Official: Friday Night Adult Beverage thread and 'Sam's Club or Costco' Poll
Mates,
I don't know about you, but this wasn't my favorite week. I'm such a slacker I didn't even get my manure spread (maybe tomorrow). I will be having an adult beverage this evening, almost certainly red pop of one fashion or another.
Also, in our area there is a Sam's Club and recently a Costco opened up. I've been a Sam's Club member for years and years, and they do good with what they are supposed to. I've been to Costco in other areas, albeit infrequently. Seems okay but I can't think of a reason to switch.
So for tonight, two questions:
1. What's in your cup?
2. Sam's Club or Costco, and why? Is there really any significant difference?
I hope you have a great weekend
XM
you're only getting partial credit for your answer. and are you liking that IPA?
Probably not drinking, and Costco. WAY better quality meat and overall food selection, Kirkland brand stuff is real good, and their food court (or whatever we're calling the place to get $1.50 hot dogs and other tasty food) is great. Of course, I haven't been to a Sam's Club in about 12 years since I'm banned from Wal-Mart and all associated brands, so maybe they've caught up, but based on the threat it doesn't seem so.
At my local Sam's I can get a 1/4 Nathan's hotdog and 32 oz drink for $1.60 + tax, and most of the Sam's brand stuff is the same as a national brand (sounds like Kirkland is as well). Just as an example, I know a few years ago whatever the Sam's brand laundry detergent was, it was Tide. I don't really have a point of comparison between Costco and Sam's though because we don't yet have a Costco in my area.
1. Wine. I just closed on my first house today and my lender gifted me a bottle as a thank you. I know nothing about wine, but it tastes pretty good.
2. Sam's Club, because the nearest Costco is an hour away. I've never set foot in a Costco.
Their Kirkland vodka is good (and comes in a nice big jug).
Also, you don't need a Costco membership to buy alcohol from them (at least in Michigan).
Yep, in Michigan, you can buy alcohol and glasses at Costco without a membership. Got my prescription sunglasses there, lasted me for years.
good night for a fire out by the lake.
Kirkland brands are amazing, meat is amazing, treat their employees well and pay them well too
As for drinking, homebrew Mosaic IPA
I don't do Wal-Mart for obvious labor-related reasons, so Costco every time if I had the choice. Yet, as a person who buys for one, and who doesn't own a car, I can't justify a Costco membership. Don't need that much food/stuff, don't have the space for it, and can't carry it all on the bus for hours.
As for drinking, going to a BYOB pizza joint tonight, going to pick up some Bells cans, I think.
Sam's Club is owned by Walmart .. Walmart shut down 63 Sam's Club stores w/o notifying their employees in order to make the stores into fulfillment centers to compete with Amazon. Not fucking cool. Costco takes care of their employees & it really shows in the customer service. Not only that but the free samples & $10 pizza.
It's been a while since I've been in a Sam's. But if I recall, I think they suffer a bit from being owned by Walmart. Costco's management focuses exclusively on the bulk play and they seem to do it well.
Though, a little too well on Free Sample Saturday. People don't joke about those free samples... The last time I went on a Saturday, I had to weave me and the kids through a train of impatient blue hairs waiting for microwaved taquitos just to get to the milk. Never again..
As for drink, I'm not quite there yet, but speaking of Costco; their Anejo Tequila is not half bad for the price. I think I'll start with that tonight.
I got up before dawn to get to the office so I could watch the company I just joined go public. Then I read about Patterson's eligibility. And tonight I'm going to watch the Giants beat the Dodgers at ATT Park. I think I'll buy a lotto ticket! And drink too much Gordon Biersch Marzen.
On advice of counsel, I can neither confirm nor deny the name of the company.
Also, because I just joined, nothing landed in my pocked today. But, if I can manage to not get fired and if the company performs, the next several years should be pretty good.
I'm late in my career, all in high tech. In addition to a several BigCos, I've been at 3 startups. They were all acquired and I only made money on one of them... and it wasn't much. Experiencing an IPO from the inside has been a bucket list item for a very long time, so this day is quite excellent.
It is fun. Get to your first vesting day after a year and Cha ching!
I've been through an IPO, and IPO/acquisition and am right now in the middle of my first ICO/crypto token offering and thus far it is smashing it. Lots of failures also, those aren't nearly as much fun.
I got hooked on start-ups in the early 90s and have worked at them almost exclusively ever since, a short stint at Microsoft cured me of ever wanting to work at a big company.
How cold was it at AT&T?
(1) Coffee. Soon to start with my gin, lemon, 7s.
