gleam wrote:I tend to avoid their produce, although we'll sometimes pick up campari tomatoes, garlic, and pineapples. If they're in good shape, the fingerling potatoes are very nice and pretty reasonably priced. Do you sense a trend? Nothing refrigerated.

Really? Why? I love their apples and romaine lettuce - they last forever it seems.

Pucca wrote:

gleam wrote:I tend to avoid their produce, although we'll sometimes pick up campari tomatoes, garlic, and pineapples. If they're in good shape, the fingerling potatoes are very nice and pretty reasonably priced. Do you sense a trend? Nothing refrigerated.

Really? Why? I love their apples and romaine lettuce - they last forever it seems.

I think that's part of the problem described above.

dicksond wrote:
I have, however, recently become a bit disenchanted with some of their produce. I bought some french cut green beans, and found they tasted a little funny, I assume this is from whatever they use to wash and treat them.

I had that happen as well, there was a run of it for a while, the funny stuff. I asked and they said to bring them back and get a refund. So it's not necessarily a good thing overall, but they will stand behind their product.

Deja vu all over again:

Today I was in the Bedford Park Costco, because it was close to Chuck's BBQ for lunch. Alternatively, I could have gone to Oak Brook, then lunch at Katy's Noodles. The layout at Bedford Park is very, very close to the Costco at Glenview, which made shopping there a breeze.

On my way home, I did go to Costco in Glenview to pick up prescriptions. There were moments of eerie similarities when the sample stations at Glenview not only were placed in the same locations as Bedford Park. The samples at each location were the very same. Tiramisu by the bakery. Apple slices and cheese by the cheese refrigerators. Orange juice, stuffed eggplant and cream puffs by the frozen foods and dairy section.

Obviously this is all carefully planned, it just never occureed to me the same sample selections at each store. No big deal really, more an observation.

I cannot wait to try Costco-Canada next month. I expect some surprises there.

Regards,

C2--where in Canadia will you be? Are you coming up our way in Quebec? Lots of local food products here, scattered throughout the food sections. Don't know how it would be in Ontario...

Geo

HI,

I am in Ann Arbor for a conference, then jumping the fence to check out the Costco. gleam said it is worthwhile for the cheese and other products simply not found here.

If it were anywhere near your neck of the woods, then you would have been long ago alerted.

Regards,

If you are heading over to Windsor, ON, you might want to make stops at Detroit's `Eastern Market and the Windsor Public Market.

At Costco I regularly purchase:

baby formula
diapers
baby wipes
canned goods
toilet paper
paper towels
pepsi
king crab legs

I have gotten ribs, and whole chickens there in the past but that is rare. I prefer going to my local small town butcher who has prime beef, and excellent cuts of other meats, and poultry as well.

The only produce I purchased at Costco was bag of avocados, and they were excellent. The other items were packaged in to large of a quantity for us to use all of them. I prefer the produce @ Caputo's, or once summer arrives the local farmers markets, or roadside produce stands out where I live.

The money I saved on the purchase of 4 tires for my SUT payed for my membership for this year.

On seafood weekends it is hard to beat the mussels and clams for quality and value. I noticed on the bag tag that they are shipped from Boston. While the quantities are large, buying shellfish in the midwest is one of those excesses that Costco allows (and encourages).

Jeez, you get CLAMS at your Costco? We've *never* had clams in KC. Mussels, of course, and crab legs, but never clams... Sigh.

Geo

5# box of Aviv Passover Matzos - $2.97...

Now to make some wonton matzo-ball soup...

Geo, hate to rub it in, but those lively (usually) mahogany bivalves are really good. Of course, Costco in Mexico has live oysters and Cuban cigars, and last year 4-5 around the country (including Chicago) had great deals on Persian rugs (couldn't resist). It's all about location.

Yeah, bet our cheeses in Montreal are waaaaay better!

Geo

Geo wrote:Yeah, bet our cheeses in Montreal are waaaaay better!

Geo

Probably true. At the local Costco, about 90% of the domestic cheese is from either Cabot or Tillamook.

