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CaptainCrunch
Mar 19, 2006
droppin Hamiltons!

Gaius Marius posted:

They are not minimum wage nor are they unprotected. Costco has put a gently caress load of money and effort into protecting it's employees and contractors.

That is fantastic. Sorry for my knee-jerk-ism.
I haven’t been to church since the depths of the most extreme measures months ago. I loaded up and have been chipping away at my frozen stores since then. There were no samples at that time and I feared the worst when I heard they had resumed.

It’s legitimately good to hear that Costco is taking care of their people. They have in the past but the now times are... weird.

Also, just because I mostly lurk this thread, I honestly do appreciate y’all calling out the good poo poo to pick up. It’s been a good ride.

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Chinatown
Sep 11, 2001

by Fluffdaddy
Fun Shoe
The Costco break rooms look pretty nice when I've peeked in. :)

Gaius Marius
Oct 9, 2012


Good poo poo man. Knee jerk reactions on the web are fucjing killing me. Since you weren't a dick though I'll let you in on some hilarious poo poo. The whole company is actually facing a huge glove shortage, they revised the policy for the fresh depts. And encouraged their use by the front end employees, despite it not being particularly useful to prevent covid. Our glove consumption per warehouse more than quintupled and now we're trying to source more because supplies aren't keeping up.

Also avoid the bakery completely, the deli for everything except the chicken, and the foodcourt. All of em are total wastes of money. There's nothing they're doing that you can't do better at home.

shadow puppet of a
Jan 10, 2007

NO TENGO SCORPIO


Gaius Marius posted:

Also avoid the bakery completely, the deli for everything except the chicken, and the foodcourt. All of em are total wastes of money. There's nothing they're doing that you can't do better at home.

Yeah waste your whole weekend tearing open sausage casings and fighting the laws of physics to fold cold butter croissants.

Great use of your fleeting free time to save 7% annually on your sausage and croissant dollar.

Tiny Timbs
Sep 6, 2008

Gaius Marius posted:

Good poo poo man. Knee jerk reactions on the web are fucjing killing me. Since you weren't a dick though I'll let you in on some hilarious poo poo. The whole company is actually facing a huge glove shortage, they revised the policy for the fresh depts. And encouraged their use by the front end employees, despite it not being particularly useful to prevent covid. Our glove consumption per warehouse more than quintupled and now we're trying to source more because supplies aren't keeping up.

Also avoid the bakery completely, the deli for everything except the chicken, and the foodcourt. All of em are total wastes of money. There's nothing they're doing that you can't do better at home.

Wow who let a Walton child post in here

Gaius Marius
Oct 9, 2012

Making homemade croissant dough is easy and rewarding, it freezes reasonably well and you can make plain croissant or pain au chocolat. Hell you can get that good Kerry gold butter at Costco. Cooking and baking aren't chores. They're rewarding experiences that allow you to express yourself creatively and really put your passion into creating the best possible finished product you can.

shadow puppet of a
Jan 10, 2007

NO TENGO SCORPIO


Gaius Marius posted:

Making homemade croissant dough is easy and rewarding, it freezes reasonably well and you can make plain croissant or pain au chocolat. Hell you can get that good Kerry gold butter at Costco. Cooking and baking aren't chores. They're rewarding experiences that allow you to express yourself creatively and really put your passion into creating the best possible finished product you can.

lol air fryer go whrrrrrrr

bob dobbs is dead
Oct 8, 2017

I love peeps
Nap Ghost
rewarding yes. easy, lol no

Gaius Marius
Oct 9, 2012

shadow puppet of a posted:

lol air fryer go whrrrrrrr

Ironically probably a good use case one. Convection ovens are pretty standard for baking, it's just easier for everything to come out even, not as many hot and cold spots. Except you'd probably have to do it in like fifty batches

bob dobbs is dead posted:

rewarding yes. easy, lol no

You think so? First time I made it it took forever and they weren't amazing but they still blew those popcans outta the water. By my third time I felt perfectly comfortable with the process. Honestly it's worth it just for how good your house is gonna smell, I usually only eat one or two and then give the rest away to local businesses.

Gaius Marius fucked around with this message at 04:12 on Aug 31, 2020

sandball
Jan 6, 2006

Fallom posted:

You have to take them out of the store to eat them

I don't know if your store is anything like mine but this does not stop anyone.

It's also drat near impossible to enforce because employees at my store are told to call a manager over for eating in the warehouse.

