Discount Food Warehouses

I got to visit the Columbia, Maryland BJ Wholesale Club and decided I'd do a blog on that club stacks up against Sam's Club and Costco. Just a reminder, the following comments are my own. Also, I haven't been paid any kind of remuneration i.e. money by any of the mentioned clubs. Also, you may find the club by you different from the one's I visited. Lastly, I didn't use any kind of standardized test to measure the clubs. I simply looked for items I've bought in the past and saw how they compared price or availability wise at the other clubs. You might buy different items at the mentioned clubs and get different results.

First, the three clubs I'll be reviewing are the BJ Wholesale Club in Columbia, Maryland; the Sam's Club in Laurel, Maryland; and the Costco located in Hanover, Maryland.

Second, I currently have active memberships at the Sam's Club and Costco mentioned. I bought these myself. I used a one day membership to see how BJ's stacked up against the other two clubs I belong to. I wanted to see if BJ's was worth joining and maybe cause me to quit one of the other clubs I belonged to. Here is what I found out.

Price wise, I found on the standard muffins, rolls, large cookies, that the three clubs didn't have much of a price difference. I did find that Sam's Club was 30 cents cheaper on a 58.8 ounce box of frosted mini-wheats cereal. I found that BJ's had a larger snack shop than the other two clubs. I also found that BJ's was more expensive in regards to some marinated mozzarella I like to buy at Costco. BJ's had it in the 24 ounce tub vice Costco which had it in the 48 ounce tub. The price per pound ended up being over $5 at BJ's vice under $4 a pound at Costco. I didn't see any notable price difference concerning DVD movies or music CD's. Concerning price as far as gasoline, I found that Costco was a penny cheaper a gallon than Sam's Club. BJ's in Columbia as far as I could see didn't sell gasoline. One thing that did surprise me was that there wasn't any great savings buying gas from these clubs compared to other service stations. I remember driving by an Exxon gas station that was just down the street from Costco and Exxon was only 2 cents more a gallon. Price wise, I wasn't impressed with either club.

One thing I have found with the clubs is that each will have items that I can only find at one specific club. Example. Costco sells some fantastic French bread with a wonderful hard crust. BJ's and Sam's Club don't. Costco also sells Pepper Jack cheese in large pre-weighed packages. Neither BJs or Sam's Club sold this particular type of cheese. There are some items that two or more of the clubs sell and here are my preferences for the items I've bought there. Both Costco and Sam's Club sell packaged already roasted chickens. I've personally found I big time prefer the chickens sold at Sam's Club. They use Lowrey Seasoning Salt on their roasted chickens and they are GOOD! In regards to BJ's, I didn't see any roasted chickens for sale though I could've missed them. If they do offer them, I haven't bought one to see how it would stack up against Costco and Sam's Club. Another item that Costco and Sam's Club offer that BJ's doesn't are smoothies (I looked). Costco offers a triple-fruit flavored smoothie for $1.35 which I think is a really good deal. I don't remember how much Sam's Clubs smoothies are but, I do remember the one I tried wasn't as good as the one offered at Costco. However, the Sam's Club smoothie did have REAL fruit in it whereas the Costco one doesn't. I've tried muffins at Costco and Sam's Club and have no preference between the two clubs on those.

As far as membership cost goes, all three clubs charge the same i.e. $45 a year for the basic membership. If you are prepared to buy items in bulk, I suspect you could save some serious money shopping at these clubs. I can't however quote you any kind of figure.

Another factor that has to be taken into account is location. If you live in Columbia, Maryland, BJ's would be more convenient then driving over to either Hanover or Laurel. In my personal opinion, I don't think you would save enough money at one club over the other's. The main reason I see myself remaining of member of Sam's Club is because of their chickens, and their location. I see myself remaining a member of Costco because I love their French bread, marinated mozzarella, and smoothies. From what I saw of BJ's, I don't see myself joining that club. I just didn't see enough of a benefit to make it worth splunking out another $45 a year for another club. If I lived in Columbia, I suspect I'd probably join it because of the convenience. Another plus concerning BJ's is that there is a Home Depot and Discount Shoe Warehouse in the same strip mall it's in. Costco has an advantage in being less then a block from the Arundel Mills Mall. The main location advantage I saw that the Sam's Club in Laurel has is it's right off Interstate-295. Costco is somewhat close to the interstate but not as close as Sam's Club. The advantage of the interstate is that you don't have to drive all over the place trying to find the club. You take the Maryland 198 exit toward Laurel and Sam's Club is on your right when you get on 198. Sam's Club is just across the street from a strip mall that has a Corridor Wine Store, Target, Weis, and Kohl's. The Corridor Wine Store has an excellent selection of wines and international beers. I buy my Foster's beer from there. There is also a Jimmy Dean Restaurant which I've had breakfast at a number times. I've found that restaurant to be consistently excellent.

That's all for this review. I can't say I prefer any club over the other's. There are some things that Costco or Sam's Club have that I prefer at those particular clubs. I wish the other clubs would sell the same items but, I suspect they intentionally don't. Barring standard items like bread, milk, eggs, cereals, and candies, they do seem to try to have exclusivity on certain items. I think where you live in relation to the clubs is a big factor. I don't think it is worth driving extra miles to one of the clubs vice the others. I only do it because there are some items that I prefer at one club vice the other. If you've found a particular item that is significantly cheaper at one of the clubs vice the others, please mention it in a comment so others can know about it.