Costco food court

[Chino]

Bumping, not really cause of the foodcourt but in praise of the kirkland booze  There's a costco near work and near my house, neither sell Kirkland booze but if I drive about 25 minutes away from home, there's one.  So I signed up for my membership again after about 3 years of not having one through Groupon for $60 and it came with a $40 gift card.  Made my way over to the booze Costco and just loaded up a cart with kirkland booze for such a significant amount of savings.

Lol. Not sure how it is in Jersey, but here in CT you don't need a Costco membership to buy booze. That's open to the public.

[cramx3]

Bumping, not really cause of the foodcourt but in praise of the kirkland booze  There's a costco near work and near my house, neither sell Kirkland booze but if I drive about 25 minutes away from home, there's one.  So I signed up for my membership again after about 3 years of not having one through Groupon for $60 and it came with a $40 gift card.  Made my way over to the booze Costco and just loaded up a cart with kirkland booze for such a significant amount of savings.

Lol. Not sure how it is in Jersey, but here in CT you don't need a Costco membership to buy booze. That's open to the public.

Including Kirkland brand?  The costco by work sells alcohol outside the store so you don't need a membership, but it's only name brand.

[TAC]

What the heck is Kirkland booze?

[cramx3]

What the heck is Kirkland booze?

Costco brand alcohol.  They pretty much make their own version of the major liquor types as well as wine and beer.  It is rumored their french vodka (at $20 for a 1.75) is the same as grey goose (based on being made in the same distillery and most people agree the quality is top notch).  I haven't personally tried the others but I understand their whiskey is VERY good for the price.  I've had their beer before which is really good too (can't recall which kind if was though and didn't pick up any this time).

[TAC]

What the heck is Kirkland booze?

Costco brand alcohol.  They pretty much make their own version of the major liquor types as well as wine and beer.  It is rumored their french vodka (at $20 for a 1.75) is the same as grey goose (based on being made in the same distillery and most people agree the quality is top notch).  I haven't personally tried the others but I understand their whiskey is VERY good for the price.  I've had their beer before which is really good too (can't recall which kind if was though and didn't pick up any this time).

Ok cool. I had never heard of it. My wife goes to BJ's. I'm not sure I've actually ever been in a Costco.

[El Barto]

What the heck is Kirkland booze?

Dirt cheap, but generally well regarded liquor under Costco's store label. Think of it as Great Value Scotch, or Signature Select Vodka.

Also, only available in some states, so you might not have any reason to have ever heard of it. Definitely a no-go in Tejas.

edit:

What the heck is Kirkland booze?

Costco brand alcohol.  They pretty much make their own version of the major liquor types as well as wine and beer.  It is rumored their french vodka (at $20 for a 1.75) is the same as grey goose (based on being made in the same distillery and most people agree the quality is top notch).  I haven't personally tried the others but I understand their whiskey is VERY good for the price.  I've had their beer before which is really good too (can't recall which kind if was though and didn't pick up any this time).

Like most store brands, they don't make any of it. They just buy off label stuff and put their own name on it. Just like Trader Joes. That's why it's quite possible that it's made by name brand distillers. Titos is actually what I've seen bandied about for their vodka. Their cheap American whiskey is most likely Beam. Their Scotch is Alexander Murray.

[TAC]

What the heck is Kirkland booze?

Dirt cheap, but generally well regarded liquor under Costco's store label. Think of it as Great Value Scotch, or Signature Select Vodka.

Is that Albertsons or Safeway?

[Anguyen92]

What the heck is Kirkland booze?

Dirt cheap, but generally well regarded liquor under Costco's store label. Think of it as Great Value Scotch, or Signature Select Vodka.

Is that Albertsons or Safeway?

Albertsons and Vons.  They got some good side dishes and $5.00 8 pieces of chicken every other week.

[El Barto]

Signature Select is Albertsons/Safeway/Tom Thumb (not familiar with Vons), but I don't know as they make firewater. I was trying to be lighthearted.

[TAC]

Signature Select is Albertsons/Safeway/Tom Thumb (not familiar with Vons), but I don't know as they make firewater. I was trying to be lighthearted.

My store is under their umbrella, so I recognized the Signature Select brand name.

[cramx3]

What the heck is Kirkland booze?

Dirt cheap, but generally well regarded liquor under Costco's store label. Think of it as Great Value Scotch, or Signature Select Vodka.

Also, only available in some states, so you might not have any reason to have ever heard of it. Definitely a no-go in Tejas.

edit:

What the heck is Kirkland booze?

