Comparing Raleigh BJ’s and Costco…

Brandy — Thu, 26 Mar 2009 16:01:09 +0000

Outside Raleigh BJ’s Wholesale and Costco Discount Club (go figure?), BJ’s runs a gas station with special member pricing. There are lines and at first glance you’d think there’s a gas shortage and gas run in Raleigh. But then you see the member prices and you understand why there are lines. The prices I saw were $1.79 per gallon compared to $1.94 per gallon on regular gas in other Raleigh gas stations on the same day. Fifteen cents savings a gallon is apparently compelling enough for folks to sit in line. And they probably drove out of there way to save a few dollars. These days, a good challenge is to see if you can get out of shopping for under a certain dollar amount. It’s kinda like a little game to play against yourself or the store if you wanna think of it that way.

Have you been in both Raleigh Costco and BJ’s? They both look very similar when you walk in. You definitely know you’re in a discount warehouse with the super high ceilings and the building beams showing. The layout is very similar too. That’s good because if you’re members of both, you won’t be as confused. I know when I go into Kroger’s Grocery Store I’m always turned around because it’s so different then Lowes Foods, Food Lion, and Harris Teeter.

Costco has a larger selection of stuff I prefer. For me, I noticed they had obviously more choices of soy milk… a regular staple in my home. I was able to get chocolate soy milk at Costco that wasn’t an option at BJ’s. That’s like a dessert for me and Eric likes it in his coffee. Also, Costco has a bigger (or is it better?) beer selection. They have Yuengling and Blue Moon which BJ’s doesn’t.

Larger Beer Selection...Yuengling and Blue Moon

I also compared cost in a few places. For Duracell double “A” batteries, Costco was 60 cents less at $13.39 for a 36 pack, compared to $13.99 at BJ’s for the same item. But, for three 44 ounce Heinz ketchup bottles, BJ’s was 30 cents less where it was $6.49 compared to $6.79 at Costco. Hmmm…so lesson learned is that you have to cost compare for everything if you wanna save a buck.

BJ's Ketchup Prices

I’m curious which do you prefer – BJ’s or Costco or where do you shop?

Costco Heinz Ketchup $6.79 Prices

Take a trip to Raleigh’s State Farmer’s Market

Raleigh Costco is Busy!

Brandy — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 20:07:08 +0000

Where is everyone in Raleigh shopping these days? If you go to Costco in Raleigh even on a weekday, you’ll see there are a lot of people shopping there. Since it is busy, you might even scratch your head thinking, is there a special going on or is this the weekend? Nope, that’s just where people are finding comfort in spending these days. If you have a Costco membership, then you know you can find almost everything including tires, IPOD Nano’s, clothing, printer cartridges, plants, furniture and appliances, and even $50 gift certificates to Build-A-Bear for $39.99. And, of course groceries and household consumables. All the dry goods are sold in bulk. They only sell in large quantities.

Something to note is that they only take cash, debit cards, and American Express credit cards. No Mastercard or Visa. Strange, huh? Be sure to pay attention to the price and quantity signs for each item… I had to go back and get an additional 12 pack of Blue Moon because they only sell 24 bottles for the price listed and they wouldn’t let me buy a dozen even though they’re packaged that way. I wonder why they don’t just package it with 24 bottles then? Not a big deal but just an example that you gotta get used to the Costco way.

I had just finished shopping at Costco yesterday and then later in the day went to go do some cardio exercise while watching the Oprah Show. Yes…I’m an Oprah fan. Anyway, she was shopping in Costco with an 85 year old “rags to riches” billionaire David Murdock. He was actually on the show to share how he has stayed in good health and why he feels better than when he was in his thirties. And he noted that it’s mainly from healthy eating. So he took Oprah with him to go food shopping at his normal grocery store which incidentally is Costco. It’s not just for regular folk ya know. What a kwinky dink that, that show aired on the day I went to Costco!

But anyway, I was able to buy 60 Quaker chewy granola bars for $10.59…that’s about 17 cents per piece. At Lowes Foods it was $2.99 for 10 bars which is about 30 cents each so you save almost half at Costco.

I also bought 24 bottles of Blue Moon beer for $26.99, so that comes to about $1.12 each. At Lowes Foods it’s normally $7.99 for a six bottles, so that’s $1.33 per bottle. When I went in Lowes, it was on sale for $7.49 which is $1.25 per bottle. Either way, buying Blue Moon beer from Costco in bulk is less.

I’m curious, what can’t you do without at Costco?

Raleigh VIP Club » costco

Comparing Raleigh BJ’s and Costco…

Raleigh Costco is Busy!