Holiday Sales

[Razor]

Is it just me or did we use to have (almost?) 1/2 off holiday sales on charcoal, around the big three summer holidays prior to COVID? I remember loading up my truck every time I got close to Lowe’s or HD on those long weekends. Now all I ever see are things like “$2.10 off on a 2-pack”.

[Panhead John]

It’s not just you. Those sales, and great deals, have been long gone for a few years now. Used to be you could get a two pack of 20 lb bags of Kingsford for $10-$15. around those holidays. Now they’ve reduced the size of the bags to 16 lbs and the biggest sale would be a measly $2.00 off their usual $20. price. 🙄 For everyday grilling, a lot of us have switched to Cowboy briquettes at Walmart. Their everyday price is about $17. for two 20 lb bags. Cowboy is every bit as good as Kingsford IMO. Another good alternative is the Kirkland brand charcoal from Costco.

[RichieB]

Today was ordered 3, 2 packs from Walmart. $53.76 or
44.8 c/pound, 120 pounds.Free shipping.

[Whiskeyman53]

Love Cowboy briquettes from Walmart. Old style charcoal, pillow design, no ridges for air flow or other marketing ploy.

[Razor]

Going to check out Cowboy the next time I purchase charcoal. Only issue for me is that the Walmart by my is practically a third world/alternate universe experience, and not in a good way. 😄

[STEbbq]

B&B and Jealous Devil are also easily available and high quality for the price. No big sales anymore though.

[Razor]

I’ve been thinking about this some more. Of course economic conditions have increased the price of charcoal, but wondering if there has been a rediscovery of charcoal since COVID? I remember reading people were taking on the hobby because there wasn’t much else to do during those COVID years. Has charcoal grilling taken over gas, and they don’t need to have sales?

[STEbbq]

I would somewhat suggest the opposite. Sales of smokers and grills are down massively since 2020-22 due to lack of COVID demand. I think everyone was scrambling with inventory issues in 2022-24 and doesn’t want to give up more discounts now after 2 rough years.

[Razor]

I could see where the scramble to get inventory would have resulted in increased costs, but if you have that inventory on hand now and it isn’t moving, you have to reduce the price of it to get it off of your books. A lot of inventories are financed. Business don’t want to be paying interest on charcoal. Unless of course they REALLY overpaid in the first place.

[Panhead John]

I’d just call it corporate greed.

[Hulagn1971]

Ah yes, I remember those sales. I had a Suburban at the time and would remove the third row seats and flip the second row forward. Then I'd fill that entire space with the plastic wrapped 2-pack packages of Kingsford. Bought enough in one stop to last an entire year. Now it's orange bag B&B briquettes for me. I stopped using Kingsford a couple years ago.