Costco brand alcohol.  They pretty much make their own version of the major liquor types as well as wine and beer.  It is rumored their french vodka (at $20 for a 1.75) is the same as grey goose (based on being made in the same distillery and most people agree the quality is top notch).  I haven't personally tried the others but I understand their whiskey is VERY good for the price.  I've had their beer before which is really good too (can't recall which kind if was though and didn't pick up any this time).

Like most store brands, they don't make any of it. They just buy off label stuff and put their own name on it. Just like Trader Joes. That's why it's quite possible that it's made by name brand distillers. Titos is actually what I've seen bandied about for their vodka. Their cheap American whiskey is most likely Beam. Their Scotch is Alexander Murray.

If you hear Titos, that's likely the Kirkland American vodka which is $15 for a 1.75, the French vodka is the $20 variant I was referring to.  It's not surprising though, I kind of figured it is like literally the same thing, but I have no way of proving that.  I'll just say, for $20, it's a super bargain if you can get past the label (and I know, for some reason, many people can't). 

[Cool Chris]

Huh, I've never heard of them selling booze (or anything for that matter) outside the store so anyone can buy it, even if they do not have a membership.

[jingle.boy]

When I was a teenager, I knew a guy who worked in a food packaging plant.  He said that for the no named brand potato chips, it was exactly the same product as (insert name brand such as) Lays, just different packaging. Same goes for hairspray, detergent ... basically any / everything.

[TAC]

Right.

[cramx3]

When I was a teenager, I knew a guy who worked in a food packaging plant.  He said that for the no named brand potato chips, it was exactly the same product as (insert name brand such as) Lays, just different packaging. Same goes for hairspray, detergent ... basically any / everything.

I really never knew that.  For the most part in my experience getting store brand items, they always seemed a little worse than the name brand (and occasionally I'd find some store brand product to be solid, for some reason I love shoprite brand BBQ sauce but the shoprite potato chips are good enough for the cheap price but definitely not as good as the main brands).  Seeing Costco or TraderJoes do it is one thing, but if that's also what Shoprite or similar does, I'm kind of boggled. 

[TAC]

All of the chains do it. It's not like Shoprite has a factory making mayonaise.

[cramx3]

All of the chains do it. It's not like Shoprite has a factory making mayonaise.

Yea, but are they ALL using the big name brands or are they maybe using smaller less known ones?  And they are always exactly the same?  Like for chips, they maybe use less salt on the ones they sell off to another brand or something similar?

[TAC]

All of the chains do it. It's not like Shoprite has a factory making mayonaise.

Yea, but are they ALL using the big name brands or are they maybe using smaller less known ones?  And they are always exactly the same?  Like for chips, they maybe use less salt on the ones they sell off to another brand or something similar?

All of the above.

[El Barto]

In my experience the contents of store brand stuff are usually brand name stuff, but they cut corners elsewhere. Formula 409 uses a good quality spray bottle. The store brand uses a cheap spray bottle where the trigger never really works quite right. It's always things like that. Cheap caps on dish soap that get clogged up after a few days. Fake Windex is watered down so it's streaky. Cheap paper towels are never perforated worth a damn, so they never tear off clean. The same quality products sold in an inferior fashion. Often times it's just fine like that. Foodstuff is generally not a problem. Other times I won't touch it (things that won't tear cleanly because they're not perforated right piss me off to no end). Just gotta figure out what works and what doesn't.

All of the chains do it. It's not like Shoprite has a factory making mayonaise.

Yea, but are they ALL using the big name brands or are they maybe using smaller less known ones?  And they are always exactly the same?  Like for chips, they maybe use less salt on the ones they sell off to another brand or something similar?

Like TAC suggested, I'm sure it varies by product, as well as the contract the stores have with the manufacturer. Chips are a good example. I suspect the good folks at Frito Lay use a little less salt on their white label products so they're not quite as tasty to the average consumer. For other things, say liquor, they just rely on secrecy, knowing that people will still pay for the real deal so-as not to be embarrassed at their dinner party. In other cases they might be buying "factory seconds." I think that's the case with 3 buck chuck. Lastly, I wouldn't bet on them being the A-list manufacturers. Perhaps instead of Kellogg they're selling General Mills cereal. Still a top name brand, but not the biggest.

[TAC]

Usually with chips and soda, they will likely be made by regional makers, generally not Frito or Coke.

As all of these companies merge, it's hard to keep track of. My regional grocery chain is now part of a national company.

A lot of times, you can look at the packaging. Who's peanut butter does your private label bottle look like?

[cramx3]

Well I'm learning some new stuff today, I guess that all makes sense. 

