LAZ wrote:It's consistent with Costco's "treasure hunt" philosophy that they carry some items on and off for limited times.

There is a method to their madness. Sometimes their negotiated price can't be met, sometimes they need shelf space based on what is/isn't selling. CNBC did a feature on the store a couple of months ago:

http://www.cnbc.com/id/46603589

This may be a silly question, but yesterday I was shopping at Costco and saw a customer buy 3 shopping carts full of Costco whole milk cartons. He was loading them into his SUV. I estimate that he had 150 to 200 gallons of milk.

What do you suppose he was going to do with this milk? I would think that if he was making a commercial product like cheese, he'd have a vendor who'd probably deliver the milk to him at a lower cost. Ideas? What does one make with 200 gallons of milk?

Maybe it's for a restaurant or cafe and they need the stuff right away.

Probably he's going to sell it in a convenience store at a markup, possibly in a food-desert neighborhood.

Hi,

At $1.79 per gallon, milk is very inexpensive.

Walgreen's loss leader milk this week is priced at $1.99 with a limit of two. Sunset Foods is selling at the same price as Costco with a limit of four. Otherwise milk is over $3.

Regards,

By the way, does anyone else have a hard time pouring milk from those Costco milk jugs? We actually make two smaller holes in the foil (one for milk out, one for air in), to make pouring less messy.

Cheers, Jen

Hey, thanks, Jen, that's a good idea.

Cathy-

Unfortunately, Sunset is selling half gallons for that price, not full gallons.

-Will

LAZ wrote:Probably he's going to sell it in a convenience store at a markup, possibly in a food-desert neighborhood.

LAZ,

That's quite a scenario you've conjured up? Why wouldn't a convenience store operator just order milk from a dairy supplier?

WillG wrote:Cathy-

Unfortunately, Sunset is selling half gallons for that price, not full gallons.

-Will

I noticed that this evening, then went over to Walgreens a block away. It is still $1.99 until midnight.

That's what happens when you give a quick glance at the ads.

Regards,

Evil Ronnie wrote:

LAZ wrote:Why wouldn't a convenience store operator just order milk from a dairy supplier?

Buying power? A single convenience store couldn't possibly get the same pricing advantage that Costco or Walgreen's would. And Costco /Walgreen's can get away with next to no markup. So I could totally envision a scenarion where a convenience store would take advantage of $1.69 milk pricing at Costco and beat a wholesaler's price.

spinynorman99 wrote:

Evil Ronnie wrote:

LAZ wrote:Why wouldn't a convenience store operator just order milk from a dairy supplier?

Buying power? A single convenience store couldn't possibly get the same pricing advantage that Costco or Walgreen's would. And Costco /Walgreen's can get away with next to no markup. So I could totally envision a scenarion where a convenience store would take advantage of $1.69 milk pricing at Costco and beat a wholesaler's price.

I considered this too. But this would take up a lot of cooler space -- you'd need a nice sized walk-in for this much milk. And they only bought whole milk. This store would have to move a lot of whole milk before it expired.

Thanks for the ideas everyone.

Perhaps milk baths.

Jewel's cooler died?

Oh no--I have it--Jewel's Whole Milk shipment was coming from Indiana and got busted by Jeff Rossen...(Today Show expose from last week)

spinynorman99 wrote:

Evil Ronnie wrote:

LAZ wrote:Why wouldn't a convenience store operator just order milk from a dairy supplier?

Buying power? A single convenience store couldn't possibly get the same pricing advantage that Costco or Walgreen's would. And Costco /Walgreen's can get away with next to no markup. So I could totally envision a scenarion where a convenience store would take advantage of $1.69 milk pricing at Costco and beat a wholesaler's price.

When you add to the cost of the purchaser's milk his time away from job/store/whatever, gas, wear and tear on car/suv, was it cheaper?

Restaurants, schools, day care centers, etc., routinely buy milk and other foodstuffs in large quantities from Costco and Sam's Club. Both businesses were originally targeted at small businesses, not consumers. Friend of mine who works at Costco says there's one agent (who delivers to either restaurants or schools or both) who has a standing order for 58 gallons of milk a week.

Cathy2 wrote:Hi,

At $1.79 per gallon, milk is very inexpensive.

Walgreen's loss leader milk this week is priced at $1.99 with a limit of two. Sunset Foods is selling at the same price as Costco with a limit of four. Otherwise milk is over $3.

Regards,

You can also buy Milk at Aldi for $1.89 a gallon depending on the location. The Belmont/Kimball, Brickayd and Clybourne/Fullerton and Wrightwood/Pulaski ones have it at that price or lower.

Katie wrote:Friend of mine who works at Costco says there's one agent (who delivers to either restaurants or schools or both) who has a standing order for 58 gallons of milk a week.

