up a Fruit f the Loom or Hanes and a Kirkland side by side. You probably can't tell the first two apart. The third one is obviously twice as thickly made. That is the Kirkland one. Plus it is the cheapest. Not even a contest.

Costco easily wins this battle.

I've been a member of both in Honolulu and Mobile. In both areas, Costco was better in every way, especially customer service, and we didn't renew the Sam's membership.

I keep my Sam's club membership mainly in case I'm traveling and a Costco isn't near. Also they have better car battery selection. Many of them have an air of decline and maybe impending closure. The employees have the attitude of rats about to leave a sinking ship.

The employee pride when they first opened near me is gone. A friend worked there soon after opening, and was sent to the airport in his personal car to bring Sam Walton to the store.

I have some nice things that were short or limited items at Sam's when they first opened. A Hitachi circular saw, Wusthof fish filet knife, A Buck USA folding hunter, A Puma Germany folder, Le Cruset cookware set. The name brand products were more plentiful then.

My belief is that with any "wholesale" or shopping club, is that the value and quality of items is best when first introduced. Get while the getting is good, as the supplier may reduce quality or decline selling to the club once they have fully evaluated their profits or lack thereof.

We currently have Costco and BJ's memberships and find both great for different reasons. Agree that many of the Kirkland brand items are of generally very good quality and price. Their baked goods and meats are as well, and it is hard to beat the Michelin tire deals and Interstate batteries you can get there, not to mention the cases of oil quarts. We do find that BJ's offers some food and other items Costco doesn't or in different varieties than Costco and so we can split our shopping between the two and get everything we need or want about 80% of the time. The rest we mostly get from Wal-Mart or Publix.

just heard this today ,
three of tiny towns wealthier wives traveled 70 mile to the costco in coralville ,Iowa
to see if they wanted to join the place.

they idiot at the door would not let them in , would not get a manager and offered no temporary "looking" pass , not a shopping pass.

when I told them that I would take them in on my card,
the pretty much said Fuck'em ( costco ) and the fucked up horse they road in on .

so there goes at least $12,000.00 a year down the hole .

nice goin costco you assholes

quote:

Originally posted by Aeteocles:

Keep an eye out for a Costco Business Center. They have business hours and they carry different products targeted at businesses such as bulk catering supplies, food service equipment, and whole sides of beef.

There are currently a total of 10 Costco Business Centers, all located in the US around major metropolitan areas, and most of which are located on the west coast:

2 in the Seattle area
2 in the Los Angeles area
1 in the San Francisco Bay area
1 in Phoenix
1 in San Diego
1 in Las Vegas
1 in the Atlanta area
1 in the Chicago area

Whereas EVERY Sam's has business hours in EVERY location. Sam's Club operates 660 stores verses 506 with Costco. Costco could easily just open their doors two hours early for business members.... but they won't.

quote:

Originally posted by SIGSense:
Costco does not have business hours, which allows members to enter the store two/three hours BEFORE they regularly open. This is priceless to me. So Sam's gets my dollars.

Why is this valuable to you? I was a member at Sam's for over 20 years, until Costco opened here. Similar big store, similar products, but no comparison in quality of employees and customer service. I don't care how busy Costco has been. It's been a better shopping experience than Sam's when they are at their least busy.

In Costco it's never taken more than a few minutes to check out, no matter how busy they were. In Sam's it almost always takes longer, even when they're not busy.

Have a question? Call Costco and talk to someone. Call Sam's? Not a 1 in 100 chance of getting someone on the phone.

At least here, there is no comparison.

I have a Sam's Club (not a member) but no Costco within 100 miles. I take it by the lack of mention that they no longer post anti-gun signs?