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Shopping at Costco (The New Normal) for now...

VacationForever said:
I just finished another Costco online order. If you are quick, they currently have Viva paper towels available. I have never used Viva and I looked up reviews and they have really good reviews.
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Thanks.

On Insta Cart they had napkins and paper towels, but not toilet paper, but the next problem is the delivery fees and so on. I will be using wash cloths rather than pay such a high price. I am also going to start collecting newspaper advertisements we get in the mail each week. I was so happy to not have to be saving them anymore after our move. We had been saving them to use to pack stuff for the move. Now here we are again, having to save them. Worse comes to worse I will use them to clean my windows this spring if I cannot get paper towels.

As for brands, I could care less about the brand. I can make due. But I do not belong to Costco and I am sure there would be a shipping charge and so forth on top of it anyway for just ordering paper towels.
 
DaveNW said:
I can't speak to Sam's Club, but I know you can join and/or renew Costco via their website. If you were to go into a Sam's Club warehouse, I'm sure they could also renew your membership right then and there. There is no savings by renewing when it is going to to expire. (At least not at Costco.)

Dave
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Yes, this I know. But it is almost an hour away. Not sure it would be worth it which is why we didn't renew in the first place.
 
WinniWoman said:
Yes, this I know. But it is almost an hour away. Not sure it would be worth it which is why we didn't renew in the first place.
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I think shipping is free or reduced at Costco.com if your order is $75 or more. Also, you could cancel your membership in the future if you don't like the service and get your membership fee back. From what I can tell though, Costco.com is still out of a lot of items. Delivery might also be out 5 to 6 days, but if you can wait that long might be worth looking into.
 
WinniWoman said:
I know one issue I have is I have to pick up some items to read the expriration dates. Fiestt off, I am nearsighted and secondly the dates are always in small print and hard to find or read.
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Then do not stand on 1 side of the aisle and have your Kart on the other side of the aisle like folks were doing in Salem - effectively blocking the aisle.
 
I went to the senior hour opening this morning. I pulled up about 0735 and they were already open. I walked up and they were checking ID's to see if you met the age requirement. There was a few people there that weren't too happy about being told to come back at 0900. They were limiting TP to one per membership - no exceptions (some were trying for more than one).

On to Trader Joe's where they weren't checking ID's but when I left they were limiting folks coming in - as one person left another was let in. They were also making sure that people were 6 feet apart while waiting to enter.
 
This is not a Costco report, but I think might be relevant.

I went to my local supermarket last Friday during "senior hours" (from five am to seven am). Extremely busy with people really stocking up. I went this morning. Very uncrowded. At checkout, the clerk had the same thought as I did. Last week, being the first "senior hours" week, people were panic buying going into the weekend. Now they have this surplus of food and the use of senior hour is very casual.

I could be wrong, but since last week was the first week of senior hour for Costco, everyone was out. ("Oh, I better take advantage of that!") This week, the size of the crowds might not go down as much at Costco, especially at those stores where TUGGERs were reporting long lines even before the stores were open (I would have just turned around and said I'll go another day), but as seniors assess how much they have already overstocked, the crowds will diminish.
 
"Roger" said:
This is not a Costco report, but I think might be relevant.

I went to my local supermarket last Friday during "senior hours" (from five am to seven am). Extremely busy with people really stocking up. I went this morning. Very uncrowded. At checkout, the clerk had the same thought as I did. Last week, being the first "senior hours" week, people were panic buying going into the weekend. Now they have this surplus of food and the use of senior hour is very casual.

I could be wrong, but since last week was the first week of senior hour for Costco, everyone was out. ("Oh, I better take advantage of that!") This week, the size of the crowds might not go down as much at Costco, especially at those stores where TUGGERs were reporting long lines even before the stores were open (I would have just turned around and said I'll go another day), but as seniors assess how much they have already overstocked, the crowds will diminish.
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Very good points. And if this is to be the "new normal" for now, I'd also expect crowds to calm down later in the shopping day, as well. One can only hope. That Costco is now enforcing a "two people per membership card" entrance restriction, will also reduce the crowds some. Here's hoping.

