A love letter to Costco- we don't have TJs but I know them well
Costco changed the food-buying habits of a huge portion of the population here on Kauai. For me Costco opened up the possibility of getting better quality ingredients consistently-we are so rural here- and don't let me forget that they broke the high, high prices on the island and I pay about 30% less for food now than I did before they opened. I must travel over an hour to get to the one Costco here but I gladly do it and the store is always packed. We have a few grocery stores- one Safeway that is okay but has lousy produce, a few Foodland stores that are very high-priced, a few independent local markets that specialize in really local foods and a Oahu-based chain called Times that has a few stores I don't like at all. My only gripe with Costco is that often, when I fall in love with something it disappears. This happened with several things but notably the wedges of horseradish cheddar cheese I loved and my biggest gripe of all, the wonderful thin crispy parmesan crackers they used to make in the bakery. Grrrr! Recently they took away one of their Kirkland brand red wines (Meritage) that I loved. Grrr!
Okay, here is what I buy at Costco: prescriptions, gas, lettuce, sweet peppers, mushrooms, carrots, pomegranates, onions, garlic, potatoes, lemons, tomatoes, sweet potatoes, tangerines, oranges, grapes, broccoli, asparagus, little green beans, pears, other produce, La Brea breads, Kirkland whole grain bread, chips, wines, all meats- beef, lamb, chicken, pork, game hens, seafood- shrimp, scallops, fresh and frozen fish, paper products, cleaning products, laundry and dishwasher soap, coffee filters, spices, canned goods- garbanzo beans, chicken stock, kidney beans, oils, nuts, Perrier, black olives, stuffed green olives, Kalamata olives, pickles, tomato sauce, diced tomatoes, tomato paste, coconut milk, brown sugar, cheeses, eggs, butter, milk, cream, cream cheese, frozen chicken and veggies to make dog food from, and probably a lot more that I forgot. Batteries, tires, office products, Zip Lock bags, clothes, books, you name it. I have yet to find a Kirkland label on something sub-standard. I have found the Kirkland-labeled foods to be of superior quality. These are my absolute favorite things from Costco:
Lamb chops
New York strip steaks
Rotisserie chicken ($5+ an impossibly low price here)
Whole raw chickens (less than half the price of Foodland)
Frozen Cornish Game Hens
La Brea breads (less than half the price of Foodland!)
Olive oils
Fresh salmon
Cheeses
Pesto (not quite as good as homemade but very acceptable)
Kirkland chicken stock
Pecans
Fresh mozzarella
I would love to have a TJs as well- wow. You folks that have them are so lucky.