…Hey… Nickle difference…
How small are your Costcos? 
I’ve never been to one where there wasn’t ample room to get around the herds of free sample folks.
Go to the one in Bellingham, WA if you want to experience the busiest one in the world (source: me). At least it used to be when all of Vancouver, BC would drive down each weekend to pick up cheap booze, gas and dairy products. Now that the Canadian Loony has dropped in value, I’m not sure it is as bad.
There must just be a good distribution of Costcos here in the Chicago area. They are busy, but I’ve never experienced them being crowded so I get annoyed about people in my way (Like I literally cannot remember ever being blocked by someone going down the aisle, because the aisles are just so huge). Maybe the check-out can get a little hairy sometimes, but they seem to be good about actually employing enough people to handle the demand.
My “local” Costco is virtually empty at it’s busiest. I’ve just had the misfortune of going to the B’ham store a couple times while visiting.
They recognize, maybe reward, cashiers that scan so many items in an hour. I saw photos of employees, hanging on a wall, and they were being congratulated for this endeavor.
I saw those, you never see good tall cat trees!
Sometimes it’s okay, but there seem to be days everyone knows it’s freebie day and there’s a food cart at half the aisle heads. Trying to get around the cows at each one can add half an hour to a shopping trip. Especially if you get a couple of families taking the kids out for cheap entertainment and the same couple of herds keep getting in your way.
Hate it. Wouldn’t take a sample if they paid me to; something about food shopping turns off my desire to eat even if I’m feeling hungry. i guess some people find it “fun” to go graze all the food stuff, even if half of it is things like Hot Pockets and other highly processed glop. (Yes, some is fresher/better but.)
I’ve seen people take their families to Costco or Sams like it’s the Sunday buffet. Not shopping just circling through the sampling tables, as a meal replacement.
In a way it reminds me of this scene with Joe Namath at the grocery store from C.C. & Company: Joe Namath C.C. (Ryder) and Company Intro Sandwich Clip - YouTube
Actually, that reminds me – on the advice of someone in some mayo thread here on the Dope, I bought the Kirkland brand mayonnaise and it was damned good if you like your mayo thick and eggy. That’s gone on my staple list for what to buy at Costco.
Yeah, I love free samples (and it keeps my 2-year old occupied and interested), but I didn’t know they had specific days dedicated to it. It did seem that somedays there were more of them than others but, here, there’s plenty of room to avoid the herd if that’s your wont. To me, it’s a bonus when I could go to Costco at lunchtime and come out not having to actually go out and grab lunch.
Almost 100 posts and no one has mentioned good prices on gasoline?
A couple of people have. However, not all box stores have a gas station. Only the BJs here does, and while its price was around 10 cents under local discount pricing, it wasn’t conveniently enough located to keep up the membership.
Other than posts #45, 46, 47, 63, 65, & 83, no.
Yeah, I used to bring disguises so I could return for many replays of the finer samples. Then the lady giving the samples mentioned that the disguises were unnecessary. The more samples she gave away assured her of her job.
I love Costco. It is very entertaining and free samples. I am comfortable with the herding.
Tires, a thousand times yes. I bought my tires from them and tore the sidewall on an unfairly placed residential speed control median, and they replaced it with no questions asked.
Also I like their prices on cooking oils and vinegar.
Their Costco rewards credit card (now Visa) is pretty good too. I get a very large check in February to assuage the guilt of how much I spent last year.
Free samples. Yes. I’m not very ashamed to say I’ve made a lunch off the Costco free samples on Saturday.
I got tires for my car there this winter and it was a PITA. They don’t take appointments, and if you want it done that day, you have to get there before they open on a Saturday/Sunday or before noon on a weekday. When I was dropping off and picking up, there was nobody at the register until 4 or 5 people had gathered. One of the guys working on tires would come in, take care of everybody, then go back out to the garage. You can’t call and ask if your car is done because there’s never anyone to answer the phone. Never again. Discount Tire provides better service for the same prices.
One thing we love, that hasn’t already been mentioned, is their cakes. $20 for a cake that serves 48 and is very tasty.
And I’ll echo the sentiments about Kirkland Light beer. Just awful. But, they do have good prices on Two Brothers and a pretty good selection of 750 ml bottles from craft brewers.
If you have anything except fairly generic OEM rollers (and even then), it’s hard to beat Tire Rack. Order from them, either directly or shipped to a local installer. I’ve had very good service from the various “red and white and indie” tire shops, but TR’s prices for any kind of upperscale or performance tires, plus almost any local installer you like for a flat rate, is pretty hard to beat.
We tell our kids we’re going to the Country Club for hors d’oeuvres. We’re very classy.