5 ms·

I agree, but the fact is probably that they don't want you to know. They want you to have to show up and end up buying stuff. They also continually rearrange th

I agree, but the fact is probably that they don't want you to know. They want you to have to show up and end up buying stuff. They also continually rearrange their stores for no apparent reason, so you're wandering around looking for the same item you bought two weeks ago. I like Costco, but have considered abandoning it because I'm sick of staple items I've bought for years there just... disappearing. You drive over there and start scouring the aisles for, say, brown rice. NOPE. They just don't have it anymore. And in many cases it's KIRKLAND products. I understand that a supply of something might temporarily dry up, but then I wish Costco would replace it with the same thing from another supplier at full price if need be. Then at least I can get my shopping done without driving all over town. If I'm going to have to do that, screw it; I'll just go to the regular grocery store.

OfSanguineFire 3y ago
If you want brown rice in bulk for cheap, have you considered immigrant stores? I ask because I used to go to Makro (the Central European membership-based wholesale chain) for rice, but then I learned that shops serving Indian Subcontinent and Vietnamese diasporas offered rice and other nice things in bulk for prices comparable to that mainstream wholesaler.
fouc 3y ago
KIRKLAND is Costco's brand, it's a white label of a consistent reliable product. Your favorite brown rice brand could've ended up appearing as a kirkland product. I'm surprised at the shortage of brown rice though, last time I went into Costco I was amazed at the sheer number of gluten free, keto friendly, organic friendly etc products.
- bombcar 3y ago
  The most obvious case of that is the KIRKLAND tortilla chips, they don't even try to hide who makes them. https://images.costcobusinessdelivery.com/ImageDelivery/imageService?profileId=12028466&itemId=44004&recipeName=680&viewId=1 https://images.costcobusinessdelivery.com/ImageDelivery/imag...
  - hyperbovine 3y ago
    The organic Costco tortilla chips are much better. No idea who makes them but it’s definitely not Mission.
- kortilla 3y ago
  Op is saying Kirkland brands disappear too. I’ve experienced this as well with their wines.
bombcar 3y ago
Costco staples aren't necessarily your staples; there are certain products that Costco has continually had in stock for more than the 20+ years I've been wandering the aisles in search of the Arc of the Covenant (I'm certain it's somewhere in there). But other things that look like stapes can come and go, some seasonally, some after a few years. Costco is a very "go first" store - you go there, get what you can, and then flesh everything else out at some other store that will keep things in stock even when they get pricey. Costco is also not the cheapest, not by far, but they are the most consistent. Butter and soda are two of the most noticeable for me, you can easily beat Costco on both, butter because local producers often supply local stores cheaper, and soda because it's a loss-leader in many places. There are others, find them!
- johnnyanmac 3y ago
  Who thinks of buying butter at Costco? Who would need that much butter to begin with? There are definitely some items I don't buy at costco simply because I don't need that volume of food.
  - not_the_fda 3y ago
    Butter freezes very well. Stock up and you always have some.
  - adave 3y ago
    Families, people who bake or meal prep.Ever tried making ghee, requires a lot of butter.
  - deleted 3y ago
    [deleted]
  - bombcar 3y ago
    Four pounds of butter isn't that much if you do any cooking, or if you cook in butter instead of oil, etc. I have ten pounds of butter, none of it Costco (the local gas station sometimes goes nuts on sale). Reminds me of: > The Costcos don’t want you to know this but the butters at the gas station are cheaper you can take them home I have 458 pounds of butter.
crooked-v 3y ago
Kirkland-brand stuff is generally relabeled products from various manufacturers, and usually picked from top-tier stuff; while the details are usually kept quiet, people have matched up 1-to-1 equivalents with other, more expensive products.
- lcnPylGDnU4H9OF 3y ago
  A co-worker who once worked sales for a food distributor explained this to me. A term of art if one is interested: “private label”.
graton 3y ago
Not brown rice, but I guess there is a shortage and now hoarding of rice happening[1]. India has supposedly banned the export of non-basmati white rice. I guess this could impact brown rice supplies if people who can't get white rice switch to brown rice. Not too hard to hoard rice. It doesn't require refrigeration and can be stored for a long time. Like toilet paper! [1] https://www.thenewsminute.com/article/people-hoarding-bags-rice-indians-us-rush-stores-after-govt-export-ban-180127 https://www.thenewsminute.com/article/people-hoarding-bags-r...
ZeroSolstice 3y ago
Its a wholesale club. Replacing an item at full price would be the complete opposite purpose of the store and membership. Its not about the available supply of a product, its about Costco using its purchasing power to buy the product at a cheaper rate in bulk. If the supplier changes the price that item it has to be re-evaluated.[1][2] "If Costco feels the wholesale price of any individual product is too high, they will refuse to stock the product. For example, in November 2009, Costco announced that it would stop selling Coca-Cola products because the soft-drink maker refused to lower its wholesale prices.[96] Costco resumed selling Coca-Cola products the following month.[1]" Info on Kirkland Signature[3] information. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Costco#Kirkland_Signature https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Costco#Kirkland_Signature [2] https://web.archive.org/web/20091216131039/http://www.ajc.com/business/coke-returns-to-costco-236727.html https://web.archive.org/web/20091216131039/http://www.ajc.co... [3] https://www.cnn.com/2022/02/05/business/costco-kirkland-signature/index.html https://www.cnn.com/2022/02/05/business/costco-kirkland-sign...