Dave
 
WinniWoman said:
Yes, this I know. But it is almost an hour away. Not sure it would be worth it which is why we didn't renew in the first place.
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When we moved we went from having a Costco that was at most 10 minutes away to having one that is an hour away. It's still been worth it to us to belong. There is a Sam's Club in town, but I won't/don't shop there. We go about once a month and just keep a running list. When it was 10 minutes away we were going weekly.
 
DaveNW said:
Very good points. And if this is to be the "new normal" for now, I'd also expect crowds to calm down later in the shopping day, as well. One can only hope. That Costco is now enforcing a "two people per membership card" entrance restriction, will also reduce the crowds some. Here's hoping.

Dave
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Seems it is only for adults? I went to Costco this morning because we needed TP and I grabbed some other things. One guy was there with five kids.
 
Luanne said:
When we moved we went from having a Costco that was at most 10 minutes away to having one that is an hour away. It's still been worth it to us to belong. There is a Sam's Club in town, but I won't/don't shop there. We go about once a month and just keep a running list. When it was 10 minutes away we were going weekly.
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In NY we had no Costco nearby. It was in the county below us about 1 1/2 hours away. With us commuting to work and all, no way did we want to spend more time in the car on a weekend just to shop.

So we belonged to Sams which was just 25 minutes away. Still we only went on average 4- 6 times per year.
 
dioxide45 said:
Seems it is only for adults? I went to Costco this morning because we needed TP and I grabbed some other things. One guy was there with five kids.
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This was announced here in the Pacific Northwest. Not sure about Florida Costco warehouses, but I'd expect they will catch up at some point. There has always been a "two person per card" rule, but it was never enforced.

Dave
 
WinniWoman said:
In NY we had no Costco nearby. It was in the county below us about 1 1/2 hours away. With us commuting to work and all, no way did we want to spend more time in the car on a weekend just to shop.

So we belonged to Sams which was just 25 minutes away. Still we only went on average 4- 6 times per year.
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If we were still working I doubt we would drive one hour each way on the weekends to go to Costco. But now that we're retired we can go during the week. When dh still owned an Acura the dealership was across the street from Costco. He'd make a trip to get the car serviced and do the shopping. We've also combined trips to the airport (to drop off or pick up) our dds with trips to Costco.
 
"Roger" said:
This is not a Costco report, but I think might be relevant.

I went to my local supermarket last Friday during "senior hours" (from five am to seven am). Extremely busy with people really stocking up. I went this morning. Very uncrowded. At checkout, the clerk had the same thought as I did. Last week, being the first "senior hours" week, people were panic buying going into the weekend. Now they have this surplus of food and the use of senior hour is very casual.

I could be wrong, but since last week was the first week of senior hour for Costco, everyone was out. ("Oh, I better take advantage of that!") This week, the size of the crowds might not go down as much at Costco, especially at those stores where TUGGERs were reporting long lines even before the stores were open (I would have just turned around and said I'll go another day), but as seniors assess how much they have already overstocked, the crowds will diminish.
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This makes a lot of sense. The hoarding of TP is utterly ridiculous. As one of my neighbors inelegantly put it, "What's with the hoarding of TP? It's not like the virus is going to make people s*&t more often!" Besides, people can only use so much anyway, so I'm guessing the shelves will be fully stocked with TP in another few weeks.
 
VacationForever said:
Do you not wear readers? I wear my readers all the time.
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I assume you mean me. I wear progressive lenses, but still. I have to pick the items up to read the expriation date. Sometimes you have to turn the item around to find it, etc. Have you ever tried to read some of these dates like on a loaf of bread? Very hard to see.
 
