OT- Sam's Club or Costco

Battleborn

Alright, it's done. I took one look at their meat section and was sold. On top of that, I walked by the toilet paper (I live in a household with three girls, we go through a metric sh!t ton, pun intended) and was even more sold. 
Appreciate all the input. 

kl8ton

Pic of Prime packer?  3 pack of ribs?  2 pack of butt?

Hans61

Costco

Battleborn

kl8ton said:

Pic of Prime packer?  3 pack of ribs?  2 pack of butt?

I will be going back tomorrow morning to get some, had to go and sign for our new place. Pretty excited at their selection. 

tarheelmatt

Should have went Executive with the new VIsa card for mucho cashback.  You'll pay for your membership and then some.  

Eggcelsior

tarheelmatt said:

Should have went Executive with the new VIsa card for mucho cashback.  You'll pay for your membership and then some.  

This. After a couple of months, amortize out your spending out over 12 months and get the Executive if you are going to spend $5200 in a year. Or just go for it with the Visa. The cash back is amazing and they tell you in real time what your balance is. 4% on gas is sweet!

mikeinccfl

Had Sam's membership in KY. Didn't use it much; didn't like the store, etc. Have Costco now (in FL). Great store and their Kirkland brand has been great so far.

Shiff

tarheelmatt said:

Should have went Executive with the new VIsa card for mucho cashback.  You'll pay for your membership and then some.  

You can upgrade to Executive at any time and they charge you a prorated fee.  You can also go back to regular membership and they'll do a prorated refund.

Battleborn

Eggcelsior said:

tarheelmatt said:

Should have went Executive with the new VIsa card for mucho cashback.  You'll pay for your membership and then some.  

This. After a couple of months, amortize out your spending out over 12 months and get the Executive if you are going to spend $5200 in a year. Or just go for it with the Visa. The cash back is amazing and they tell you in real time what your balance is. 4% on gas is sweet!

That is my plan. I went through the options and decided to see how much we actually use it. If we use it a lot after a few months, I will upgrade. Until then, it looks like I need to go buy a full packer tomorrow and throw it on the Egg!

OhioEgger

TheBrewerMoose said:

Costco for sure.

The Kirkland brand is really, really good.  I haven't been disappointed with any of their branded products.  The meat quality and prices are great.  Not mentioned above is their return policy.

Another vote for Costco. I tried Sam's Club a few years ago and hated it. Limited selection, unfriendly staff, and a hassle to check out. Costco is the opposite of all that, and I have never been even slightly disappointed with anything under the Kirkland brand. We don't spend enough there to justify the executive membership, but I save more than enough just on the prices to pay for the membership each year.

Focker

Have been in the DSM Costco a few times, really nice store.  The Minion birthday cake for my boy was great, reasonably priced.

Got a recent Sam's Club 1 min away if I don't get caught at the light.  Save on gas there.  Usually get a beef hot dog and pop for 2 bucks when I'm in.  It is worth it for the Meat, Cheese, Dave's Bread, and Luigi's Italian Ice alone.  Still have a few Yeti knockoff tumbler sets to give away.  I'm on my third Block Rocker.  First one died, second lost blue tooth.  Manager took care of me.

I hope we do get a Costco, but I don't see myself switching soon if that's the case, due to location, convenience.  Prime, or prime briskets are not even a low priority here.  I do a lot of meat cooler diving for choice prime, which is good enough for me.  Nothing against it, I'm just too cheap.

XLentEGG

I joined Costco on a Saturday and bought A whole  Prime ribeye. I went back on the following tuesday looking for a Prime packer , and whole chicken wings , which they do not carry. I asked the meat guy if he could cut me some Bone in pork chops to order and he said that they do not custom cut meat there. ( Jax FL. ) I returned on wednesday and got a refund on my membership.  I go to BJs regularly and although they don't carry Prime meat , they will custom cut any meat that I buy. For being thirty miles away , Costco is not worth it. IMHO 

nolaegghead

Sam's Club

nolaegghead

Who am I kidding?  Costco for, like, everything.  (except their flowers - according to SWMBO - Sam's are always better).

GregW

Just got a Sam's card because it is close by and It was essentially free during a promotion.
It's a really sad situation in the meat department. I can't believe how unskilled the meat cutters are. For example, in a package of 3 ribeyes, each steak was a different thickness. Side to side the steaks varied by 1/4 to 3/8 of an inch.
I've reached the point that I would rather pay a slight premium to buy steaks from a place that actually has skilled butchers.
I do prefer Costco, but even their meat cutters leave a lot to be desired.

schafe98

I have both but Costco gets the vote every time.  I only have Sam's because it's the only place around me I can get a whole brisket.  Costco's meat is definitely better.  All the employee stuff mentioned above, it's cleaner, much better wine selection, etc.  Here in CA, they get poke brought in almost everyday of the week from Hawaii which I absolutely love.  If you dig into it, some of the Kirkland brand spirits are distilled at name brand places (Kirkland vodka distilled in France is Grey Goose at half the cost).