Actually have been doing most of my grocery shopping at Lidl lately (it's so cheap and very good food) and I noticed the Lidl frozen burgers are almost EXACTLY like bubba burgers for 3/4 of the cost and after trying them out, they are just as good.  Actually impressed a friend with those recently. 

[jingle.boy]

I didn’t mean to imply that ALL no name brands are the named brand product in different packaging is, but some of it is. Part mix for instance. I’d wager it’s literally just a different logo on the bag. Shampoo... I’ll guarantee the “Purt” brand is from the same vat as “Pert”

[axeman90210]

One of my favorite deals when I first got into beer was Trader Joe's annual Vintage Ale release in the fall. They had it made for them by a well regarded brewery in Canada, the brewery's own beer went for ~$10/750mL bottle, but the Trader Joe's label beer could be had for $4 or $5 and was on par with their other offerings.

[Stadler]

As I drink vodka almost exclusively, and Tito's almost exclusively within that, I'm going to try the Kirkland label.  That's right up my alley.

As for name-brand vs. signature, El Barto has it right, I think.  They cut corners elsewhere, and there MAY be some differences with the product itself.  I know that working for an electronics manufacturer, we used to supply product for off-brand use.  But it wasn't EXACTLY the same.   Let's say that the product had to pass a certain spec - let's say it's got to be rated a "2" on a scale of one to five - to sell it.  So all 2's or better would be sold, everything below that was scrap or rework.    Stuff rated 5 would be our military or government contract stuff.    Stuff rated 4 or 5 would be our name brand stuff.    Stuff rated 3 would be the off-brand stuff, and stuff rated 2 might go to discount parts distributors.

Put in terms of potato chips, 4 and 5 would be less than one "brown" chip out of 100, and of a certain size.   3 would be 1 to 5 brown chips per 100, and of a certain size, but with an allowance for smaller pieces.    2 would be 5 to 10 brown chips per 100, and of a certain size, but smaller still.    We did this with lightbulbs, for example.  For vodka, there might be a purity standard.  Doesn't mean your vodka IS less pure, but maybe the consistency isn't QUITE the level of that which gets poured into the Tito's bottle.  It LIKELY is, but not guaranteed.

[cramx3]

Yea, that makes a lot of sense really and would explain my personal experiences with lots of store brand products not exactly being as good as name brands but often times, not by much. 

Stads, you will really enjoy the kirkland vodka from a taste perspective and even more from the savings.  I think this is totally worth my effort for the hour round trip every once in awhile to stock up.  I even grabbed a few bottles for my boss while I was there yesterday.

[ReaperKK]

Bumping, not really cause of the foodcourt but in praise of the kirkland booze  There's a costco near work and near my house, neither sell Kirkland booze but if I drive about 25 minutes away from home, there's one.  So I signed up for my membership again after about 3 years of not having one through Groupon for $60 and it came with a $40 gift card.  Made my way over to the booze Costco and just loaded up a cart with kirkland booze for such a significant amount of savings.

Kirkland booze is the shit although I can only get beer and wine at Costco in NC, no liquor:(

[jingle.boy]

Nov 13, new Costco opening just 18 minutes up the highway from me, rather than the 30 minutes away the closest one is right now.  Plus, it's got a gas bar.    The current one we go to is quite long in the tooth.  The newer ones are so nice.  It'll be nice for our bi-weekly trip there not to burn 2 hours of a day.

[pg1067]

Nov 13, new Costco opening just 18 minutes up the highway from me, rather than the 30 minutes away the closest one is right now.  Plus, it's got a gas bar.    The current one we go to is quite long in the tooth.  The newer ones are so nice.  It'll be nice for our bi-weekly trip there not to burn 2 hours of a day.

What's a gas bar?

[jingle.boy]

Nov 13, new Costco opening just 18 minutes up the highway from me, rather than the 30 minutes away the closest one is right now.  Plus, it's got a gas bar.    The current one we go to is quite long in the tooth.  The newer ones are so nice.  It'll be nice for our bi-weekly trip there not to burn 2 hours of a day.

What's a gas bar?

Gas station.

[Cool Chris]

Thought you guys called it Petrol.

[jingle.boy]

Thought you guys called it Petrol.

That's ariich

[Stadler]

You still measure it in "litres", though, don't you? 

[jingle.boy]

You still measure it in "litres", though, don't you?

Of course.  We're not savages!

[Cool Chris]

[Anguyen92]

Well, I decided to bump this thread. So I saw a Groupon where they were offering one year of a Costco Membership card for $60.00 (and added an incentive where after you get the card and set it up for renewal, you also get a $40.00 gift card and a promo for $40.00 off for orders over $250.00). 

So, I guess I'm off to Costco today see what's up with the food court and everything else that they have there.