BJ's vs Sam's vs Costco

[Santamarina]

I have many childhood memories at Price Club in the 80s with my family. So you could say I’ve been a Costco member my whole life.

I regularly drive by BJs but I’ve never even considered going inside. With a trial price of $15 I’m tempted to check it out…but probably won’t.

Sam’s Club? No thanks. I’m not a fan of WalMart, and Sam’s is just WalMart with a cover charge!

[jfmorris]

A BJ's opened about 18 miles away, a year or two ago, and I checked it out on a free day pass, just to see how it was different from Sam's and Costco. It was really not much different, and if I had to say, was a little smaller than either Sam's or Costco. I didn't see the point, especially with the distance difference.

For me, Sam's is 2 miles away, Costco is 7 miles away, and BJ's is 18 miles away. We have two or three Sam's Club locations around town, but just one Costco. Because of that, Costco is just always INSANELY crowded. 10am, 2pm - no time I tried for crowd avoidance worked, and Saturday is worst. I go to the nearby Sam's Club so much, and avoid the crowd at Costco, to the point I just let Costco lapse. The final straw was when Costco stopped filling propane tanks.

So while I LIKE Costco, I don't like it enough to deal with the crowd. If elbow to elbow crowds are your jam, then I would say the order of selection would be:

• Costco
• Sam's
• BJ's

In my experience, I feel that BJ's tends to build out in smaller towns NOT already served by a Costco or Sam's, but has recently started expanding into competition with those two clubs.