Texag06ish

F Wal-Mart

DMW

GregW said:

Just got a Sam's card because it is close by and It was essentially free during a promotion.
It's a really sad situation in the meat department. I can't believe how unskilled the meat cutters are. For example, in a package of 3 ribeyes, each steak was a different thickness. Side to side the steaks varied by 1/4 to 3/8 of an inch.
I've reached the point that I would rather pay a slight premium to buy steaks from a place that actually has skilled butchers.
I do prefer Costco, but even their meat cutters leave a lot to be desired.

Just buy the whole ribeye and cut it yourself. I have one in the fridge I picked up from Costco last weekend. I'm planning to cut off a few steaks to freeze and then dry age the rest before steaking it out.

Zmokin

Costco, love their Kirkland TP 

bhedges1987

This should answer your question pretty easily.  Looks like about 95% people say costco.

Toxarch

Had Sams card for many many years. Finally Costco built a store and we switched within a year. Zero regrets. 

NPHuskerFL

We have been members at Sam's over a decade and got a 1 yr comp membership to Costco via my wife's company showshe works for. Each has perks and quirks. We also belong to BJ's Wholesale Club. Probably won't renew Costco because it's too far from our home....around 40 miles or roughly 1 hr one-way. As it sits I'll go to Costco only if I'm already at my office which is about 5 minutes away or if I'm in close proximity. Too far to make a dedicated trip.  Doubt we'll pay to renew our comp membership when it comes due.  I like BJ's because they usually have good selection, warehouse pricing and also allow use of coupons. 

BYS1981

We let our Sam's Club membership expire, local costco is $5 less to go to, no bridge toll, and has a better beer selection. 

clemsontyger97

For those who are Sam's members does Sam's have 50 check-out lanes with only 2 cashiers like most Wal-Marts?  

OneNole03

I have both and I like Sams but Costco is certainly better. My costco also does not carry whole packers like Sams does and Sams is also a bit closer. 

I usually purchase 10 items or fewer each time I go so I just use the self checkout. Much quicker than waiting in those lines with people that have two shopping carts full.

stlcharcoal

clemsontyger97 said:

For those who are Sam's members does Sam's have 50 check-out lanes with only 2 cashiers like most Wal-Marts?  

Yup.  Our Sam's at least have the self checkouts where you can grab the price gun and do it yourself.  Most of the folks will full carts don't mess with that, and it works for me b/c I'm only grabbing a dozen items at most.

Our Costco used to have the four self-checkout lanes, but they were very touchy and you had to know how to use them.  The one attendant would always end up scanning the entire cart for someone while the 2-3 lanes waiting for him to clear their error code, ID check, etc......then of course the person would want to pay via check or cash and the whole thing would get voided.  So they yanked these 4 lanes, and replaced with 2 full serve lane (which are NEVER open).

With either place, I try to go first thing Monday morning after I drop the kids off at school.  It's empty, I'm outta there in twenty minutes tops.  Saturday at either place......don't bother!!!!  I rarely go to Wal-Mart or Target.  WalMart just started that online order deal here in STL though--order your groceries or stuff on the website, wait for the email confirmation, then they'll meet you in the parking lot and put it in your car.  They don't have it at the local store, but maybe it's coming.

WeberWho

clemsontyger97 said:

For those who are Sam's members does Sam's have 50 check-out lanes with only 2 cashiers like most Wal-Marts?  

@clemsontyger97
You can scan each purchase with your app and place in your cart as you go. Skip all lines.

http://www.samsclub.com/sams/html/mobile/help/scan-and-go.html?mobiledetect=false

tikigriller

Costco but I can  never get out of there for less than $300!!!  Too many toys and too much great meat!!!!

blasting

I had both memberships simultaneously.  Sams does nothing better than Costco.  Costco does a lot of things better than Sams.  So I dropped Sams.

It's interesting that Sams is still in business, given the overwhelming nod to Costco.

tarheelmatt

Shiff said:

tarheelmatt said:

Should have went Executive with the new VIsa card for mucho cashback.  You'll pay for your membership and then some.  

You can upgrade to Executive at any time and they charge you a prorated fee.  You can also go back to regular membership and they'll do a prorated refund.

Yep, but why not get that first purchase on your balance so you get the cash back?  

That's essentially when I upgraded too.  They stopped me in the checkout line and I bit.  Glad I have though.  The new Visa though is nice.  Like Egg said, the 4% gas and essentially 4% on Costco purchases too (2% with Exec. and 2% on the card).  It's a no brainier if they going to give you money to use it!