OfSanguineFire 3y ago

If you want brown rice in bulk for cheap, have you considered immigrant stores? I ask because I used to go to Makro (the Central European membership-based wholesale chain) for rice, but then I learned that shops serving Indian Subcontinent and Vietnamese diasporas offered rice and other nice things in bulk for prices comparable to that mainstream wholesaler.

fouc 3y ago

KIRKLAND is Costco's brand, it's a white label of a consistent reliable product. Your favorite brown rice brand could've ended up appearing as a kirkland product. I'm surprised at the shortage of brown rice though, last time I went into Costco I was amazed at the sheer number of gluten free, keto friendly, organic friendly etc products.

bombcar 3y ago
The most obvious case of that is the KIRKLAND tortilla chips, they don't even try to hide who makes them. https://images.costcobusinessdelivery.com/ImageDelivery/imageService?profileId=12028466&itemId=44004&recipeName=680&viewId=1 https://images.costcobusinessdelivery.com/ImageDelivery/imag...
- hyperbovine 3y ago
  The organic Costco tortilla chips are much better. No idea who makes them but it’s definitely not Mission.
kortilla 3y ago
Op is saying Kirkland brands disappear too. I’ve experienced this as well with their wines.

bombcar 3y ago

Costco staples aren't necessarily your staples; there are certain products that Costco has continually had in stock for more than the 20+ years I've been wandering the aisles in search of the Arc of the Covenant (I'm certain it's somewhere in there). But other things that look like stapes can come and go, some seasonally, some after a few years. Costco is a very "go first" store - you go there, get what you can, and then flesh everything else out at some other store that will keep things in stock even when they get pricey. Costco is also not the cheapest, not by far, but they are the most consistent. Butter and soda are two of the most noticeable for me, you can easily beat Costco on both, butter because local producers often supply local stores cheaper, and soda because it's a loss-leader in many places. There are others, find them!

johnnyanmac 3y ago
Who thinks of buying butter at Costco? Who would need that much butter to begin with? There are definitely some items I don't buy at costco simply because I don't need that volume of food.
- not_the_fda 3y ago
  Butter freezes very well. Stock up and you always have some.
- adave 3y ago
  Families, people who bake or meal prep.Ever tried making ghee, requires a lot of butter.
- deleted 3y ago
  [deleted]
- bombcar 3y ago
  Four pounds of butter isn't that much if you do any cooking, or if you cook in butter instead of oil, etc. I have ten pounds of butter, none of it Costco (the local gas station sometimes goes nuts on sale). Reminds me of: > The Costcos don’t want you to know this but the butters at the gas station are cheaper you can take them home I have 458 pounds of butter.

crooked-v 3y ago

Kirkland-brand stuff is generally relabeled products from various manufacturers, and usually picked from top-tier stuff; while the details are usually kept quiet, people have matched up 1-to-1 equivalents with other, more expensive products.

lcnPylGDnU4H9OF 3y ago
A co-worker who once worked sales for a food distributor explained this to me. A term of art if one is interested: “private label”.

graton 3y ago

Not brown rice, but I guess there is a shortage and now hoarding of rice happening[1]. India has supposedly banned the export of non-basmati white rice. I guess this could impact brown rice supplies if people who can't get white rice switch to brown rice. Not too hard to hoard rice. It doesn't require refrigeration and can be stored for a long time. Like toilet paper! [1] https://www.thenewsminute.com/article/people-hoarding-bags-rice-indians-us-rush-stores-after-govt-export-ban-180127 https://www.thenewsminute.com/article/people-hoarding-bags-r...

ZeroSolstice 3y ago

Its a wholesale club. Replacing an item at full price would be the complete opposite purpose of the store and membership. Its not about the available supply of a product, its about Costco using its purchasing power to buy the product at a cheaper rate in bulk. If the supplier changes the price that item it has to be re-evaluated.[1][2] "If Costco feels the wholesale price of any individual product is too high, they will refuse to stock the product. For example, in November 2009, Costco announced that it would stop selling Coca-Cola products because the soft-drink maker refused to lower its wholesale prices.[96] Costco resumed selling Coca-Cola products the following month.[1]" Info on Kirkland Signature[3] information. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Costco#Kirkland_Signature https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Costco#Kirkland_Signature [2] https://web.archive.org/web/20091216131039/http://www.ajc.com/business/coke-returns-to-costco-236727.html https://web.archive.org/web/20091216131039/http://www.ajc.co... [3] https://www.cnn.com/2022/02/05/business/costco-kirkland-signature/index.html https://www.cnn.com/2022/02/05/business/costco-kirkland-sign...