(2) Costco. Not even close. They pay and treat their employees better, their products are better, their customer service is better. Costco CEO makes around 650,000 with around 300,000 in bonuses. Walton family worth 90 billion.
Sam's and all things related to the Waltons are fucking evil.
Well said
I hope Amazon puts Walmart/Sams out of business
Lots of manure spread on MGoBlog my friend don't feel bad!
Diet Coke
Costco cause http://www.peopleofwalmart.com/
Ron Jeremy prefers Walmart
Crown Royal
Shopped at a Costco a few times + Never been to a Sams Club = Costco
PATTERSON!!!!
Costco rye whiskey tastes like Crown Royal & way cheaper just sayin
Back is tweaked, so Scotch and muscle relaxers. And Costco, because they take care of their employees.
Costco for alcohol, meat (salmon, steak, etc.), eggs, baby stuff, electronics. The Costco credit card (visa) is a great cash back card. Also they have discounted gift cards for various restaurants and entertainment, at least in southern California. I can shop there with a clear conscience, unlike Walmart or Sam's.
Will be enjoying Stone beers (from Costco) tonight.
Softball just ran Indiana's ace pitcher out of the circle with a homer in the top of the 5th to go up 4-1.
As others have pointed out, Costco treats their workers far better than Sam's club. They take opposite approaches, and it's a great case study in the benefits of treating your workers well.
Costco pays good wages, supports career advancement and treats their workers well. They believe that happy employees make stores run better and the low employee turnover leads to saving money on retraining and general new employee issues.
Sam's Club treats their workers like crap, doesn't pay well, and doesn't expect them to stick around long. They figure that the increased cost of training and new employee mistakes is made up for by the savings in salary.
I've shopped at Sam's club and it was fine, but I prefer to support Costco's method and find their fresh foods superior to Sam's Club.
Absolutely true and why I would always go to Costco, no matter what..
For the toilet paper alone, which is the product that first made Costco wildly popular.
But their strategies also differ quite a bit in product/vendor selection. Costco is famous for setting really high quality and utility standards for any product they put on their shelves. They have an entire lab that tests and approves toilet paper for instance. Rather than have 7 different types of ketchup, they have vendors all compete to provide the best product/price combination and that is the 1 type of ketchup they sell and what you get is an organic version of Heinz ketchup that is great-tasting, healthier because it is devoid of unnecessary additives and chemicals, way lower in sugar than other ketchups AND just as low in price. At Sam's/Walmarts, all you get is a ruthless focus on price, resulting in having 7 ketchups to choose from, all of which are adulterated in whatever way possible to make it a fraction of a cent cheaper to make.
Also consider:
Costco CEO Craig Jelinek earned $5.4 million in compensation in 2013, compared to $26 million that year for Wal-Mart CEO Doug McMillon.
"I just think people need to make a living wage with health benefits," Jelinek told the magazine. "It also puts more money back into the economy and creates a healthier country. It's really that simple."
About 15 percent of employees are unionized, but you don't see the same type of battles that other companies have with unions. "They are philosophically much better than anyone else I have worked with," a Teamsters executive tells Businessweek.
Costco but we don’t have one. Hope to get one soon because I hate supporting Sams/Walmart.
If all you need is produce and personal products it's great for that. Instacart/Costco doesn't have everything you'll probably want/need but it takes care of the vast majority of multikid family needs without having to go to the store. Really convenient.
Plus, gas and tires and routine car maintenance is inexpensive.
Also, as I recall you take trips with kids and their travel agency has amazing value pricing.
The Prisoner because it's an easy drinking red and sometimes that's what Friday is all about.
Oh, and who is the biggest market maker/influencer in wine? The French press? No. The American consumer? No. The Chinese? No. The restaurant industry? No. It's the wine buyer for Costco - she has such purchasing power that what she wants/needs is followed very closely by the producers. So great prices on high end hootch as well.
Hope this is helpful.
i'm guessing we live way too far away for them to deliver to us, but that'd be nice. interesting about the travel agency thing. didn't know that. i am trying to take one or two kids a year on a father-son/daughter trip and that is a flying trip. wish i'd have known about that. the new costco is also out of my way for getting back home but after all the comments in this thread, maybe i need to take a real look at it. sent mgowife with a day-pass last month and she said she thought it was like sam's, no big difference.
They send emails pretty regularly that help you learn how to use it (insurance, pharmacy, delivery with instacart, etc.).
But you have to use it for the membership to make sense.
Little known fact is that Costco actually is a subscription based model and makes its money primarily on annual memberships, rather than the stuff it sells (I think highest mark-up on any item is 5%).