Cathy2 wrote:

spinynorman99 wrote:

i_openr wrote:I'm not sure about Jelinek as CEO. First I noticed on the Costco documentary that where they used to say their maximum margin was 12% was changed to 14%, and then 15%.

https://ycharts.com/companies/COST/gross_profit_margin

Hi,

Just from memberships alone, they rake in several billion dollars according to an article I read. I do recall the 15% above cost for the products as well.

Regards,

2/3 of their profits come from memberships. Their current 13% margin is the highest it's ever been (well below grocers and Wal-Mart/Target). When they increased the price of a membership to $55 from $50 in 2012 they had about a year of earnings growth (as members renewed over time). They had to bump up margins thereafter to maintain the stock price.

Costco Niles has the 2015 Tuscany EVOO in stock.

A neighbor gave me a batch of tzatziki sauce and some pita bread, and another neighbor gave me some tomatoes and cucumbers from the garden, so of course I've been keeping an eye out for lamb. I usually see boneless leg of lamb at Costco for $5.99/lb, which is a better price than I've seen in any other stores around here, but I was pleasantly surprised to see it at the Mettawa Costco the other day for $4.99/lb.

I also saw flank steak there for $5.99/lb.

Haven't been to Costco in a while, so it was a nice surprise to spot a mini round of Cypress Grove Humboldt Fog cheese at the price of $16.99/lb at the Damen/Clybourn location.

Almost made up for the disappearance of the dreamy lobster bisque, which was a guilty pleasure of mine.

Mettawa store had a $25 off coupon on their 10.79/lb whole prime strip loins in cryo, good this week only.

-Will

Niles Costco had their poke bar again last weekend. Will check tomorrow to see if it's back. Pretty darn good at about $18/lb and made fresh in store.

Poke is the same price (might actually be 16.99/lb) at Heinens and they always have it...tuna, spicy tuna, and salmon.

-Will

The Lincoln Park Costco has the 2016 Tuscany EVOO in stock. A really pleasant surprise to see this past weekend, as I missed out on it the previous year and their standard Kirkland brand olive oil hasn't been cutting it for me (it has an unpleasant astringency to my palate).

LPython wrote:The Lincoln Park Costco has the 2016 Tuscany EVOO in stock. A really pleasant surprise to see this past weekend, as I missed out on it the previous year and their standard Kirkland brand olive oil hasn't been cutting it for me (it has an unpleasant astringency to my palate).

Just got a bottle and split it w/a friend last week. I don't cook as much and while it is a good value I still struggle with waste.

While I miss the grassiness of some of the more expensive oils I have used in the past, particularly for raw vegetable applications, this is by far the best oil I have used that can manage both raw applications as well as cooking.

Hi,

On my way to a program in Racine, I stopped by the Costco in Kenosha, actually Pleasant Prairie, a few miles east of Woodmen's on Rt 50.

Several things caught my attention:
- Enter to the right and not to the left, as if this really matters!
- They offer diesel fuel in addition to regular and premium gas. On this occasion, regular was $2.05 when the IL side was $2.39 and maybe $2.29 in WI.
- Food court offers chili, but the *BBQ sandwich was dropped. The chili is similar to Wendy's, the portion is large and cheddar cheese is offered with no upcharge.
- Tax on food: 0%
- Sales tax is 5.5%. If you purchase something that is discounted, it appears you pay tax on the full price prior to discount.

7707 94th Ave, Pleasant Prairie, WI 53158
Phone: (262) 597-1027

*I have a sense their BBQ sandwich is being phased out. It's still there at Mettawa, IL for now.

Has anyone else noticed that Costco's 10-lb bags of yellow onions are garbage? They go rotten more quickly than anything else I've gotten from there, even when refrigerated, leading me to believe that most of them must be rotting to begin with. I occasionally buy them if onion-need and a Costco trip happen to coincide, with the outlook that I'll probably get about 5 lbs useable onions out of the whole bag.

Although I've got a Costco membership, I'm not a regular shopper there, nor am I a regular reader of this thread, so forgive me if this has been covered before. We stopped in last Sunday in search of supplies for an early Fathers' Day celebration. One of the planned items for the party was a pitcher of Bloody Caesers (similar to a Bloody Mary, but made with Clamato Juice instead of straight tomato juice. Very popular in Canada).

We'd been gifted a jug of Clamato by some Canadian friends who smuggled it across the border, but still needed Vodka. As we walked into the Niles store, there it was, a pallet of Cosco's house brand, Kirkland Vodka in 1.75 liter bottles, selling for 13.99. I eyed it suspiciously at first, thinking no respectable vodka could possibly be so cheap. The fact that it was almost double the size of a typical bottle made it even more improbable.

