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I hate how Costco will stop carrying stuff i like

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PixelSquish said:
how is 25 minutes too far to try it out?
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I think the thread devolved into a "how close are you to Costco" dick measuring contest. That was a humble brag IMHO.

And let me also say I am cool with this new thread direction, as I think my three minute drive is probably the weenner.
 
poofyhairguy said:
I think the thread devolved into a "how close are you to Costco" dick measuring contest. That was a humble brag IMHO.

And let me also say I am cool with this new thread direction, as I think my three minute drive is probably the weenner.
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I don't think so. I'm pretty sure I've made it in under 2 minutes.

0.7 miles here.
 
I just wish they had an express line for like 5 items or less. I know some have self checkout but you can't purchase alcohol and a few other items at the self checkout.
 
SamQuint said:
I just wish they had an express line for like 5 items or less. I know some have self checkout but you can't purchase alcohol and a few other items at the self checkout.
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Our local one got rid of the self-checkouts. I was sad.

That said, a lot of people apparently have trouble with these things, and "frustrating checkout experience" is something Costco wants to avoid, even if it means protecting the customer from themselves.
 
Surprisingly, we have 2 Costco's within 10-15 mins of each other in Anchorage, AK. It's funny how we differentiate the two between the locals: the crowded and the not so crowded one.

Oh, also 2 Sam's Clubs too.
 
Dirigible said:
When Safeway is an easy walk away and Costco is a 25 minute drive away, I'm never going to Costco. That's what I learned when I had a Costco membership.
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safeway is pretty cool but Costco is special. they have some great deals on high quality products. even though I prefer to live urban so I can walk to almost everything within 10 minutes, a 25 minute drive to Costco once or twice a month is really pretty minimal IMO. compared to what kind of stuff I can get at what prices.

to each his own.
 
kranky said:
Sometimes the manufacturer wants a price hike and a giant retailer says no, and they just won't carry the product any more. Maybe that's what happened.

There was a great article a few years ago in Fast Company about how Walmart deals with the supplier costs (much of the story was about a $2.99 gallon jar of Vlasic pickles that almost ruined Vlasic). Fascinating how much power the big stores have.
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I feel bad for Costco suppliers. Sometimes it's just better to say no and lose the business. Not every contract is worth it.
 
kranky said:
Sometimes the manufacturer wants a price hike and a giant retailer says no, and they just won't carry the product any more. Maybe that's what happened.

There was a great article a few years ago in Fast Company about how Walmart deals with the supplier costs (much of the story was about a $2.99 gallon jar of Vlasic pickles that almost ruined Vlasic). Fascinating how much power the big stores have.
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It really is sad when the box stores put the pressure on their suppliers. A few miles north of me there used to be a large greenhouse called Mid-American Growers. Their Walmart contract accounted for 33% of their total sales. Walmarts contract was up and they wanted to renegotiate. Mid-American Growers could not make money with the new contract that Walmart put forward and Walmart would not budge on the terms.

Mid-American Growers went bankrupt and was bought out by another grower called Color Point.
 
I have a Costco and a Costco Business Center not far.

Costco 'secret': items they're discontinuing change the price to '.97' instead of '.99'.
 
I finally now know what their tactic is...

They stock popular stuff irregularly so when you see it, you buy a shitload of it. I finally saw their brown rice quinoa in stock again and bought 4 packs. They Got me
 
They still haven't brought back their white grape-peach-passion fruit juice that I used to drink by the gallon (in one sitting, and subsequently spend the rest of the day in the shitter because of).

I'd buy a pallet of that shit. It's been years.
 
ponyo said:
I feel bad for Costco suppliers. Sometimes it's just better to say no and lose the business. Not every contract is worth it.
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And when the supplier would lose money on the contract they do say no and lose the business. That's the whole point of the whine in the OP, items come and go because Costco demands pricing that can't always be met by the supplier.

I like the fact that items rotate in and out. Yeah, sometimes something I like disappears, but sometimes new things I like appear and that can't happen without weeding out other items. Every retailer does it, it just seems worse at Costco because they carry so few SKUs.
 
It happens. For over 10 years I would always buy their Las Fortunitas 30 count 10" tortillas for around $3 a package, always had some in the fridge. But around 3 months ago they stopped carrying them. Now the biggest ones they have are 8", too small for burritos.
brainhulk said:
I found these sweet and spicy mixed nuts that i devour. I even bring some to work to snack on. My wife told me yesterday they stopped carrying it at both Costco's near us.

It was obviously popular because Brainhulk's houshold buys 2 at a time.

So whhhhhhhy?
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Why? It varies, but you can call them or saunter up the customer service (helps a lot if you have the item number) and they will look into their data and see if:

1. They are on order or if the item is there, how many, and where they've moved it.
2. If another warehouse has your item in stock, and how many.
 
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yes i hate that too. Some items i notice only appear for a few months then disappear. Sometimes come back the following year. Many times never to be seen again. And it seems some items they never stop selling or run out of and have had them since the last ice age.

The last 2 years i noticed they carried "Tasty" Nine bean soup. but they went poof after a few months. So the next year when they appeared and over a few weeks i noticed the stock getting smaller i bought a shit ton of them, like 20 boxes over a couple of weeks. Never seen this soup again.
 
Costco Customer Service is usually able to give me a rough estimate of when a product might be back in stock. Wouldn't hurt to email them.
 
In MI the Costcos irregularly stock Ling Ling potstickers, which are a huge downfall for me when I want to do a cheap and easy dinner. I end up stocking up with bags of those damned things.
 
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