StormDrain
May 22, 2003

Thirteen Letter
I guess samples must have changed recently then? Last time I went in it was a plate of food under plexiglass and a person talking behind it like it was a prison visit. Colorado for reference.

On the bakery and deli and all, you have to be kidding us. I don't think there's prepared food at any supermarket that's better than a good home cook, since home cooks can spice and tweak for personal preferences. You buy it at Costco because you have a family of 5 and no time to make it, and it's gone in a few days. Or you're providing for a small get together or whatever. I usually skip those sections too but, when we had a jobsite BBQ, those cookies were beloved.

I also picked up the tip from this thread that the Chicken Pot Pie is a good thing to bring to someone in mourning. I expanded it a little bit to surprising people I knew are struggling with any large ready to bake pan. A friend of mine heard something terrible happened to her sister, so I brought her family a large enchilada bake. No, it's not fine Mexican food, yes, it's a surprisingly heavy pan of food nobody has to stress over and loaded with the feel good fat and carbs.

Doodles
Apr 14, 2001

FORUMS USER 1135 posted:

I foolishly bought two large rolls of cling wrap in 2012 or 2013 as a single man. I am still using the first one. The large roll of tin foil I bought at the same time only ran out this year.

We have a roll of tinfoil that we picked up during the Bush administration that's still only half used. It may end up a family heirloom.

And Kirkland milk. Can't forget that. So much cheaper than the supers.

Could the gasoline be considered Kirkland? Because that's damned cheap as well. Only issue is you gotta use a credit card, but COVID's made it so that's the better option for most things.

FCKGW
May 21, 2006

Samples still haven’t returned to my store and I hope they never do.

Xaris
Jul 25, 2006

Lucky there's a family guy
Lucky there's a man who positively can do
All the things that make us
Laugh and cry

FCKGW posted:

Samples still haven’t returned to my store and I hope they never do.

yeah they weren't here last time either, planning on going again maybe sometime this week so i'll see. samples loving suck and more often than not its the same poo poo everytime, like a giant adells sausage sampling station where it clogs up the entire back-aisle by the fridge/meats/cheeses as everyone and their grandma tries to get a tiny teaspoon size sample of sausage that they've surely had before. Samples going away would be the best thing, either that or have samples setup out in the parking lot where it doesnt constrict movement as everyone goes slack-jawed gawking trying to get their grubby hands on a quarter of a cracker.

that said there are sometimes they make sense, for example when Costco hosts travelling "roadshow" movement of one-off boutique goods like ok i can understand that.

norp
Jan 20, 2004

TRUMP TRUMP TRUMP

let's invade New Zealand, they have oil
Gotta say, for me the best bit of Costco is the fuel savings.

Where I live we have a "price cycle" where stations slowly jack up the price by ~35c/L over the course of a week and then drop it back.
Costco basically lets me just nope out of that system by charging the weekly minimum every day - a single tank of fuel can save me up to $15 depending on the day.

Also Costco doesn't make me go in and pay instore like a normal petrol station (they all ditched pay at pump a decade ago because of the loss in overpriced snack sales)

Duck and Cover
Apr 6, 2007

Mozi posted:

uh it's a pressure cooker and if that's just like your oven then you might want to get your oven checked out

Wow sorry I don't know the technicalities of a useless device that isn't a pressure fryer. Maybe you should go post at somethingkitchens instead!

Lazyhound
Mar 1, 2004

A squid eating dough in a polyethylene bag is fast and bulbous—got me?
The sample people here are just hawkers now, they just talk up the product but have no actual food to give out.

Rodney The Yam II
Mar 3, 2007




Lazyhound posted:

The sample people here are just hawkers now, they just talk up the product but have no actual food to give out.

Yes this was what I saw yesterday with the bleak stares. They basically had nothing to do except stand behind a bag of coffee or w/e and watch people go by. One of them was politely whispering greetings at everyone who trundled past, whether or not they noticed.

I wonder what's the point? But now that I think about it, maybe the sample people are actually more like hall monitors now. They're like Kirkland signature spies

Jingleheimer
Mar 30, 2006
Yeah they just started doing samples again at my Costco last week. The only samples they are actually giving is if it's something like protein bars where they can just open up a box put a few out for people to take.

grillster
Dec 25, 2004

:chaostrump:

norp posted:

Gotta say, for me the best bit of Costco is the fuel savings.

