Anyone else developed a warehouse store mentality?

[LeeH]

I think it was around 1990 BC (Before Costco)... I'd go to the grocery store and buy a 4 pack of Charmin and a roll of Bounty - if they were on the list.

A few days ago I found myself in the garage getting panicky because there were only 7 rolls of toilet paper and three rolls of paper towels left.

There must be billions of dollars worth of inventory hanging out in the garages, basements, and pantries of America.

[techweenie]

AFAIK, good Mormons are always supposed to have a year's worth of food & supplies. A recent Mormon-raised ex- GF tried to get me hooked on Costco, but I'm not the type who sleeps better at night knowing I have 24 rolls of TP in the house.

I think you're right, that there is a 'warehouse mentality' and it's driving suburbanites to buy 3-ton SUVs to shuttle their mass quantities home from the store.

[RickM]

Curious about the psychology here. How many of the current parenatal generation have had parent that were frugal or more resposible consumers. Seems to me this "generation" is going against what their parents practiced.

Stuff mart.

[LeeH]

Obviously the whole idea behind the warehouse stores is frugality. But what's funny is that I bring home 12 rolls of Bounty without really knowing for sure that I've saved money over buying a single roll at the grocery store.

[legion]

I buy my toilet paper by the 36-roll pack and paper towels by the 12-roll pack. For me, it's not about saving money, but about always making sure I have toilet paper and paper towels. If I don't have to buy it every week, it's one less thing to forget.

[jim72911t]

Toilet paper is like beer.

You'll use it eventually.

[slodave]

I AM THE GREAT CORNHOLIO!!!! do you have TP? TP for my ... Uh Beaviiisss, don't make me smack you!

[75Carrera]

We're born, raised, educated and conditioned to be "consumers"...Oh. God! They can do what ever they want with us!
(Belch water and moon floss being perfect examples)

[Don Ro]

Think of all the time and gas money you save...
...going to Costco only once every 10 yrs. to buy that 5 gal. bucket of capers.
.
One of my ex-g/fs went to Spenders Anonymous (she was always in debt).
They told her, "NO, NO, NO...stay out of Costco!"
.
I think it's a great place to shop.
8 yrs. ago I bought a Honda 3500 watt generator for $1,000, they had 3 left.
Manager said they "HAD" to get rid of them ASAP...Honda dealer network was pitching a fit.
'Should have taken all 3.

[Moneyguy1]

I think it is great to go to Sam's only twice a year. We stock up on paper goods. My wife does the weekly shopping at local stores (Sams is cross town) and generally buys, for instance, a case each of things like tomatoes, chicken broth, etc. But, she cooks everything from scratch and doesn't like to run out in the middle of a recipe.

[WolfeMacleod]

Originally posted by Mark Wilson
Stuff mart.

Nonono....
"Shop Smart. Shop S-Mart"

My wife and I shop and Sams and Costco. Mostly because when she cooks, she doesn't know when to stop. Maybe that's why I've put on 75 pound since I've known her.

Screw that!...Sam's and Costco are the devil!...

But for less than $2 for a gallon of milk at Sam's when Safeway is $4, I'm going to Sam's.
Five pound block of Tillamook cheese for $12 vs. $20 at some other stores...I'm going to Sam's.

[Don Ro]

Originally posted by WolfeMacleod
Five pound block of Tillamook cheese for $12 vs. $20 at some other stores...I'm going to Sam's.

Good price on the Till. cheese.
Ever try their white cheddar in that black wrapper? Yum.
.
I'll look for a Sam's club around here.
.
I shop at Safeway when they have their 2 for 1 dealios.
I buy Langer's 1/2 gal. grape juice on 2 for 1.
'Bought 12 jugs last time.
It keeps.

[oldE]

If the retailer can convince you to buy one big package each month instead of a smaller package each week, he has saved on his labor rate and you're not taking up space in his store just buying a few items. The labor savings continue at the front end, where a single check-out person can whip $200 worth of stuff into a few bags (or just apply stickers) so fast it hardly seems like you're spending money.
I really don't like getting my exercise by pushing a huge cart more than a quarter mile around a warehouse store. I like shopping each week at my local store, where the owner and his staff know me by name and remember what I was looking for last week. I guess it's a small-town kind of thing.
Les

[DonDavis]

And as far as the bulk thing goes, I once opened the fridge and found a 1.5 Gal jug of hot dog relish. How long would it take for a family of 4 to consume that?

Along similar lines, who has more than 1 refridgerator? I'm not talking about a second one just for beer/soda, I mean an actual 2nd fridge for food/milk/whatever. We have 2 and the both stay mostly full.

[Joeaksa]

There is a Costco just opened 2 miles down the road I travel every day (when home) so its not out of the way. No need to "stock up" as its nearby.

Their fuel is the cheapest in the area, usually by .10c a gallon and thats hard to beat.

[BGCarrera32]

What I've found is that I buy the 12 pack box of Oreo cookie tubes at Costco and they are gone 10 days later. I gained 20 lbs 1 month.

[ChrisBennet]

I'll go with someone who has a membership if I need something I can't get someplace else (like that heavy duty shelving) but I refuse to pay a $50 (?) fine/membership fee just to give them my business.
-Chirs

[RickM]

Originally posted by Wayne at Pelican Parts
Hmm, buying in bulk does save money over shopping at the local grocery once a week...

-Wayne

Does it? I can say with a degree of certainty that:

- Prices are not always cheaper at warehouse stores

- One may intend to buy one or two items but will typically walk out with many more. (Loss leaders pull you righjt into that electronics isle...."Hmmm, the price on that LCD monitor has to be better here...gotta get it now before it's gone") Notice they intentionally don't have an Express chek-out lane.

- Purchase items in great excess never to be used (Relish example above)

The warehouse retail model is the perfect fix for the overconsumer/impulse purchaser.

[dhoward]

A certain amount of self-restraint is necessary. But for paper goods, coffee, peanut butter and other staples, you can usually save a couple of bucks. You can also get pretty good meat cheaper. It's vacuum-bagged from the packer and requires a bit of trim work, but I've had pretty good luck. Baby back ribs for $2.59 as opposed to $4.59 at the supermarket.

5 Gallon bucket of capers...Mmmmmm......