But then I thought, this is going to get mixed into a whole mess o' mixers including the Clamato, Worcestershire Sauce, hot sauce, lime juice, and celery salt. The flavor of the vodka will almost be secondary, and for 14 bucks, how can we go wrong.

When we got it home, we mixed up the Caesars and found them to be delightful, especially with a Spicy Green Bean used as a swizzle stick (another gift from the Canadians), in place of a celery stalk. My son-in-law spotted the bottle of Kirkland vodka and his eyes lit up. He informed me that Costco's private label vodka is contracted out to Grey Goose. We tried some straight, no mixer, and discovered it to be very smooth.

So unless Grey Goose is bottling a separate formula exclusively for Costco, what you're getting is a $50 bottle of superior vodka for $14. All that's missing is the prestige label. And since I have very little prestige to begin with, I'm okay with that.

Buddy

"He informed me that Costco's private label vodka is contracted out to Grey Goose."

I've heard that a number of times but never bothered trying to track down whether it's true or not since we're wine/beer only. I do know that our neighbors down here in TN appreciate it when my wife brings back a case for them when she drives back from Chicago. Can't sell booze in Costco here...yet.

BuddyRoadhouse wrote:So unless Grey Goose is bottling a separate formula exclusively for Costco, what you're getting is a $50 bottle of superior vodka for $14. All that's missing is the prestige label. And since I have very little prestige to begin with, I'm okay with that.

There was an article on this in Lucky Peach's penultimate "Suburbs" issue, where they tried to figure out the source or their Bourbon, Single Malt Scotch, Canadian Whisky, French Vodka and Anejo Tequila. They did a lot of sleuthing, and found that in no case could they find exact-taste equivalents from the likely distillers, but a lot of similarities. The surest match they could find was the tequila, since Mexico puts a code on each distiller, in this case 1472 means "Fabrica de Tequilas Finos" but it's definitely a different blend, or aging.

Compared to Grey Goose,

Contrary to online wisdom, the Grey Goose was noticeably less gross on the nose than the Kirkland. It was also smoother on the way down -- it burned at the very end, while the imposter[sic] was rubbing alcohol start to finish.

...and then they talk about how premium French vodka was invented out of thin air in the 1990s by Sidney Frank to get a premium price.

Geo wrote:OK, it was a *tremendous* long-shot, but, for a whole prime brisket at $2.79/lb, what did I have to lose?? so downtown I went.

NOTHING TO LOSE!! as it turns out! There they were: three of the beasties! I pounced, grabbed one, then looked around guiltily, wondering if I weren't robbing someone.

Yea and Verily: your deal has extended all the way to Kansas City!

Tnx folks for the heads up!!

Geo

Unfortunately, Costco seems to be having some supply issues. I went to pick up a prime packer brisket last week to smoke over the holiday weekend and they only had the choice flats (IIRC $6/lb!). When I asked one of the butchers, they said they were having trouble getting them and haven't had them for about 3 weeks. He didn't know when they'd get new supply.

Costco in Mettawa has the new release of the California Olive Ranch "Olio Nuovo" from the oct-nov 2017 harvest for $10 for a liter. Havent opened it but looks minimally processed.....a bit cloudy with minor sediment. I dont think that I have ever seen this before, but I am always happy with California Olive ranch oil.

-Will

WillG wrote:Costco in Mettawa has the new release of the California Olive Ranch "Olio Nuovo" from the oct-nov 2017 harvest for $10 for a liter. Havent opened it but looks minimally processed.....a bit cloudy with minor sediment. I dont think that I have ever seen this before, but I am always happy with California Olive ranch oil.
-Will

Thanks for this heads up. I picked it up yesterday. That's a lot of good olive oil for $10.

WillG wrote:Costco in Mettawa has the new release of the California Olive Ranch "Olio Nuovo" from the oct-nov 2017 harvest for $10 for a liter. Havent opened it but looks minimally processed.....a bit cloudy with minor sediment. I dont think that I have ever seen this before, but I am always happy with California Olive ranch oil.

Lincoln Park had it as well last week.

Hi,

This morning there was no tv, because there was internet available to stream from. Decided to go cat shopping until I found the car dead. My one piece of good fortune was a speedy jump.

The car jumper advised the battery was on its last legs. On the truck was a new battery for $145 installed. I declined remembering the last battery change was a DIY project.

I called Costco to find there would be a partial refund on this 41 month old battery. At the very least, a core refund of $15. I would imagine if I had taken the initial battery offer, they would have relieved me the burden of disposing and collect the core fee themselves.

