Costco Insider - Part 65

Costco Closed on Easter

April 23rd, 2011

Insider

Costco is closed on Easter, one of the few holidays where they shut their doors to customers. They still have many things you can pick up to celebrate the holiday though. The spiral cut ham is one of the best values out there, and tastes excellent. They also have bone-in prime rib right now if you’d prefer, which is always amazing. Then they have their assortment of easter candy, some easter dresses, and unfortunately for shoppers, I haven’t seen any easter baskets. They also have the wine and spirit coupons in the Southwest up until the day before Easter, with several different types of wine on sale.

Pretty good price!

One thing I haven’t seen before is a milk chocolate easter egg they specially made in the bakery. The image of it is above, and the price tag below. Have you seen it before? Anyone tried it yet? It looks pretty tasty.

Costco Coupons April 2011 (4/14/11 to 5/8/11)

April 5th, 2011

Insider

The upcoming April 2011 coupon book will start on the 14th and run through May 8th. You can click the link above to see it in my Google Docs. Overall, a pretty good coupon month. I hate tea, but I enjoy the Kirkland Signature Diet Green Tea, so I may get some of that. Some other items we’ll buy will likely be Pasta Prima Raviolis (very good) and Ling Ling Potstickers. I also heard a lot of talk about the mattress set, the ceiling fan ($100 after coupon), and the Proglide razor refills ($36.50 AC).

Remember, at most locations you can grab a book at your membership counter if you never got it mailed to you and at some locations the cashier will have the coupon there and automatically scan it for you. I heard they are getting more strict on this though. Perhaps to encourage the new coupon email signup program. Read more for a list of items and their prices off.

April 2011 Wine and Spirits Coupons

March 29th, 2011

Insider

Costco stores in AZ, CA, NV, and NM are passing out alcohol coupons for many types of wine and spirits. The April alcohol coupon book is valid from March 28, 2011 to April 23, 2011, and I have uploaded it to my Google Docs for you to check out. The item likely to be most popular will be the Johnnie Walker, both the Black Label and the Red Label. Locally the Black Label will sell for $45 after coupon while the Red Label will sell for $23. Once again on sale is the Grand Marnier, which is $5 off. Besides those popular items, also on sale are:

Absolut Vodka and Citron Vodka – $3.50 off
Baileys Irish Cream – $3 off
Milagro Tequila $7 off
Maker’s Mark Whiskey – $5 off
Hewitt Cabernet Sauvignon – $10 off
Montes Alpha Cabernet Sauvignon – $3.50 off
Yellow Tail Shiraz – $1.50 off
Yellow Tail Chardonnay – $1.50 off
Toasted Head Chardonnay – $1.50 off
Blackstone Merlot – $1.50 off
Wild Horse Pinot Noir – $3 off
Santa Rita Cabernet Sauvignon – $2 off
Moet & Chandon Brut – $4 off

Keep in mind, at least in California, you do not have to have a Costco membership to buy alcohol. Is that true in your state as well? What items are you looking forward to picking up?

Upcoming Online-Only Offers (March 28, 2011 to April 17, 2011)

March 27th, 2011

Insider

Starting Monday there are some online-only offers that will run for about 3 weeks. The April coupons are available for viewing in my Google Docs. The first thing I notice is the Saber knives. I have read some excellent reviews on them. There is also a bunch of furniture on sale, as usual. The 275 serving emergency food supply could be a popular item considering the recent natural disasters in Japan, as well as the more expensive THRIVE food and water storage kit. Lastly, Norton Internet Security 2011 for $24.99 is a great deal. Check out the offers linked to above. Is there anything that interests you?

Meat Calzone Review

March 19th, 2011

Insider

One week ago to this day, one of my local Costcos started carrying meat calzone, made fresh in the deli. The first two days they quickly sold out of it, making more each day. It had been at least four years since they last carried the product. I don’t remember trying it before, so I had to give it a try. Inside I found cheese, pork and beef, among other things. It also came with marinara dipping sauce.

Meat Calzone Label

My spouse and I both enjoyed the calzone. It wasn’t the best thing we had ever eaten, and we won’t buy it every time we go to Costco, but it is something we’ll buy once in a while. We thought the dough was excellent, especially with the herbs on top. The marinara dipping sauce definitely added to it as well. The ground meat was a little boring. At $6.99 for two calzones it’s a pretty reasonable price for a dinner for two. Have you tried it? What’d you think?

