I'm with you, Les.
That's why I do not like the Wal-Mart "shopping experience", all that Wal-Mart stands for, and that it raises hell/destroys the small-town shops and atmosphere.
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Costco gas:
Same here, Joe.
Local Costco gas center has 20 or so pumps...the lowest gas prices by far.
Especially good when my employees and I fuel-up 3 dual tank trucks.
For some reason, Costco doesn't negatively hit me like Wal-Mart.

I agree with the Wal-Mart thing...Always impresses me as a lowest common denominator sort of thing that sooner or later will wind up like a wolf in a trap gnawing its own paw off...

I shop the supermarkets as opposed to the "Big Box" stores. I used to do Costco, but after too many times grocery shopping and coming home with a saltwater rod/reel combo that was "too good a deal to pass up" I figured I really wasn't saving anything.

Naahhh, only after you reach your credit limit.

Agreed. (love the steaks there)

FWIW, my blanket statement doesn't cover every shopper. But it does speak to the "Warehouse store mentality" that is obvious.

They are masters of conditioning.

One beautiful tactic is to instill the thought that an item will likely not be here the next time you visit (and many times it's not). You'd better grab it before someone else does!.....wether or not it's been available for quite some time you never know when it'll disappear, never to be seen again.

My 98YO grand mother in-law stock piles tea bags. She lived in the UK through 2 world wars and probably still thinks when the Germans get here there will be none left.

My mother on the other hand grew up in post war Germany. SHe stockpiles spuds, TP, leftovers - NOTHING gets thrown away in her house. You orta see her fridge.

LOL...
My mother is German.
Fridge is so loaded you need a map to wade through.
Every square inch of her kitchen walls are loaded with stuff.
And she saves everything - buttons, small pieces of fabric, etc.
A German thing, I guess...or maybe due to living through the Depression.

Man, my wife and I are cheeseaholics. In our fridge right now is...
5 pounds Tillamook,
5 pounds Mozzarella
1/2 pound Chipotle Cheddar
1/4 Benning Goat Cheese from Holland
1/2 Gorgonzola
2 1/2lbs Black Diamond Extra Old Canadian cheddar
1/4 McCadan Horseradish cheddar
1/4 Meyenberg Goat Cheddar
1/4 White Stilton Blueberry Elnish somethingorother.

and miscellaneous cream cheeses and other crap I probably can't find.

My favourite of all the Cheddars is probably the Dubliner Irish cheddar. Try it. It's good..sharp..has a nice bite...

OMG that's a lot of cheese!

I do the Costco thing and it rocks for certain stuff but typically I only go once every month or two when I know I need something specific (batteries or a mega-box of Cheerios for example) and in those cases I wander the aisles looking for other deals opportunistically. Sometimes yard tools, sometimes pool toys, clothes, books, whatever...

Call me paranoid, but personally I kinda have a habit of keeping large amounts of food, provisions and ammo in the homestead these days. Some of it is packed for travel. Between earthquakes, terrorists and race-riots I think any SoCal resident is in denial if they do not think this way to some degree, and the warehouse stores are good for 'stocking up'.

Balls, man...got enough cheeses there? :)
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Dubliner Irish Cheese
A welcome addition to any cheese plate, this Dubliner cheese goes perfectly with a crusty loaf of bread and a hearty stout. It has a consistency similar to a Cheddar, but is a sweeter cheese, and a nutty aftertaste similar to a Swiss.

Sounds good to me. I'll look for it.
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I like the soft stinky cheeses, too. Also, a good Jarlsberg.
I buy huge slabs of Romano at Costco...break off a hunk 'n nibble while watching TV.
Also, shred Romano on pasta with just butter 'n garlic, salt/pepper.
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ps Isn't Tillamook right up there near you? I hear they make great ice cream.

I found it - at Costco last week...a 2 lb. block didn't last long. $4.99/lb.
Wrapper says "Kerrygold" on it. Mabye the farm?
Dubliner, with a natural hint of sweetness.
Thanks for the tip - most excellent...I'll go back for more.

:)

Perhaps those of you who think four peole is a large family, have never met 6's, 8's - even 17. With how much we had growing up - going every day for small things at small prices we'd of not made it. We brought weat by the TON, and made our own bread from it just to give an example. It lasted a long time - and it wasn't a "warehouse" mentality - it was survival. We couldn't afford much, and had to find somehing realy low cost. The barrels loaded with wheat sacks worked.

Mother still has has a 6 month supply of tea and TP in the basement. I thought this funny until I was about 16 and realised she lived through WWII in London. One other kid in the neighborhood had a basement like mine, his mom from Berlin!

Costco rocks.