Jim-Bob wrote:Sam's Club to close 63 stores nationwide including the Naperville, Romeoville, Batavia, Matteston and Moline stores. The Naperville one is a little surprising since that's a big metropolitan area, but there is another in Montgomery less than five miles away so that probably had something to do with it.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/ ... story.html

I picture the shareholders at Costco giving major side-eye over this news.

pairs4life wrote:I picture the shareholders at Costco giving major side-eye over this news.

Not me. This is good news for shareholders. Eliminate under-producing stores, cut overhead, increase profit. It's a big win for shareholders, but unfortunately, probably not for the employees. Also, a few of these stores are being turned into online order distribution centers (with employees invited to stay on). That's where the big e-money is (also good for shareholders).

In hopes of pacifying customers who are upset over the closures and want to cancel their membership,Sams's club is offering a free 3 month extension.
https://www.samsclub.com/sams/html/best ... pdate.html?

Jim-Bob wrote:Sam's Club to close 63 stores nationwide including the Naperville, Romeoville, Batavia, Matteston and Moline stores. The Naperville one is a little surprising since that's a big metropolitan area, but there is another in Montgomery less than five miles away so that probably had something to do with it.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/ ... story.html

Wheeling has been added to the Close list.

For those people here who belong to Sams Club, I've heard that the Wheeling store is already marking everything down 25%. This does not include pharmacy and tires.

Hi- I know there are not a lot of fans of Sams Club here, but I just heard that they are now limiting meat purchases to one package per member. I am going there some time this afternoon to pick up a prescription, and I will check this out. I think the only meat I have ever bought there is chicken sausage.

Costco is limiting meat purchases to 3 per day.

Last time I there ( about 3 weeks ago in the Glenview location ), they had no chicken of any kind.

Hi- I was at Sam's Club today, and they let me go to the front of the line because I was going there to pick up a prescription, but I got there at 6:15, and there was probably a half hour wait to get in, and they close at 8:00. The Evanston store is limiting meat purchases to three packages of meat. They had ground turkey, chicken breast, chicken thighs, and about a half a case of beef and pork. They had no chicken legs or whole chickens.

Sam's Club said early Thursday that it will make curbside pickup available at all 597 club locations by the end of June.

https://www.marketwatch.com/story/sams- ... 2020-06-11

Sam's Club is bringing back free samples.
https://www.cnn.com/2021/06/01/business ... index.html

Face coverings are no longer required at Sam's Club if you're fully vaccinated. I was there over the weekend and I only saw about two people not wearing masks. I also saw a gallon of hand sanitizer marked down to $1.48!

Jim-Bob wrote:I also saw a gallon of hand sanitizer marked down to $1.48!

LOL - that is spectacular!

=R=

ronnie_suburban wrote:

Jim-Bob wrote:I also saw a gallon of hand sanitizer marked down to $1.48!

LOL - that is spectacular!

=R=

I have enough sanitizer for the next 10 years assuming there aren't any more pandemics.

Artie wrote:

ronnie_suburban wrote:

Jim-Bob wrote:I also saw a gallon of hand sanitizer marked down to $1.48!

LOL - that is spectacular!

=R=

I have enough sanitizer for the next 10 years assuming there aren't any more pandemics.

You can always distill the sanitizer to get straight ethanol to drink!

Masks. hand sanitizers and wipes I have seen on clearance at Jewel too. I am surprised that there were only two people that were maskless at Sams. When I went in the store, when things were bad pandemic wise, I saw all kinds of people that were not wearing their mask correctly, and one day, I saw a woman with her three kids, and all of the kids had their masks down so they could eat or drink. I have also seen women covering their face with a silk scarf, and nothing else. When I go in Jewel, 95% of the people are wearing their mask correctly. but both Walmart and Sams Club have all kinds of customers that do not social distance and do not wear their mask correctly.

Jim-Bob wrote:Face coverings are no longer required at Sam's Club if you're fully vaccinated. I was there over the weekend and I only saw about two people not wearing masks.

Same at Costco in Oak Brook over the weekend. But I didn't notice that signage until I was leaving. Everyone was masked.

I noticed the signage in Walmart as I entered in Niles. Only a couple of people were unmasked inside.

I saw the same signage in Jewel in the city on Sunday. Everyone was masked.

Same signage in Oak Brook over the weekend, no one was unmasked.

Save yours truly who forgot it then saw the sign and went in to grab the Mobile Order (alas they messed it up).

I got a Sam's Club offer of basically free membership for a year. Already a member at Costco. Any current thoughts on whether it would be worth my effort to check it out? both are reasonably close to me.

Thanks, Will

I got the same offer in the mail and decided to take it; went over yesterday to sign up. I don't see any downside to it. Even though my membership for the year is free, I was able to add a second person to my account for free, so I added my sister, and she appreciated it. You would add your spouse, I assume, but apparently it's not limited to household members.

