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Costco Around the World


Ellen Shapiro

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I was until yesterday a costco virgin. Unitl i hit the leeds uk branch.

Many of my colleagues are big fans and kept telling me the wines were very good and cheap. I was expecting the usual UK supermarket selection but cheaper. I couldn't believe the range when i had a look, and this was before i hit the speciality wine section.

As a taster i picked up a couple of bouchard pere et fils morgons for about £5.50, i checked the price on winesearcher.com and they were nearly double! they had a very tasty range of white burgundies too so i will be heading back to join up shortly!

Ps our office is addicted to the giant muffins and 18 inch pepperoni pizza's.

pps we also get kirkland branded goods too.

gary

you don't win friends with salad

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The promised Costco Fresh store in Seattle has been scrapped.

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/busi...0_costco01.html

Can't say I'm really surprised. I thought it sounded like a stretch for them, though I probably would have joined just to try it out.

our office is addicted to the giant muffins and 18 inch pepperoni pizza's.

Those aren't muffins - they're cupcakes. :hmmm:

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The promised Costco Fresh store in Seattle has been scrapped.

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/busi...0_costco01.html

Even though I'm unhappy to hear that plans have been cancelled, it doesn't surprise me. Costco should take one step at a time.

However, it would've been nice to see what the gourmet sector would grow into.

"If we don't find anything pleasant at least we shall find something new." Voltaire

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A question for those that buy the large packages of non-food items at Costco: do you find yourselves buying them because Costco has everything-under-the-sun and it's convenient, or are they just that much cheaper?

I've found things like trash bags, paper towels, etc. to be much cheaper at Costco than any other place around here.

"If we don't find anything pleasant at least we shall find something new." Voltaire

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A question for those that buy the large packages of non-food items at Costco: do you find yourselves buying them because Costco has everything-under-the-sun and it's convenient, or are they just that much cheaper?

I've found things like trash bags, paper towels, etc. to be much cheaper at Costco than any other place around here.

definitely true in NJ. Packages of eight Scottowels at Costco are $1 cheaper than the markets' best sale price. Similar savings are true in film, disposable cameras, laser printers, large screen TVs, etc.

Costco's and Wal-Mart's huge buying powers are driving incredible declines in retail prices. Local merchants are powerless to respond in many cases. if your broad based competitor is selling X (wine, batteries, tires, Dockers slacks) at a penny above their costs, you are toast.

Apparently it's easier still to dictate the conversation and in effect, kill the conversation.

rancho gordo

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I find that in general the prices of non food items is less, although there is a Shoppers Food Warehouse in Fredericksburg, that gives everyone a chance to buy at almost wholesale prices. When they SFW has a sale, it's as good or better than Wal-Mart, Costco or BJ's. Since there are only two of us and space is at a premium, I do not buy large quantities of non food items very often. I do not buy, for personal use, large quantities of food items, either. I do have a thing for the Kirkland smoked salmon. It is like silk. Yum, Yum!!. I buy the package, separate, wrap and refreeze it for future use.

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Evabug, I was wondering about being able to freeze the smoked salmon. Does it taste good after defrosting for bagel, lox, and cream cheese, or just for cooking? (Lox, purple onions, and eggs, oh my!) The Costco near us makes a yummy smoked salmon cream cheese.

They make an addictive pumpkin cheesecake, which I would never have thought of buying, but there was that freebie table. It is huge, so I have tried to cut it into serving pieces and freeze it. It freezes really well, but somehow, not much of it makes it into the freezer. Many oif the good local bakeries sell their breads there, and Costco gets the "fixins" from some others and they bake it there. Thumbs up for the bread oozing cloves of roasted garlic and the rolls (Ciabatti?) which you sometimes can get warm out of the oven.

Costco has made my addiction to cookbooks something that no 12 step program will ever cure.

By the way, I have read that Julia Child thinks that they have the best meat. She supposedly said something such as "it still tastes like meat". And, I read that she has been known to stand in line with one of their roittised (?sp) chickens. Do they have them in other stores? They are really wonderful. For $4.99 you get a moist, cooked bird. Great as it is, or to make soup, enchaladas, etc.

Ah... sing the praises of

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  • 2 weeks later...

Hello all,

I have had cancer for seven months, and have barely been out of bed.

Tonight I read your conversation on Costco, and couldn't stop laughing.

I went last week for the first time since July, tooled that big cart around by myself, bought too much stuff, and felt like I was finally getting well.

Thanks :laugh:

Diane

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Evabug, I was wondering about being able to freeze the smoked salmon. Does it taste good after defrosting for bagel, lox, and cream cheese, or just for cooking? (Lox, purple onions, and eggs, oh my!) The Costco near us makes a yummy smoked salmon cream cheese.

Back when I was fishing a lot, I'd find myself with a huge surplus of smoked salmon, lox and kippered. I found that I could tell the difference if I ate them side by side, but on its own, the frozen stuff wasn't bad at all. Not really a lot of difference. The kippered suffered less than the lox, mostly in texture rather than flavor. I was dealing with hunks of fish though that were vacuum sealed. I don't know how slices would be affected.

It still kills me to have pay that much for smoked fish, even though Costco is reasonable. :wink:

I was bummed yesterday. Last week, they had a nikon 5 megapixel digital camera on display and when I went back yesterday, it was gone. So much for not making an impulse grab. :angry:

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Diane -- WELCOME!

Costco can make anyone fell better.  Laughter has a similar effect.  I'm glad you are feeling better.

Ditto what Aurora said, Diane! And add Trader Joe's to the list of things guaranteed to make one feel better (see elsewhere in Forums for a great TJs thread).

What was in your cart? Do tell, please . . .

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. . . Costco salmon

Welcome Diane!

Ellen (and other New Yorkers with choices) do you buy Costco smoked salmon? I thought it lagged other choices available in the LA market dramatically, and price didn't make up for it. Same with Trader Joe's smoked salmon (the lox type, not the Pacific NW type).

beachfan

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do you know if they sell soda there?  I cant find it listed on their website.

I've never been to a Costco that didn't sell soda (though I'd be lying if I said I went looking for it every time). It's always in some far away back corner so you might have to walk around a bit to find it.

Ellen Shapiro

www.byellen.com

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The lox is mediocre, but there's sometimes a three-pack of different smoked salmons -- thicker tranches -- available that's quite good.

Steven A. Shaw aka "Fat Guy"
Co-founder, Society for Culinary Arts & Letters, sshaw@egstaff.org
Proud signatory to the eG Ethics code
Director, New Media Studies, International Culinary Center (take my food-blogging course)

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