I popped over to Costco to buy a battery for $95.22, which included a $15. core deposit. The warranty is 100% refund if it dies in 42 months or less.

After the battery was installed for $50, which included other minor fixes. I returned the old battery to Costco, I was refunded $64.20 (battery $45, core fee $15 and tax $4.20).

Final battery cost was $31.02 plus outside labor $50.

By the evening, internet was back up and it was full steam ahead watching the Great British Baking Show's full range of Christmas specials.

Regards,
Cathy2

Hi,

I was at Costco in Mettawa this evening. There have been a few changes on food court menu:

- Chili is out. I wonder if it might return this fall.
- Al Pastor salad made with plant based protein (soy), chopped romaine, Black beans and fresh vegetables, Banh mi vegetables and dressing. Someone noted there are eggs in dressing, thus it is not vegan friendly. $4.99
- Acai Bowl for a dessert of yogurt ice cream, fresh strawberries and blueberries, banana chips and Kirkland signature granola. $4.99

Regards,
Cathy2

As The Seattle Times first reported, the polish dog is coming off the menu at most locations. However, the $1.50 hot dog and soda combo isn't going anywhere (Costco sold 137 million of them last year!).

So what's new? Costco has been quietly rolling out acai bowls at its warehouses across the country.

The $4.99 bowls are vegetarian-friendly and about 330 calories. The frozen acai berry looks like soft serve and comes with fresh strawberries, blueberries, dried bananas and granola with almonds.

At least one Costco location reported dropping the very berry sundae to make room for the new acai bowls, according to a California newspaper.

https://wgntv.com/2018/07/06/costco-mak ... y-options/

At least one Costco location reported dropping the very berry sundae to make room for the new acai bowls, according to a California newspaper.

At least Mettawa, the Polish left when Usinger's brat came on board. Usinger's brat is no longer there nor is the chili. At least last week, the brisket sandwich is still there. They dropped the very berry sundae when the acai bowl arrived. The mocha coffee freeze is still there, but I think the price went up.

Regards,
Cathy2

The price of Kirkland drumsticks went up... a lot. This is six packs of drumsticks with each pack coming in with a weight over a pound, maybe close to a pound and a half. These were, within the last 6 weeks still running around 0.79#. Alas, all good things must come to an end, yesterday they were 0.99 #. This is still a great price but I can generally find them elsewhere for that price.

pairs4life wrote:The price of Kirkland drumsticks went up... a lot. This is six packs of drumsticks with each pack coming in with a weight over a pound, maybe close to a pound and a half. These were, within the last 6 weeks still running around 0.79#. Alas, all good things must come to an end, yesterday they were 0.99 #. This is still a great price but I can generally find them elsewhere for that price.

When you feed these to the dog, do you debone it first?

Cathy2 wrote:

pairs4life wrote:The price of Kirkland drumsticks went up... a lot. This is six packs of drumsticks with each pack coming in with a weight over a pound, maybe close to a pound and a half. These were, within the last 6 weeks still running around 0.79#. Alas, all good things must come to an end, yesterday they were 0.99 #. This is still a great price but I can generally find them elsewhere for that price.

When you feed these to the dog, do you debone it first?

From what I've heard, if served raw, bones and all are fine for dogs.

Cathy2 wrote:
When you feed these to the dog, do you debone it first?

No. She has had a raw meaty bone diet her entire life. She turned 14 earlier this month.

I just snip open the packet. Place them in a dog food dish on the floor for her, and she "keeps her elbows off the table" and eats them over a silicone mat so clean up is the dish and the mat.

The GP wrote:From what I've heard, if served raw, bones and all are fine for dogs.

I'm in the camp that believes that's not an experiment worth running. Your dog can only afford for you to be wrong zero times.

a friend was eating a fat double burger at the lincoln park costco today. i searched online for any info about when it joined the lineup, but could only find 2 year old links to a rollout in seattle. it looked great...but at 1080 calories, no way am i trying it. i'm grateful, once again, for nutritional labels.

Hi,

When I was working the election, I bumped into one of the Costco sample ladies.

I learned the sample people go out at 11:00 am, 11:30 am and 1:00 (or was it 1:30?) pm. For optimal sampling, time your visit for 2:00 pm. Sample people have a staggered departure beginning at 5:30 pm until about 7:00 pm.

A visit to Costco without visiting their sample stations is just not as fun for me.

Regards,
Cathy2

Hi,

Pizza at Costco can be made vegetarian, if you order a whole pizza. Until very recently, you could order a sausage or pepperoni pizza, but now sausage is eliminated. Sausage with pepperoni is still available as a combo.

Regards,
Cathy2