The last 2-3 times I’ve been there I’ve had to wait for the chickens to be done cooking and then there is a rush to get them, maybe 10-20 people waiting (with carts, with children…). I’m told when to come back (up to 20 minutes) and by then the crowd has gathered. I’ve sometimes seen people get 5 chickens. Once saw a person getting a whole cart of them, maybe 25? At least she had pre-ordered what she needed.
I blame this on no more sheetcakes. Can’t get a sheetcake, must have a chicken.
At my Costco, they usually have rotisserie chickens available. However, during a significant minority of visits, I have had situations similar to what twoinanddone describes. They are sold out, so you need to wait for the next batch to finish cooking/packaging, which can take ~15 minutes. When the batch is near done, a good sized group accumulates by the rack, waiting to pick up chickens the moment they are packaged and released. It’s been my experience that there is always enough in the batch for everyone who is waiting to get a chicken, but you may need to wait in a short line for your turn.
I find that Costco rotisserie chickens are a better value than any competitor. Their $5/chicken price is lower than any competitor (except Sam’s Club who symbolically undercuts Costco’s price by a penny), and the chickens are giant – often double the weight of supermarket. However, this is one of the few products in which I think Costco has subpar quality. My local supermarket chickens are smaller, but they are higher quality – leaner, less salt added, options for less seasoning, prefer cooking style (tend to be more well done), less likely to be abnormal, longer shelf life before taste changes, and generally taste better. Specialty grocers like Sprouts are better quality still.
Dairy is on the rise, so there’s another series of items to buy at Sam’s Club. I might as well just buy all my groceries there.
I’m a bit of a cost nerd. Not as much as @Data10. 
Today, I took an inventory of everything I normally buy at the grocery store, and identified the items we can buy in bulk. It turns out most of my groceries can be bought at Sam’s club for 20% cheaper. There isn’t much of a difference in cost vs Costco. The Sam’s Club Mastercard gives 5% cash back on gas and Sam’s purchases as a Plus member. I get enough Sam’s cash to pay for a full grocery trip about once a quarter. It’s basically getting an extra 15-20% off my grocery bill on something that saves me 20% over HEB.
Not sure why your Costco prices are the same as regular chain grocery stores. Definitely not the case here. We pretty much buy all of our groceries at Costco. Supplement with TJ whenever I’m in that area. Compared to a Kroger or another chain, Costco prices are substantially lower for the same brands of food.
I buy a lot at Costco but will supplement with local stores when I just want one or two items. I find prices there MUCH better. I get 2% back plus 2% back on all purchases made with my CC. For us, Costco is hands down MUCH MUCH cheaper—for food and clothes that local markets.
I find the quality of clothing generally higher at Costco than Sam’s. I notice much of Sam’s produce is from South America. I prefer buying NAmerica produce when possible. I don’t trust enforcement of pesticide laws in SAmerica.
Just did the going back to college Costco run for my S22. Lots of parents there with their college kids. Aside from food staples, I bought my son a pair of Levi’s, a pair of sweat pants and a zip up hoodie for $55 - a bargain for him.
Great idea - many Costcos have activewear for the colleges in town and nearby - good stuff at good prices.
Purchased this week:
Gold Standard 100% Whey Protein Powder
Local grocery store:
regular price: $37.99 for 1.47 lb bag = $25.88 per lb
Costco:
regular price: 5.64 lbs for $70 = 12.41 per lb
sale this week: 5.64 lbs for $56 = $9.93 per lb
I was comparing Sam’s to my mainly to my grocery store. The prices between Sam’s and Costco are mostly identical. 
Gotcha! That makes sense. Thanks. 
I find a lot of things cheaper at the regular grocery store, especially when they are on sale. I never buy paper products at Costco because they are cheaper at the grocery store, and I don’t really need 24 boxes of tissues at once. Milk is cheaper (for me) at the grocery store as I can’t use 2 gallons at once, and usually the grocery stores have it on sale once a month (and if I’m lucky, not on the same weekly sale) for $1.10ish for a half gallon.
I love Costco but it is a special trip and more for treats than for staples.