Where I live we have a "price cycle" where stations slowly jack up the price by ~35c/L over the course of a week and then drop it back.
Costco basically lets me just nope out of that system by charging the weekly minimum every day - a single tank of fuel can save me up to $15 depending on the day.

Also Costco doesn't make me go in and pay instore like a normal petrol station (they all ditched pay at pump a decade ago because of the loss in overpriced snack sales)

Costco also does not participate in the Cheap Regular scheme, where the people who have to use premium gas pay much higher than the super cheap regular octane gas on the sign. The premium costs more than market to offset the sale price of the cheaper regular gas.

phosdex
Dec 16, 2005

Rodney The Yam II posted:

Yes this was what I saw yesterday with the bleak stares. They basically had nothing to do except stand behind a bag of coffee or w/e and watch people go by. One of them was politely whispering greetings at everyone who trundled past, whether or not they noticed.

I wonder what's the point? But now that I think about it, maybe the sample people are actually more like hall monitors now. They're like Kirkland signature spies

Generally, the food sample people seem to be much older. So I'm kinda guessing that they would have trouble doing other positions in the store. This is a way to keep giving them a job even if it means just stand there.

Propaganda Machine
Jan 2, 2005

Truthiness!
I thought most of the sample people weren't actually Costco employees, rather reps for whatever they're hawking, or at least some of them are.

shadow puppet of a
Jan 10, 2007

NO TENGO SCORPIO


The changes mean that aged-out Price is Right spokesmodels now have an easy career transition into their golden years. Not easy to spend long hours pointing at a well priced box of dinty Moore rice in front of the teeming masses

schreibs
Oct 11, 2009

Gaius Marius posted:

Making homemade croissant dough is easy and rewarding, it freezes reasonably well and you can make plain croissant or pain au chocolat.

Its funny you mention this as I just saw pain au chocolat 16 individually wrapped near the bread isle and immediately scooped up a package. I haven't had one since my trip to Switzerland and it was magnificent albeit not on the same level as the fresh cafe ones.

The Hambulance
Apr 19, 2011

:20bux:

ASK ME ABOUT MY AWESOME STARTUP IDEA


Pillbug

Xaris posted:

kirkland branded products that are good and very high quality:

-Parchment Paper / tin foil sheets / cling wrap

-AAA/AA/9V batteries (if you need them)

Are the batteries good again? I had more than a few leak and ruin some electronics, so I stopped buying them.

Kirkland Parchment Paper is the greatest. I just wish either of the Costco locations near me had any available. Plenty of foil, though.

Harvey Baldman
Jan 11, 2011

ATTORNEY AT LAW
Justice is bald, like an eagle, or Lady Liberty's docket.

I have been loving these Kirkland vodka cocktail ice pop things they've got lately.

My local Costco had twin packs of a Cypriot cheese called Halloumi that I've found difficult to source, and I was really excited to finally have a place to buy it, but they haven't had it since that one time and I feel betrayed.

Pershing
Feb 21, 2010

John "Black Jack" Pershing
Hard Fucking Core

The Hambulance posted:

Kirkland Parchment Paper is the greatest. I just wish either of the Costco locations near me had any available. Plenty of foil, though.

Never been able to find this. If you search on the app all it brings up is foil.

PokeJoe
Aug 24, 2004

hail cgatan


I've been searching for parchment for a while too. I've bought it a bunch in the past but haven't seen it for months

Delpino
May 12, 2001
Forum Veteran
Are the blankets everyone swears by these Kirkland plush blankets, or are they literally labelled Sherpa? Saw a ton of Sherpa jackets but no blankets that resembled them.

Xaris
Jul 25, 2006

Lucky there's a family guy
Lucky there's a man who positively can do
All the things that make us
Laugh and cry

Pershing posted:

Never been able to find this. If you search on the app all it brings up is foil.

I've never used the app but you might just want to check in store in that tinfoil/bags/paper plates/etc aisle. That said yeah it's availability is kinda spotty for some reason despite being a Kirkland Brand to it. I've been using reynold's parchment paper pre-cut sheets and they're pretty cheap and nice to yoink one out that fits a baking sheet and have it ready to go.


The Hambulance posted:

Are the batteries good again? I had more than a few leak and ruin some electronics, so I stopped buying them.

Kirkland Parchment Paper is the greatest. I just wish either of the Costco locations near me had any available. Plenty of foil, though.
Yeah I've found the batteries extremely solid and usually a fair bit cheaper than Energizer or Duracell that they sell (they're probably just re-labeled Duracell tbf). I've never had them leak, well, I did, but that's often after leaving them in an electronic for several years at a time unused.