Guess they haven't figured out that they make a little cheese in Wisconsin.

jlawrence01 wrote:

Geo wrote:Yeah, bet our cheeses in Montreal are waaaaay better!

Geo

Probably true. At the local Costco, about 90% of the domestic cheese is from either Cabot or Tillamook.

Guess they haven't figured out that they make a little cheese in Wisconsin.

Not trying to start an argument here, but both Cabot and Tillamook are respected cheese producers so while Wisconsin produces many wonderful cheeses, the bulk of them aren't automatically superior to those from Vermont or Oregon, simply because they originated in Wisconsin.

Just my $0.02

My point is why don't they source LOCALLY? I prefer to support local farmers rather than sending all my food dollars to the coasts.

On the other hand, they do seem to strive to source locally, as long as customers are willing to buy and suppliers able to keep up. Thus, Home Run Inn frozen pizza, Vienna Beef products, Goose Island etc. When the Damen outpost opened, I was a frequent purchaser of Lezza (of Bellwood) spumoni and other products. Alas, there were some unspecified issues, and Lezza is gone form Costco. Last time I visited (it has been some time), the Smoke Daddy guys were hawking BBQ sauce (I picked up some GA/SC style mustard based) and giving away really quite good pulled pork on which to sample the suace...

I do wish they carried more local fresh stuff that truly is as good if not better than the core brands. Wisconsin cheese, Michigan fruit, and Great Lakes fish jump to mind.

There's a lot of local stuff in the Montreal stores (7, can you believe it!): Quebec cheeses galore, local cold cuts and sausages, local dairy products (yoghurt, sour cream, milk), a whole stand of artisanal breads, smoked meat in the freezer, plus Lac Brome ducks. Haven't seen too much produce, but I suspect it's there in season.

Oh yeah, beer, too.

Might could be that the Quebeckers negotiated a strong local presence--wouldn't be odd at all.

I'm in TO this week, and if I get a chance I want to go visit a Costco here, too.

Geo

Recently has begun offering smoked sockeye salmon filets: $14.99/lb

Uncut, Wild, No food-coloring (as in farm-raised on fish pellets), 1lb+ average

Ever been to the Honolulu (Hawaii Kai) Costco? I was excited to see what would be different there but didn't notice much. You could almost have been in Chicago. Admittedly, we didn't look at everything, however the fish selection was really nothing special for that area, at least the day I visited. I hied myself over to the neighboring Safeway for my fix of supermarket poke.

And they only had two sample ladies, giving out (as I recall) boiled edamame and some kind of cracker.

bibi rose wrote:Ever been to the Honolulu (Hawaii Kai) Costco? I was excited to see what would be different there but didn't notice much. You could almost have been in Chicago. Admittedly, we didn't look at everything, however the fish selection was really nothing special for that area, at least the day I visited. I hied myself over to the neighboring Safeway for my fix of supermarket poke.

And they only had two sample ladies, giving out (as I recall) boiled edamame and some kind of cracker.

I HAVE been to the Honolulu Costco, and I think it's pretty nice (in comparison to the Maui Costco). I've found some pretty distinctive items in each. The fresh marlin or au is nice. The family-size tub of seaweed salad is excellent and quite a bargain. They also carry misoyaki butterfish. The Hawaiian sweetbread put's King's to shame. Their shellfish poke is very good as is their ahi (although they DO only offer 3 types of poke). It's been a little while and I forget what other things they've got, but I remember being fairly excited (granted it's not a Japanese Costco - which is a whole different ballgame in itself). I remember seeing a lot of omiyage at the Maui Costco, Filipino steamed buns, lau-lau and more. I DO concede that Foodland has the BEST prepared selection and taste of poke at least on Maui (It puts Safeway's prepared/de-frosted frozen stuff to shame).

I've found that I'm a Costco tourist - I'm always excited to try new Costco's esp in International settings... The Japanese Costcos are really something else... sigh...

Jay K wrote:I've found that I'm a Costco tourist - I'm always excited to try new Costco's esp in International settings... The Japanese Costcos are really something else... sigh...

I would just LOVE to go to a Japanese Costco and would certainly visit others if I happened by. So far, I've only been to the ones in Honolulu and this area.