Well, I made my first post-apolyptic foray to Costco today. It was pretty much like Dave described. There was a crowd- well spaced out- of about 50 people around the entrance. Then they let in groups of about 6-10 for the available disinfected carts inside the door, then rolled out some more separated carts and let in another few people. It was fairly orderly. No kids.

Most people beat a hasty path to the rear of the store where the TP and water were. They were a lot faster than me, but there was plenty left even when I got there. I didn't buy TP or water. I wanted yard trash bags, and there were plenty of those, and I stopped for a rotisserie chicken on the way by. There were only 3 chix left, so I was glad I hadn't wandered through the wine and beer or fresh produce on the way.

I had a very short list and a bonus check to help pay for it, so was pleasantly surprised when theyn opened another checkout close to the pharmacy that I was able to scoot into behind just one member. I was scolded for putting my purchases onto the belt before the previous member was totally finished. I was on the opposite side- actually off the end of the belt, so there was well over 6 feet from me to either the checker/helper OR the previous member. But- not taken. Patience, Pilgrim!

They taped the receipt on the end of the cart so the guy at the door didn't have to take it from my hand.

Mission accomplished without incident.
 
By the time we finally make it to Costco it's not going to be with some short, little list. :p
 
Luanne said:
By the time we finally make it to Costco it's not going to be with some short, little list. :p
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Yep. Short list, but stuff only (well mostly) only available at Costco. Yard bags (Costco's are the BEST) Frozen berries.(can't make a decent smoothie without 'em) Protein powder. (See previous item) Rotisserie chicken (nothing else comes close), and if I leave the bonus check around it'll disappear.
For us, Costco is across town, but hardly a safari to get to. I don't go all that often, but early morning, and targeted, it's not too bad.
 
If sameday.costco.com is available in your area, I would suggest taking advantage of the option to not go yourself.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
 
The Costco in SE Calgary always states that they are the busiest Costco. Don't know if it is true but it sure seems like it. Every time they open a new one around I hope that numbers will go down but it never seems that way. So about 2 weeks ago my husband banned me from Costco. I had to agree seeing how busy it always is. Then my brother in law mentioned that Costco has senior hours so I am going to try next week. If it is crazy then I don't go. One way or another will have to go in 5 weeks for prescriptions. Will likely only be able to get a one month's supply but we'll cross that bridge when we come to it. The good news is there is a new Costco scheduled to open in SW Calgary this summer. When our new ring road is completed my guess is it will be less than 10 minutes away.
 
I find Costco to be very busy now when first opening and not busy just about any other time. Of course, I suspect once the TP is gone, Costco crowds dwindle. I went first thing this morning. I don't know what time they open anymore. Website said 10am, but they were letting people in when I got there at about five till. It certainly wasn't as busy as when I went first thing in the morning a few weeks ago, but there was still a long line to the register. I went one other time in the late afternoon a week ago and there was no line at all. It seems everyone who goes for a purpose is getting there early.
 
dioxide45 said:
I find Costco to be very busy now when first opening and not busy just about any other time. Of course, I suspect once the TP is gone, Costco crowds dwindle. I went first thing this morning. I don't know what time they open anymore. Website said 10am, but they were letting people in when I got there at about five till. It certainly wasn't as busy as when I went first thing in the morning a few weeks ago, but there was still a long line to the register. I went one other time in the late afternoon a week ago and there was no line at all. It seems everyone who goes for a purpose is getting there early.
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Some days if there is a big line waiting, and they're ready to go, they'll open earlier than the posted time.

Dave
 
Ken555 said:
If sameday.costco.com is available in your area, I would suggest taking advantage of the option to not go yourself.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
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I wish Instacart serves our area. Until then, we are making do with other not ideal alternatives. No matter what we are not going to the stores.
 
As I was going through Costco today, I noticed several shoppers that were clearly shopping services such as Instacart. Constantly stopping to stare at their phone, blocking the isle as they scanned barcodes to make sure they had the right product. Kind of a PITA if you ask me, but that is just my opinion.
 
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