Comments on: I visited Costco (Australia) and my blood ran cold

By: Duncan

Duncan — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 04:10:06 +0000

I think we've had a range of perspectives here, so I'm going to close comments on this one now.

Many people focus on the price benefit, rather than the implications for community and diversity, and that's their choice (though a focus they might regret much further down the track).

@Andrew (the Canadian): you are wrong regarding Australian ovens — the most common basic models of oven in Australia are not 15" deep (on the rack). Newer kitchens may differ. Similarly, a tray of meat can certainly by split up and frozen, but as fewer and fewer people have full size freezers, it is again impractical for many.

A few people mentioned Aldi in the same context as Costco. I'm not sure I agree that they are the same type of animal — Aldi is a basic-supplies concept (though it has grown beyond that) with largely their own set of (re)branded goods. This is nowhere near as evil as the house-brand manipulations played by Coles and Woolworths, or the membership/bulk/waste/import issues of Costco.

Anyway, thanks for all the interesting contributions.

By: liz

liz — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 04:56:44 +0000

Well I finally went to Costco and I was prepared and had done my homework. I would say do you home work as somethings are Cheap and some are the same price as my local supermarkets. Also if you have the storage space for good yes its great. One item that I purchased was 10kilos of a well known washing powder for front loading washing machine for $35. Now the cheapest my local shops sell it for is $9 for 1 point 5 kilos ie $6 per kilo.Therefore I will have a saving of $25. And as I have a family of teenagers that means my machine is going each day I will use it. For all you doubting thomases I remember approximately 40years ago my mother and a group of her friends getting together every month and driving from the country to shop in Brunswick at an open to the public shop called Half Case Warehouse.The minimum amount you could purchase of any items was half a case. There were other locations as well. At Costco, whats to stop familys or friends groups getting together and buying in bulk. I did see groups shopping together at Costco, and they would go home and split the purchases. Maybe people can share the load and communicate with their neighbours and purchase those bulk items. Of course this would mean actually talking to them

By: theduncans

theduncans — Sat, 12 Sep 2009 07:06:21 +0000

From reading the comments so far, you all must be very lucky to have the ability to choose where you want to shop. I come from a small country town and a small IGA is here. Prices and quality are not good. If we wish to avail ourselves of choice it is a 45 Min drive to a larger centre. Aldi does supply some choice as well as many other shops and of course the big 2. We, by necessity buy in large quantities to save fuel as well as shopping dollars. As an interesting note, I have just received an email about costcos cheap chemist counter for prescriptions. I wonder if they will be seling this sort of thing here in Australia? Anyone know? It is always good to have competition if in fact it is competition.

By: Andrew

Andrew — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 23:20:03 +0000

To the host and the Pseudo Epicurean, As a Canadian who frequents Costco weekly, I would like to offer my insight the the warehouse of stuff on offer.

Yes costco requires a membership but here, the cost of such is made up with my savings on 4L jugs of milk. As a family of 5, we don't drink lots of juice because of the sugar, we don't drink cool drink, we drink milk. At costco here, the milk is $2.30/jug cheaper than the grocery store. 12L of milk a week, there is my membership.

Tyres. I have bought 3 sets of Michelin tyres at costco. The difference between costco and the michelin dealers ranged from $230 for one set to an astounding $410 for another set, with costco being cheaper.

Yes it is easy to overindulge at costco but whose fault is that? Not costco's. If you go there with your grocery list and buy staples, butter (here$1.50cheaper than the grocery stores), milk, bread, fish etc. you will do better.

Don't get me wrong, I have seen people make split decisions on tvs, saunas etc.

Ask yourself, do I need 2 kilos of nuts? Maybe not. Can I benefit monetarily from buying this tray of meat, separating it and freezing the rest for later? I am sure.

I lived in Australia, a 15" pizza or 37.5cm pizza (for those who have trouble converting) would certainly fit in an Australian oven. As for the pizza, there are plenty of pizza shops in Australia and pizza goes down well at parties.

By: The Pseudo Epicurean

The Pseudo Epicurean — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 09:39:15 +0000

Great insight Duncan. I was initially very curious since I haven't been but I had a bad, bad feeling about it. If anything Costco is doing to our Melbourne city, it's creating obesity! Like you said, who needs a 15" pizza and who on earth (as reported by a friend), needs a 2.9kg birthday cake unless you're turning 100?!

The way I see it, it's only great if you are feeding a village of about 100 people. That's the only time I see anyone needing a whole kilo of goat's cheese.

I'm very much like SJ – I'm all for fresh, local, ethical, green. Buhbye Costco!

By: kathryn

kathryn — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 06:21:35 +0000

Interesting Duncan, I hadn't heard about this, being up in Sydney. Although it's pretty much the opposite of what we've been doing over the last few years. I refuse to go to Aldi – every time I go there I come out incredibly, throat-slittingly depressed – and am happy buying my bits and pieces locally. However I'd be really interested in taking a look.

By: monique

monique — Sun, 06 Sep 2009 02:31:07 +0000

I thought the experience was quite good, if you have a family most of the bulk stuff will be used up in no time! The nappies actually come in a box of 184, and most people will buy 2-5 boxes when they're on special at that price a WW or Coles. The meat I noticed was Austalian and not from some foreign country. I have said to friends and family if your having a function/party its worth going there first as you can buy platters, plastic ware, birthday cakes etc.
Although I think your right when it comes to variety or choice of brand, some products only had 2 brands on offer if that, but then basmati rice had like 5 choices(which I didn't get).
Anyway, I will be going back….its great for families!

By: Duncan

Duncan — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 03:46:13 +0000

@liz: Welcome. I agree that it's always important to make up your own mind if you think there might be something that suits you. I'm all in favour of achieving a workable personal balance. Thanks for your comment.

By: liz

liz — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 02:54:38 +0000

well like most things I will try it and see before I relie on anothers opinion, I will of course list all the prices for the brands I would normally purchase locally in the largest size before I go, as was recommended by a co-worker where I work.

I do use the Vic Market for fresh produce.However Like many other people who work and have a family to run, I do not have the luxury of the time to attend farmers markets unless Im on holidays. I also believe that some sellers at these markets are not always the producers of the goods they sell.
So I would say that the value of Costco will depend on what you are looking for, and as you should do whenever you are shopping for goods anywhere, DO YOUR HOMEWORK BEFORE YOU GO.

By: Duncan

Duncan — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 00:29:42 +0000

The person Ross (IP: 58.105.42.18 , d58-105-42-18.dsl.vic.optusnet.com.au, rossdmartin @ yahoo. com. au) submitted two asinine and largely irrelevant comments here yesterday at 12:52 and 19:01, insulting other commenters and me, and positing a spurious correlation between intelligence and the use of clichés and certain words. Unfortunately, this person's amateurish knowledge of human communication (he presumably couldn't see his own clichés) was accompanied by an internet-troll-like inability to contribute constructively to the conversation.

As per the terms of commenting on this site, the person is in breach and his details have therefore been published.