New Costco Connection Online Subscription

March 8th, 2011

Insider

Did you know that you can now subscribe to Costco Connection online and stop receiving a printed copy every month? That is now the case, via the Costco Connection Online Subscription page. You can choose between receiving an email alert only, email alert and printed edition, or neither. I can only imagine how much money this will save Costco. The magazine has a circulation of 8.3 million (as of December 2010). At $0.50 a magazine (which I imagine is on the cheap side), plus the cost of postage and labor, we’re probably talking at least $8 million a month that it costs Costco to print the magazine. I don’t know what percentage of subscribers actually read the magazine every month, but I would bet at least half simply recycle it every month without ever opening it. If those people subscribed online instead, that would save Costco a lot of money, as well as save a lot of trees.

If you recently read my post on the new coupon book, renewal and refund email program you might be familiar with the new approaches Costco is taking to be green and saving some money. I think this is another way they are doing that. I found some interesting facts about the magazine while researching this. Costco Connection has the fourth largest magazine circulation in the United States and of that 8.3 milion, 18% of its readers are millionaires, with 55% owning their own business. If you advertise in the Costco Connection, 57% of readers make a purchase because of an ad they saw in the magazine. If I sold a high-end product in Costco you’d better believe I’d be advertising in the Connection after seeing those stats.

I think that readership will go down due to this new program. With the print edition I feel like it would lie around the house, maybe sit on the coffee table or kitchen counter, and when someone was bored, they would pick it up. Now, it will be easy to “mark as read” or delete, alas to never be seen again. That is likely to reduce advertising rates, but I think the millions saved per month have to make up for that. What are your thoughts on this? Will you switch to an online only subscription?

Sources: Echo Media, Wikipedia, Costco Connection

Kirkland Signature Moisture Shampoo and Conditioner Review

March 5th, 2011

Signa Ture

After a long wait, I finally received my free sample of the new Kirkland Signature Moisture Shampoo and Conditioner. So often I get free samples only to use them while traveling. This one, however, I opened right away. Reviews had said that it was as good if not better than expensive salon products. Plus, while it’s not a requirement for me to buy, it’s great that it is sulfate free, paraben free, 100% vegan, gluten free, had no animal testing and is safe for color treated hair.

A little background: I have semi-fine curly, highlighted hair that I wash every other day. I straighten it pretty much every day, which makes the color treated sections much drier with damage. I try to protect it and add more moisture by using serums before blowdrying and straightening. The challenge for me is to find a shampoo and conditioner that has the moisture needed for my curls and damaged hair, but that won’t make it oily.

My first impressions of the shampoo were that it was thick and creamy, unlike most shampoos I use which are more gel-like. The scent wasn’t amazing, but it wasn’t bad either. It didn’t lather as much as most shampoos, but it didn’t completely lack it even though it’s sulfate free. In all, it felt like it cleaned my hair and started the moisturizing process. It worked much better than the other sulfate free shampoos I’ve used (Organix and Burt’s Bees). The conditioner was close to perfect for me. It was creamy, almost pearlescent. It seemed to soak in much more than the Dove Go Fresh one I have been using (also sold at Costco).

The day after, my hair was still soft, but not oily. Or at least, not much more than normal. I used much less serum before blowdrying and straightening because my wet hair had retained much more moisture than before. In reading more about the conditioner has added UV protectants that “filter out the sun’s damaging rays.”

In the past, Dove has been my cheaper shampoo and conditioner of choice, particularly their Advanced Color Therapy lines. The Kirkland Signature Shampoo and Conditioner, however, surpasses them all. I am ready to ditch my Dove Go Fresh and stick with Kirkland. While the price is more than what I’ve paid in the past, it may just be worth it for what it did to my hair. Plus, it would last a good long while.

Have you tried it? What was your experience?

Costco Closed on Easter

Costco Coupons April 2011 (4/14/11 to 5/8/11)

April 2011 Wine and Spirits Coupons

Upcoming Online-Only Offers (March 28, 2011 to April 17, 2011)

Meat Calzone Review

New Costco Connection Online Subscription

Kirkland Signature Moisture Shampoo and Conditioner Review

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