I do still like Costco but sometimes don't want to drive all the way there (I live roughly midway between the Mettawa and Lake Zurich Costcos). The Vernon Hills Sam's Club is half as far from my house as either Costco. There's also a Sam's Club in Gurnee I can see visiting. I just looked around yesterday after I signed up, but I'm going back in a day or two to buy gas, which, like at Costco, is about 20 cents cheaper than at gas stations and therefore about the same as Costco but, again, a shorter drive.

On the weekday afternoon that I was at Sam's Club, the differences between Costco in terms of in-store crowding and checkout lines and outdoor parking availability and lines for gas were noticeable and welcome.

(Would just add as a personal reflection, I hadn't previously been in a Sam's Club for more than 25 years, when I lived in Champaign. But now there are both a Sam's Club and a Costco in Champaign --- and a Portillo's too --- all of which I will be grateful for if I end up relocating back to C-U someday.)

There are a couple of things that I prefer Sam’s Club over Costco. They offer free pick up on online orders where you have to use Instacart for Costco. If you do want to shop in store, the have Scan and Go in their app where you scan your items as you put them in your cart so you can bypass the check out line. And their hot dogs are better than Costco’s.

Jim-Bob wrote: If you do want to shop in store, the have Scan and Go in their app where you scan your items as you put them in your cart so you can bypass the check out line.

What???? How did I not know about this???

Katie wrote:On the weekday afternoon that I was at Sam's Club, the differences between Costco in terms of in-store crowding and checkout lines and outdoor parking availability and lines for gas were noticeable and welcome.

The last 3 times I have been to Costco, I was at least 9 people back from the cash register.

I belong to Sam's Club. It is closer for me than Costco, and one of my sisters is a member, and I get an associate membership for free. I buy most of my gas at Sam's Club, and I buy tires and car batteries there. I usually get coffee filters there too, as well as swiss miss cocoa. Sometimes they have good deals on personal care stuff. I got three tubes of crest gum therapy toothpaste there really cheap, and some dental floss that I use. I occasionally get milk there too. Their produce is not that cheap. I used to get salmon burgers there really cheap too, but I have not seen them there in ages. I was getting all of my prescriptions there too, and if I only needed a few other things, they would also ring them up so I could avoid the long checkout lines. That scan and go thing there is new. I see a lot of people buying stuff at Sams Club that is not a good deal such as cereal. Their toilet paper might be a better deal. I just recently switched Medicare part D drug plans, and so I am going to get my drugs at Osco instead.

At the Evanston store parking is not plentiful. You can find a spot, but never very close, and lots of times there is a line at the gas station. Sams Club has cheap bestselling books. I usually don't find any books I am interested in, but they carry all of the Pioneer woman's cookbooks for anybody who is into that.

NFriday wrote:At the Evanston store parking is not plentiful. You can find a spot, but never very close, and lots of times there is a line at the gas station.

Pro Tip = drive past the gas station, turn left and drive towards the building. Parking is usually available in that aisle close to the front door.

Jim-Bob wrote:There are a couple of things that I prefer Sam’s Club over Costco. They offer free pick up on online orders where you have to use Instacart for Costco. If you do want to shop in store, the have Scan and Go in their app where you scan your items as you put them in your cart so you can bypass the check out line. And their hot dogs are better than Costco’s.

I have been a member at both for a long time. Each store has its own plusses and minuses. I like the meat and fish at Costco better than Sam's, and it is usually a little cheaper for similar grades. Fruit and Veg are similar, with a slight advantage to Sam's for varieties of fruit. Edge to Costco for the Pharmacy and Eye care center. I generally find their people much more responsive and helpful.

Costco is head and shoulders above Sam's when it comes to customer service and interactions with the employees. Costco stores, regardless of location, are also much more consistently clean, neat, well stocked, carts available and parking lots clean with no stray carts all over. Sam's varies greatly from store to store.

Both now have self-checkout, though Sam's is easier, and Costco offers nothing as great as the Sam's scan and go on the app. Nothing better than lines 6 deep, and you just walk past and out the door.

The main complaint I have about Sam's pharmacy, is often when I have tried to refill a prescription there, I have been told that they are out of it, and if I am trying to fill it on a Friday, it is never going to be available until at least Monday. At least at Osco they give you a few pills to tide you over. The lines for the pharmacy are a lot less at Sam's Club though. Two of the prescriptions I am on are big sellers, and there should be no reason that they are out of them 1/3rd of the time when I try to refill them.

I agree too that Sam's does not do a good job of collecting carts. Usually when I go there, I see stray carts all over the parking lot, and frequently they are out of carts in the store. Besides a wonderful optical department, Costco is also known for their hearing aid department.

We've had Scan and Go for at least a year here in TN. They recently remodeled the gas pumps and now you can use the app for that also. Gas lines at Sam's much shorter as well than the usual madhouse at Costco. We belong to both and go to Sam's all things being equal. We also have a small butcher counter at our store that has a selection of both prime and choice beef.