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There is a method to their madness. Sometimes their negotiated price can't be met, sometimes they need shelf space based on what is/isn't selling. CNBC did a feature on the store a couple of months ago:

http://www.cnbc.com/id/46603589

This may be a silly question, but yesterday I was shopping at Costco and saw a customer buy 3 shopping carts full of Costco whole milk cartons. He was loading them into his SUV. I estimate that he had 150 to 200 gallons of milk.

What do you suppose he was going to do with this milk? I would think that if he was making a commercial product like cheese, he'd have a vendor who'd probably deliver the milk to him at a lower cost. Ideas? What does one make with 200 gallons of milk?

Maybe it's for a restaurant or cafe and they need the stuff right away.

Probably he's going to sell it in a convenience store at a markup, possibly in a food-desert neighborhood.

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LAZ
Dining Chicago
Index to LTHForum Recipes, 2004-2008

Hi,

At $1.79 per gallon, milk is very inexpensive.

Walgreen's loss leader milk this week is priced at $1.99 with a limit of two. Sunset Foods is selling at the same price as Costco with a limit of four. Otherwise milk is over $3.

Regards,

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Cathy2

"You'll be remembered long after you're dead if you make good gravy, mashed potatoes and biscuits." -- Nathalie Dupree
Facebook, Twitter, Greater Midwest Foodways, Road Food 2012: Podcast

By the way, does anyone else have a hard time pouring milk from those Costco milk jugs? We actually make two smaller holes in the foil (one for milk out, one for air in), to make pouring less messy.

Cheers, Jen

Hey, thanks, Jen, that's a good idea.

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"I would gladly pay you Tuesday for a hamburger today."

Cathy-

Unfortunately, Sunset is selling half gallons for that price, not full gallons.

-Will

LAZ,

That's quite a scenario you've conjured up? Why wouldn't a convenience store operator just order milk from a dairy supplier?

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"Playing the trumpet with The Chicago Symphony Orchestra is the most fun that you can have with your clothes on." Adolph "Bud" Herseth

I noticed that this evening, then went over to Walgreens a block away. It is still $1.99 until midnight.

That's what happens when you give a quick glance at the ads.

Regards,

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Cathy2

"You'll be remembered long after you're dead if you make good gravy, mashed potatoes and biscuits." -- Nathalie Dupree
Facebook, Twitter, Greater Midwest Foodways, Road Food 2012: Podcast

Buying power? A single convenience store couldn't possibly get the same pricing advantage that Costco or Walgreen's would. And Costco /Walgreen's can get away with next to no markup. So I could totally envision a scenarion where a convenience store would take advantage of $1.69 milk pricing at Costco and beat a wholesaler's price.

I considered this too. But this would take up a lot of cooler space -- you'd need a nice sized walk-in for this much milk. And they only bought whole milk. This store would have to move a lot of whole milk before it expired.

Thanks for the ideas everyone.

Perhaps milk baths.

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Steve Z.
Photographer/Pseudojournalist

"The only time to eat diet food is while you’re waiting for the steak to cook." - Julia Child

Jewel's cooler died?

Oh no--I have it--Jewel's Whole Milk shipment was coming from Indiana and got busted by Jeff Rossen...(Today Show expose from last week)

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“The problem with people who have no vices is that generally you can be pretty sure they’re going to have some pretty annoying virtues.” Elizabeth Taylor

When you add to the cost of the purchaser's milk his time away from job/store/whatever, gas, wear and tear on car/suv, was it cheaper?

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"Playing the trumpet with The Chicago Symphony Orchestra is the most fun that you can have with your clothes on." Adolph "Bud" Herseth

Restaurants, schools, day care centers, etc., routinely buy milk and other foodstuffs in large quantities from Costco and Sam's Club. Both businesses were originally targeted at small businesses, not consumers. Friend of mine who works at Costco says there's one agent (who delivers to either restaurants or schools or both) who has a standing order for 58 gallons of milk a week.

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"I would gladly pay you Tuesday for a hamburger today."

You can also buy Milk at Aldi for $1.89 a gallon depending on the location. The Belmont/Kimball, Brickayd and Clybourne/Fullerton and Wrightwood/Pulaski ones have it at that price or lower.

Sounds like a dairy company to me.

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"Playing the trumpet with The Chicago Symphony Orchestra is the most fun that you can have with your clothes on." Adolph "Bud" Herseth

Damn 2 percenters.

I was at Aldi in Lake Zurich the other day and saw that they were selling gallons of whole milk for 25 cents. Must have been near the expiration.

I got the Costco Connections magazine today and they were advertising a new item that's available only in the store; A Kirkland 8 qt oval enameled cast iron dutch oven. It didn't give the price. Anybody know what it is?

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"Good stuff, Maynard." Dobie Gillis

I picked up a two-pack (2x1L) of a Spanish extra virgin olive oil at the Clybourn location. It is dated November/December 2011 harvest and lists the variety of olive (which I don't recall right now). The bottle is not exactly the same as the Tuscan one, but it is eerily similar. It was $12 for a two-pack, so basically half the cost of the Tuscan variety. I haven't tasted it yet.

Arbequina.

I haven't tasted it yet either, but the price was great.

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Local Beet

The Lincoln Park Costco has their annual plethora of Oktoberfest beer selections back in. Right now they have Hofbrau, Hacker-Pschorr, Sam Adams, and one other I can't remember. Prices are in the $20-24 range. If this year is like past years they should be getting one or two others in soon.

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It is VERY important to be smart when you're doing something stupid

- Chris

have you ever tried their 'regular' kirkland beer? I bought a case a little while back as curiousity got the best of me, and I found every brew to be disgusting. I keep attempting to pawn it off on friends

They finally had the 8 quart oval cast iron enameled French oven yesterday at the Lake Zurich store for $80. That's a great price and it looks really nice. I bought one for myself.

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"Good stuff, Maynard." Dobie Gillis

We're looking for a new blender now, and checked out the offerings at our Costco (14th & Ashland). They have one selling for something crazy like $300 - or maybe more. What on earth can it do to justify that price?!

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As a mattra-fact, Pie Face, you are beginning to look almost human. - Barbara Bennett

According to this site... it sounds big, heavy, loud and expensive, with a good warranty. My Osterizer is almost 30 years old; I've had to replace the gasket twice. I've never had an issue with it making smoothies, soups, hummus, pesto, or sauces. The only real advantage I see would be the size of the jar.

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My pitiful yet plucky little food blog.

The Vitamix and it's competitor, the BlendTec (you may have seen the "Will it Blend? videos online) are just hugely powerful blenders that will tackle most anything you throw at them (and can be used for prolonged periods). You've likely seen them at commercial establishments where they're used for smoothies and blended ice beverages.

We sprang for a Vitamix five years ago and have never had a nanosecond of buyer's regret. It's a hugely capable machine, unlike all the other blenders I've had before--some of which were fairly expensive for their part.

Geo

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Sooo, you like wine and are looking for something good to read? Maybe *this* will do the trick!

Just an fyi.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/europe/smoked-salmon-blamed-for-salmonella-outbreak-in-netherlands-and-united-states/2012/10/02/2a7e66fa-0c88-11e2-97a7-45c05ef136b2_story.html