I really thought the poke at Safeway looked better than Costco's that day. Then again, stopping at Safeway for poke is one of our traditions. IIRC, some of it has been frozen but it's labeled as such, and cheaper.

I will go back to Costco in Hawaii and poke around (so to speak) some more.

bibi rose wrote:

Jay K wrote:I've found that I'm a Costco tourist - I'm always excited to try new Costco's esp in International settings... The Japanese Costcos are really something else... sigh...

I would just LOVE to go to a Japanese Costco and would certainly visit others if I happened by. So far, I've only been to the ones in Honolulu and this area.

I really thought the poke at Safeway looked better than Costco's that day. Then again, stopping at Safeway for poke is one of our traditions. IIRC, some of it has been frozen but it's labeled as such, and cheaper.

I will go back to Costco in Hawaii and poke around (so to speak) some more.

I'm laughing, because I can relate. I wouldn't describe myself as a Costco tourist, but in my family, trips and vacations require visits to local grocery stores (as well as the local markets). We want to see what they're selling, marvel at the items that are offered (and how they're displayed), experience how the locals shop, and pick up a few things to eat back at home, or at our local home away from home. My family is spread throughout the country, and when visiting each other, we can say with a straight face, "Do you want to go see our new grocery store?"

Hi,

Last night I bought 'Jumbo Leaf Hosta Collection' containing 3 bare root eyes (plants) each of Sum and Substance, Francis Willaims, Patriot and Wide Brim for $12.95.

Last summer, I bought five potted Sum and Substance hostas for $20 each. The Sum and Substance plants alone are more than worth the purchase price at Costco.

Regards,

publicblast wrote:It's all about the milk and the return policies. The $1 savings on skim milk pays for the gas consumed in the trip. And Costco taking back a laptop which I had dropped on a cement floor and giving me a brand new one, no questions asked, is why I will stay a member for life.

people were really severely abusing their return policy, so they changed it recently... electronics are now 90 day returns w/ 2 year warranty (which is still way way better than anywhere else)... anything bought before April 1 (or whenever it took effect, it varied slightly by location) is grandfathered into the old policy so you can still take it back for life.

Also, all electronics bought at costco now have free technical support for life... through an 800 # costco runs.

Coming soon to a Costco near you: Martha Stewart!

From an article in the May 4 NY Times: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/04/busin ... artha.html

For now, the most tantalizing question — what exactly Ms. Stewart will cook up for Costco — remains unanswered. Executives at both Martha Stewart Living and Costco said they were still in the testing and tasting phase of their collaboration and had not yet chosen products for the new line.

Based on what Martha Stewart Living executives have said before, the company is expected to favor prepared foods (think of nine-layer lasagna), rather than everyday commodities like a pie crust.

Products in the line will bear two names on the label — Ms. Stewart and Kirkland, the name Costco gives to its in-house products. The line is expected to be called Kirkland Signature by Martha Stewart.

According to the article, the line will be available starting in 2008.

Was excited to find bone-in ribeyes available (they've always had ribeyes, but not bone-in to my knowledge) last time I was at Costco! Very nice...

I continue to buy Lamb Loin Chops each and every time I visit.

Today a friend and I are going halfsies new memberships. I look forward to being a Costco member, and being a regular contributor to this thread!

I was disappointed to see that the snack bar is under construction. When will it be finished? (see this egullet thread for an eye-opening discussion regarding the Costco snack bar http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showtopic=82697&st=0)

Lots and lots of high-quality, well-priced food and merchandise. I didn't see some key produce there, such as the box of salad greens or mushrooms...maybe I just wasn't looking in the right spot. (I did see the grapes & tomatoes - you'd think they'd be right there!)

I've never been to a Costco or looked into it because I had the impression that you need to buy large quantities to get good deals. Since I am single, I do not want to buy 24-packs of toilet paper or cases of canned goods, etc. But this talk of good/cheap meat is interesting. Is it worth it for a single person? What kind of things do you guys typically buy there that I might also need? Just curious. BTW, is Sam's Club any better/worse than Costco?