At “my” Costco in Brooklyn, milk is sold by the single gallon. My 1 percent milk cost (as I recall) $3.19 last week. No deals for milk at the local supermarkets here.
Yeah, no milk in any size larger than single gallon jugs at my Costco! I think I pay about $2.69 any day of the month. I also can’t buy toilet paper cheaper than Costco unless I want dollar store tp - one roll good for 1-2 visits to the bathroom!
It’s kind of the opposite for me. At Sam’s/Costco, I can’t make impulse purchases. I would have to buy a monster size box of cookies and eat it for weeks
Nope, costco is 2 gallons of milk packaged together. When I lived in Florida I was happy the BJs was closer than the Costco and I could buy one gallon of milk.
Safeway and Kroger have milk as a ‘digital deal’ at least once a month, sometimes a 1/2 gallon, sometimes a gallon Some kind of tp is always on sale, usually for 1/2 price (so $4.99 instead of $9-11. If I also have a manufacturer’s coupon, even cheaper.
It takes more work, for sure. My friend bulk orders all her paper products and had just received an order before covid hit. She was one happy girl and was set for months.
That’s the problem. I will make those impulse purchases of 10,000 cookies ‘because it is such a good deal.’ What saves me is I have limited freezer space so it is ‘do I want potstickers or frozen waffles’ because I can’t have both.
Depends on the state. In Hawaii, it is one gallon. In Washington, it is 2. Also a box of organic milk 4x 1/2 gallons is available with various fat %.
I find that paper towels and toilet paper are absolutely less expensive at Costco (per comparable quality), but I only stock on these items when they have $5 off type discounts. These quality differences are sometimes not obvious. For example, I find that Costco Bounty paper towels are superior quality to my supermarket Bounty paper towels. Sheet dimensions, thickness, and absorption all differ. Perhaps I am picking up on “advanced” vs regular. I store paper products in my pantry until I need them. I prefer walking to the pantry to get another roll/box over making a trip to the store, and like to have a large supply in pantry, so no problem buying in bulk.
I agree with you on milk and perishables in general. My grocery’s regular price for a 1 gallon Value Corner milk is $4. The average price I pay is ~$3 (full range is $2 to $3.60). Walmart’s regular non-sale price is similar – $3.37. Costco charges $7 for 2 gallons Kirkland Signature milk = $3.50/gallon – the highest milk price among grocery stores I shop at. In addition to being more expensive, 2 gallons is too much. It will expire before I finish. I also like to get a mix of regular and lactose free milk. Costco doesn’t sell the latter. It’s a similar idea for fresh fruit – higher price than next best alternative (often buy in season and/or on sale), requires buying in much larger sizes than I want, and not higher quality.
I am a fan of Costco and spend as much $ per year at Costco as I do my any other area grocer, but I don’t buy indiscriminately. I like Costco for certain specific items, and like alternative grocers/stores for other items.
Also a new gripe about milk (and eggs) is that it used to be in the regular refrigerated cases with other stuff (yogurt, butter, cream cheese) but now Costco has made a whole separate room for milk and eggs, and it is way in the back past a lot of things I don’t buy like dog food and cleaning products. I don’t want to go way back there, I just want to find it with the other dairy stuff.
First world problem. My Safeway also just rearranged EVERYTHING. I can’t find anything and I don’t want to go in the cosmetic aisle that are now near produce and where the tuna fish used to be.
Why do they do this to me?
Ours did the same. I don’t mind it and it’s a quick grab in and out of that room - but sometimes I forget that it’s back there!
ACTUALLY it can come in handy to have it back there - those basic items like milk and eggs - because then I’m not so tempted to go up and down the frozen/refrigerated multi-aisles where I"m more likely to grab other non-needed stuff!
BTW, that is one thing we DO buy at Costco when it’s on sale. Our dog’s dog food! He eats the Blue brand and the flavor they stock is his flavor - recently a $15/coupon for the large bag which lasts awhile so worth hauling it home. When it’s not on sale and we need it I let Amazon deliver the heavy bag to my door step.