Sounds like a dairy company to me.

Damn 2 percenters.

I was at Aldi in Lake Zurich the other day and saw that they were selling gallons of whole milk for 25 cents. Must have been near the expiration.

I got the Costco Connections magazine today and they were advertising a new item that's available only in the store; A Kirkland 8 qt oval enameled cast iron dutch oven. It didn't give the price. Anybody know what it is?

Dlongs wrote:

ronnie_suburban wrote:My wife was told by one of the employees at the Glenview store that the vintage Tuscan olive oil has been discontinued. I'm guessing that's not accurate and that it's merely sold out for the year (at this store) but I suppose it could be true. Anyone have any information about this?

=R=

I was at the Niles Costco last week and I found one bottle of the Tuscan mixed in with the lesser quality liter bottles. I asked where the rest of the Tuscan oil was and was told that they were "out". Not sure if it is discontinued completely, but i'm hoping it's only done for the season.

I picked up a two-pack (2x1L) of a Spanish extra virgin olive oil at the Clybourn location. It is dated November/December 2011 harvest and lists the variety of olive (which I don't recall right now). The bottle is not exactly the same as the Tuscan one, but it is eerily similar. It was $12 for a two-pack, so basically half the cost of the Tuscan variety. I haven't tasted it yet.

Darren72 wrote:

Dlongs wrote:

ronnie_suburban wrote:My wife was told by one of the employees at the Glenview store that the vintage Tuscan olive oil has been discontinued. I'm guessing that's not accurate and that it's merely sold out for the year (at this store) but I suppose it could be true. Anyone have any information about this?

=R=

I was at the Niles Costco last week and I found one bottle of the Tuscan mixed in with the lesser quality liter bottles. I asked where the rest of the Tuscan oil was and was told that they were "out". Not sure if it is discontinued completely, but i'm hoping it's only done for the season.

I picked up a two-pack (2x1L) of a Spanish extra virgin olive oil at the Clybourn location. It is dated November/December 2011 harvest and lists the variety of olive (which I don't recall right now). The bottle is not exactly the same as the Tuscan one, but it is eerily similar. It was $12 for a two-pack, so basically half the cost of the Tuscan variety. I haven't tasted it yet.

Arbequina.

I haven't tasted it yet either, but the price was great.

The Lincoln Park Costco has their annual plethora of Oktoberfest beer selections back in. Right now they have Hofbrau, Hacker-Pschorr, Sam Adams, and one other I can't remember. Prices are in the $20-24 range. If this year is like past years they should be getting one or two others in soon.

Attrill wrote:The Lincoln Park Costco has their annual plethora of Oktoberfest beer selections back in. Right now they have Hofbrau, Hacker-Pschorr, Sam Adams, and one other I can't remember. Prices are in the $20-24 range. If this year is like past years they should be getting one or two others in soon.

have you ever tried their 'regular' kirkland beer? I bought a case a little while back as curiousity got the best of me, and I found every brew to be disgusting. I keep attempting to pawn it off on friends

imsscott wrote:I got the Costco Connections magazine today and they were advertising a new item that's available only in the store; A Kirkland 8 qt oval enameled cast iron dutch oven. It didn't give the price. Anybody know what it is?

They finally had the 8 quart oval cast iron enameled French oven yesterday at the Lake Zurich store for $80. That's a great price and it looks really nice. I bought one for myself.

We're looking for a new blender now, and checked out the offerings at our Costco (14th & Ashland). They have one selling for something crazy like $300 - or maybe more. What on earth can it do to justify that price?!

According to this site... it sounds big, heavy, loud and expensive, with a good warranty. My Osterizer is almost 30 years old; I've had to replace the gasket twice. I've never had an issue with it making smoothies, soups, hummus, pesto, or sauces. The only real advantage I see would be the size of the jar.

Suzy Creamcheese wrote:We're looking for a new blender now, and checked out the offerings at our Costco (14th & Ashland). They have one selling for something crazy like $300 - or maybe more. What on earth can it do to justify that price?!

The Vitamix and it's competitor, the BlendTec (you may have seen the "Will it Blend? videos online) are just hugely powerful blenders that will tackle most anything you throw at them (and can be used for prolonged periods). You've likely seen them at commercial establishments where they're used for smoothies and blended ice beverages.

We sprang for a Vitamix five years ago and have never had a nanosecond of buyer's regret. It's a hugely capable machine, unlike all the other blenders I've had before--some of which were fairly expensive for their part.

Geo

Just an fyi.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/europe/smoked-salmon-blamed-for-salmonella-outbreak-in-netherlands-and-united-states/2012/10/02/2a7e66fa-0c88-11e2-97a7-45c05ef136b2_story.html