Cartoon Man
Jan 31, 2004


So there was a couple in front of me at the checkout line causing a delay while they fetch a manager. Apparently they “always were able to use their dad’s membership card to buy things for him”, but today Costco said no. Never did see the resolution, they were able to get me through by scanning everything in my cart while the problem couple’s food sat on the conveyor belt.

Jingleheimer
Mar 30, 2006

PokeJoe posted:

I've been searching for parchment for a while too. I've bought it a bunch in the past but haven't seen it for months

IIRC the parchment paper is a seasonal item that they only carry in the fall/winter. They'll probably have it in the next month or so.

Delpino posted:

Are the blankets everyone swears by these Kirkland plush blankets, or are they literally labelled Sherpa? Saw a ton of Sherpa jackets but no blankets that resembled them.

No, the one everyone goes crazy for is called the ultimate sherpa throw. There's also king and queen sized sherpa blankets by a different brand that are basically the same. If they don't have them in store yet it won't be much longer until they do. But the Kirkland plush blankets are also really good if you want something that isn't quite as warm as the sherpa ones.

Xaris posted:

Yeah I've found the batteries extremely solid and usually a fair bit cheaper than Energizer or Duracell that they sell (they're probably just re-labeled Duracell tbf). I've never had them leak, well, I did, but that's often after leaving them in an electronic for several years at a time unused.

I can confirm that the Kirkland batteries are relabeled Duracells.

Cartoon Man posted:

So there was a couple in front of me at the checkout line causing a delay while they fetch a manager. Apparently they “always were able to use their dad’s membership card to buy things for him”, but today Costco said no. Never did see the resolution, they were able to get me through by scanning everything in my cart while the problem couple’s food sat on the conveyor belt.

Costco is always supposed to refuse to checkout a member if they have someone else's card, even if it's their dad's. What usually happens is that the cashier doesn't care enough to say anything and rings them up anyway.

crazysim
May 23, 2004
I AM SOOOOO GAY

Cartoon Man posted:

So there was a couple in front of me at the checkout line causing a delay while they fetch a manager. Apparently they “always were able to use their dad’s membership card to buy things for him”, but today Costco said no. Never did see the resolution, they were able to get me through by scanning everything in my cart while the problem couple’s food sat on the conveyor belt.

unethical life protip: use an altered screenshot of the costco app's "digital id card" if this is a concern

grillster
Dec 25, 2004

:chaostrump:
It's only like $60 a year to add on to his account anyway

shadow puppet of a
Jan 10, 2007

NO TENGO SCORPIO


Cartoon Man posted:

So there was a couple in front of me at the checkout line causing a delay while they fetch a manager. Apparently they “always were able to use their dad’s membership card to buy things for him”, but today Costco said no. Never did see the resolution, they were able to get me through by scanning everything in my cart while the problem couple’s food sat on the conveyor belt.

I went to member service desk last month to get a spouse card as my wife was immobilized and since she wasn't there they couldn't give me one, but the manager told me not to bother and just use her card. I didn't ask why but it seemed like it was something they weren't currently enforcing because of covid. I look nothing at all like my wife and they were right it just worked every time. This was costco canada though.

Delpino
May 12, 2001
Forum Veteran

crazysim posted:

unethical life protip: use an altered screenshot of the costco app's "digital id card" if this is a concern

No idea why but the photo that comes up in the app for my ID is an old Asian man whereas I am a not old white dude. I carry the card so it isn't a big deal but no idea where that came from.

Delpino fucked around with this message at 19:22 on Aug 31, 2020

Delpino
May 12, 2001
Forum Veteran
This really caught me by surprise today as well:

Delpino fucked around with this message at 19:22 on Aug 31, 2020

PokeJoe
Aug 24, 2004

hail cgatan


Lol it's still summer

Barry
Aug 1, 2003

Hardened Criminal

Jingleheimer posted:

I talked to the deli manager at my Costco today and he told me that they're going to start making the chicken noodle soup and chicken pot pies tomorrow. I've been waiting months for this moment and I'm so glad it's finally here.

PRAISE BE

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DkHelmet
Jul 10, 2001

I pity the foal...


Went to Costco and got a birthday 1/4 lb all beef hot dog with soda (and free refill). PBUC.

Also apparently they no longer carry Oral-B toothbrushes. What the hell.

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