We don't have BJ's here, wish we did, especially since when I last used them they took coupons.
Today I chose Costco over Sam's.
Sam's is only mins away from home, Costco takes at least a 30 min. drive.
I went to both last night to compare and Costco won hands down.
Our Sam's smelled like ripening garbage, poorly lit, shelves were poorly stocked (often many gaping empty spaces), had a poor variety of all products, and had 2 major aisles closed down for restocking at 6 p.m. (the baking and breakfast items aisles). Employees to answer questions were few and far between, and the ones I could snag were very apathetic. Also, they had only a very few organic food items in any category. They also seemed to be better stocked w/their Member's Mark items than other brands.
Costco was clean, well lit, tons of helpful employees, better prices and variety of all items than Sam's, and the absolute best selection of organic food (at much, much better prices than our local grocery stores!) items including meats/poultry, frozen, fresh produce, dairy items, packaged/can items, and frozen foods.
Costco's fee was $10 more a year than Sam's, but worth it to me despite the longer drive. Another negative for Costco was the fact that they only take one CC, only a few bank cards, check or cash. I can live w/that and bring cash or check when I shop.
Anyone else find this comparison to be accurate where y'all live?
Does BJ's still take coupons?
MZ

I only shop Costco. Since I don't shop Walmart (see my siggie), I obviously do not shop Sam's either even though it is 5 min away and the nearest Costco is 45 min. I LOVE Costco! I adore my Costco Amex card. I get to write off my membership fee so it's not a biggie to me. They often have coupons of their own (won't take manufacturer ones though). No BJ's...never seen one anyone to be honest

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Proud to say I haven't shopped at a Wal-Mart since Sept 2003

I have all three about the same distance from me. Like sexysmurf, I didn't consider Sam's. I've belonged to both BJs and Costco at different times. Both had their good and bad points. Costco has merchandise that is a little more upscale than BJs, in my opinion. Plus, I didn't have to listen to my husband's lame jokes about BJ's name when we belonged to Costco.

Yeah, I also have many probs w/Walmart, will not shop there, and was in a quandary when looking for a warehouse style store due to the corp. ties, but decided to give Sam's another chance due to budget restraints.
Am glad someone else was as impressed w/Costco as I was.
If only *I* could write it off as a business expense.
Considered it cuz we hs our kids and technically in our state a hs is a private school and woulda qualified, but the membership fee was better if we just went as a household w/cards for moi-self and dh.
Today I spent $215 for a fam of 7, and the stuff I bought today will last well over month. This included ( mostly organic) butcher items (found those comparable, but mostly cheaper, than grocery stores and much less than Sam's, if Sam's even carried them ), dairy items, a few packaged items (like whole wheat pasta), non- food items (like light bulbs and cleaning stuff), a case of Depends, and one *treat* item ( frozen garlic bread - non- organic- that tasted almost as good as my homemade stuff and will be a nice addition to a meal on a busy night.
I liked how many sample tables were set up there for us to try stuff I never woulda considered (like the 8 loaves of garlic bread for under $8 - cheaper than if I made it from scratch).
I also cashed in on a coupla of their own coupons today. Didn't see many items in their coupon book that I woulda normally purchased (just due to our spending/use habits), but was glad for them. DD wanted some SD memory sticks for her camera, and it woulda been a good deal ( about $4/gig), but needed to spend on food today so she'll hafta wait till the next deal.
I also think they had higher end items than Sam's, but if I were in the market for those types of items, the prices couldn't be beat anywhere near us (in the land of no doubles mentality).
Count me as a happy new Costco customer.
MZ

I hate Sams in comparison to Costco.
Of course, there is only one Sam's Club in the entire state (although I believe there are plans to build more...)! But regardless of that, I still prefer Costco. The ones we've been in have been bigger, brighter, cleaner, better organized.

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Mental that one, I'm telling you. ---Ron Weasley, "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets"

"I still prefer Costco. The ones we've been in have been bigger, brighter, cleaner, better organized."

Those were big selling points to me. Having experience working in retail I was surprised and disgusted that our closest Sam's (maybe 10 mins. away from my home) lost out on all those scores. And the town that they're located in is the upscale town in our area. Yee-uck.
MZ

We have only Sam's Club here and I've been very happy with it for many, many years. I have not had any problems with any of the Member's Mark brand items that I've bought. There are always lots of sample tables set up. In fact, you can make a meal off of the samples on the weekend. The store is always clean and the employees are helpful when I need something.

Costco has great prices on prescriptions and eyeglasses also!

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Looks like six from their site

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I shop at Sams Club. We don't have either of the other two mentioned on our area. I have never had any issues with products from Sams. I will say that I am careful to figure out if buying a certain item in bulk really is cheaper. Sometimes it saves me money, sometimes it doesn't. I shop at Sams about every two weeks.

Are you saying there are 6 Sam's in Montana? Or are you saying they are going to build 6 more Sam's in Montana?

I can say w/ 100% certainty that there is only one in Wal-Mart now (Great Falls, MT).
They might want to build 6 more, but I don't think that the economy here would support it. Plus the local markets would not support it, I don't think. I believe that they are wanting to build one in Billings, MT

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Mental that one, I'm telling you. ---Ron Weasley, "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets"

BJ's is closest to me, distancewise. I belonged to Costco previously, and find their online deals to be better. BJ's has some heavenly desserts made by Cheesecake Factory bakery. Costco has a better selection and quality of the fresh veges, fruits and meats than BJs. If the economy weren't so bad, I would still be a member of both, however, BJ's is my choice for now.

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We're off to never never land

I don't go to any of those stores anymore...had a membership at Costco years ago. I liked most of the merchandise, there was nothing wrong with it, good quality produce and meat. But when I checked prices by ounce/pound etc my grocery stores were cheaper for most items on my grocery list.
And, I found it annoying to wait in loooooooong lines..about 45 minutes to get to the cash register then back in line again at the door, wait another 10 minutes for the privilege of having someone paw through the groceries I just packed.

I have a Sam's membership that I share with my sister. I don't shop there too often since I find that the deals aren't that great and a lot of their food items are short dated, so you have to eat the quickly, which is sometimes hard to do with the huge quantities. Also, we don't eat a ton of prepared or prepackaged foods.

I have had BJ's, Costco & Sam's memberships in the past. I like BJ's the best because they have smaller quantities packaged together and they take coupons. I do like Costco, but the one near me is in a very inconvenient location and I hardly ever go that way. Sam's location is very convenient for me.

Costco hands down. I still belong to both Sams and Costco. Sam's I keep because of the coffee. I really like their Boyers coffee. Costco coffee just does not have that kind of flavor selection.

To highlight exactly why, I need to tell a story please.

When we first moved to Colorado from California, there was only a Sam's around. We had heard that a Costco was opening. Well, I do a lot of my shopping monthly. I had my three kids with me, one of which was newly walking. I had her in the seat. I had piled my basket with big items (paper towels, tp and such...)

The Sams employee proceeded to put my items split between two baskets - both of which had the baskets full. I had not noticed because have you even gone shopping with three kids - AHHHH!! I asked the employee if I could get help out because now I had two baskets and he said they do not help people out and his only suggestion was to put my daughter on my back and push one basket and pull the other. I started laughing because I thought, this has got to be a joke. He was serious and I had to do my best to get the carts out. Someone had pity on my in the parking lot (a customer not an employee) and helped me to my car.

About two months later, the same type of thing happened at Costco and someone offered to help me out to my car.

Costco - hands down. I haven't even said anything about the great produce or other deals.