Costco VS. Sam's Club

[Scootman!]

Ok, so my wife has been bugging me for a while to join either sams club or costco and I've been able to delay it until now. Both stores seem pretty good, but we can't decide on which one to join. Both stores are an equal distance away and the membership fee's are similar.....so what do you think?

[03vibedriver]

I am a member of Sam's and Costco.Costco wins hands down.

[808 Vibes]

I have a Sam's business membership...or rather soon to be had a Sam's membership. Sam's was OK I guess. They keep sending me renewals and I can't afford it this time around, so I gotta let it go. They're planning a Costco in our area so maybe when things get better for us we'll try that for a year too.'Til then it's clipping coupons and waiting for sales

[lovemyraffe]

Costco.No comparison.Had a Sam's membership before we moved last year and now go to Costco. 1,000,000 times better. I love Costco.

[Whelan]

Closest Sam's Club is about 10 miles, closest Costco about 3. Not to mention Costco is amazingly better. They offer more free samples which means you can get a full lunch just by walking around. And who doesn't love $.35 soda!Not to mention Kirkland Signature (stores home brand), makes really good stuff like their throw on the grill frozen burgers. And the steaks and stuff there rock!

[lovemyraffe]

Costco has the best churros. Everyone needs to have one before they die.

[northvibe]

costco, they treat their employees better than walmart/sams club.

[Atomic]

I've haven't been into the Sam's club here, but we have two Costco stores, one is just 5 minutes away.The best thing is when we go Saturday morning, and pig out on the samples first, that way we tend to NOT buy the 32 pc pack of fresh chicken breasts, or the $100 beef tenderloin or the 18 pack large deluxe pizzas. Now, the 4kg box of chocolate chip cookies is a gimme everytime (I usually just hide it under the big bag of vegetables wifey puts in there, and say "OOPS, how did those cookies get there" at the checkout. Seriously, sometimes Costco is just too much of everything, if Sam's has human sized packages of stuff, maybe we should check it out.

[scott_h]

We belong to both, and have for several years. In our area, there are a lot more Sam's Clubs to make them slightly more convenient. But Costco is closer to both our our offices. They very similar - but different. Each has things the other doesn't that we like, which is why we keep paying the membership fee at both.If someone made me choose, I'd probably choose Costco. They tend to have "cooler" stuff - although a lot of it is temporary, so if you see something you like buy it before they don't carry it any more. I love walking through the electronics and the household stuff.If you're not into buying a lot of bulk stuff, Costco probably has a bit more of the "standard" items to buy.

[jake75]

Had a Sam's membership for many years - let it drop as we are empty nesters and don't buy that much. Then Costco opened a store and had a deal for first year of membership so I joined. Didn't renew because it was $50, too far away, and they are not open on Saturday evening, Sunday or Holidays.Sam's had an anniversary free shopping day a few months ago - but I didn't buy a membership. Then they sent me a $15 off deal which made my membership a net of $20 (business membership is $35). I asked if I could get a card for my significant other - and the answer was yes. So I added my daughter-in-law. I am sure they assumed she was my wife but I never said that! A friend of mine who is a member at Costco is getting me a $250 gift card. You can shop with a Gift Card at Costco without being a member. No upcharge.As to which is better - if a membership was about the same price at both and Costco was not far away I think I would pick Costco even though they are not open as many hours.On many things such as Charmin, Bounty etc. I can do as well at the supermarket when on sale plus double coupons.

[Scootman!]

Ah ha! I totally forgot that Sam's is owned by the Walton brothers who own the super efficient wal-mart stores and treat their employee's, the environment, and the towns they reside in like crap! Costco it is!

[jake75]

Quote, originally posted by Scootman! »Ah ha! I totally forgot that Sam's is owned by the Walton brothers who own the super efficient wal-mart stores and treat their employee's, the environment, and the towns they reside in like crap! Costco it is!No - Wal-Mart is owned mostly by investors such as you and me. Wal-Mart has a reasonably good environmental reputation.From my observation Wal-Mart employs a lot of people who probably couldn't qualify at other places. Their pay and benefits are probably no worse than any other mass retailer including Target, Kroger, Macys etc. The people at Sam's Club seem a cut above those at Wal-Mart.Costco probably is as lethal to small local businesses as Sam's Club. The CVS's and Walgreen's of the world have doomed the independent pharmacies. The Kroger's etc. the independent grocers. Lowes and Home Depot the local hardware stores. Staples and Office Max the local opffice supply retailers. Barnes & Noble the local book sellwers. So lets not blame Wal-Mart for all of this. And there is some truth to the claim that more efficient retailers save the average consumer considerable money.

[Scootman!]

I hate to burst your bubble but Wal-mart is horrible. Managers intentionally over work employees and there are many documented cases when those employees are forced to work unpaid overtime. In terms of the community that store resides in, employment rises for a short while until mom and pop shops are forced to shut their doors unless they carry some sort of specialty product or service. Also, when a store opens there are typically many tax breaks for the store coming into that town, yet wal-mart encourages employees to deny medical insurance and collect free insurance through the state.......Target, Kohls and other stores actually pay well compared to wal-mart and these stores that have ethics are forced to make cuts to compete with wal-mart. The Waltons are well off to say the least and the employees of wal-mart stores donated more to charity then the Waltons did (2005 or 2006?). Sorry to go overboard, but when it comes down to it, wal-mart is no good and that is why I absolutely refuse to shop there.

[engineertwin2]

I tend to agree with Jake here. While I do not shop at WalMart, I believe that they tend to employ individuals who might not qualify for employment elsewhere.While I do not believe that WalMart is a great company to work for, in the end, it is up to employees to deny the benefits that are being offered. While people complain about the evils of WalMart, most of them tend to shop there anyways.Environmentally, WalMart is leading the charge among major corporations and that is a good thing. Despite what most people think, in the end, the employees of WalMart have a choice in the matter. Granted, we do not fall in love with the choices we may have, but they exist nonetheless.How many of the "Mom and Pop" stores that are put out of business by WalMart offer their employees benefits? I think it is a very small number. And if that's the case, then what does it matter if WalMart doesn't offer benefits? The people are in the same place regardless.Back on topic, I only have a membership to Sam's Club but shop at neither (my brother put me as another member on the card so I don't pay a membership fee). With just the fiancee and I, we don't go through THAT much toilet paper/paper towels/cereal/meat/etc.

[ragingfish]

I have a BJ's membership. Not a fan of Sam's. Similar to walmart, they seem scummy, disorganized, and unpleasant to shop at -- at least around here. BJ's FTW!

[jake75]

BJ's didn't make it in Columbus, Ohio, even with almost giving away memberships and accepting cents-off coupons. I liked it because you could buy smaller quantities of meats, baked goods etc. Nationally BJ's has been doing well with same store sales increases larger than Sam's. The single BJ location was not the best.Costco has only one location here so far, but it is adjacent to upscale high traffic Polaris Mall in a very affluent area. If you are only going to have one location, it better be a good one.

[kunkstyle]

Costco FTW!

[sloth]

In our small town, Wal-Mart has been the best thing to happen in 30 years. A few small stores closed down, but mostly because they didn't learn to adapt.And for the most part, nothing was offered in our town. Almost everybody traveled 100 miles to do most of their shopping. It's actually keeping a lot more money in our small town and bringing in more money from the near by reservation.Wal-Mart is one of a very very few that offers benefits in this town.I don't see wal-mart as the evil demon everybody makes them out to be.That being said, back on topic. Haven't been to a costco but have a Sams club membership... not terribly impressed.