Canberra just got a Costco - I am in heaven

[Ms. Shuttergirl]

On Friday Canberra was lucky enough to have a Costco open and I have to say, I'm in love.

When we walked in the doors Sunday afternoon the place was shoulder to shoulder, packed with people and to be honest I felt a little overwhelmed. My DH despises crowds so I can only imagine what he was thinking. It was hard to work out where to start, there was so much VISUAL overload everywhere so we just started at the start and wandered up and down the rows, desperately trying not to take out small children with the ridiculously large trolleys.

We were there for a few hours and I was blown away. For one, I didn't realise that there would be fresh fruit and vegies, along with so much fresh meat. I imagined it would be more pantry style stuff only. I was pleasantly surprised. My advice is to know your prices if intending to buy in bulk. I don't know all of my grocery prices by heart but the high ticket items we purchase regularly are plastered to my mind and I thought the Costco pricing was excellent.

We managed to drop a cool $600 . It is a very easy thing to do at Costco but we were really happy with everything we got for that. The food items we have tried have been exceptional quality, and the kids 2 favourites have been:-

1kg punnet of strawberries for 10.99 - I've gotta say, this punnet just keeps going and going, so fresh and it feels bottomless. I hate buying strawberries at Woollies, they are usually already fuzzy and between $4.50 and $5.99 for a 250g punnet.

The kids second favourite were these crazy dried mangoes we got. I am always looking for different snack options for the kids but they really don't get into dried fruit much and I like dried fruit as an easy thing to have in your bag to give them a little sugar hit when required. Well these dried mangoes are something else. The kids keep begging to have some, I'm having to ration them out and keep them under lock and key hahaha.

Of course, if you need a canoe, a 40k diamond ring, a cubby house, skis, a Prada bag, outdoor furniture, Calvin Klein undies, Levi jeans, a BBQ, 1litre bottles of grog (oh I need that) and anything electrical, they can hook you up with that too. Oh and let's not forget you can get your tyres changed and your eyes checked all while you shop. Ahhhhh what a place.

So if you have one nearby, do yourself a favor. Go and fall in love with the joy that is Costco. I certainly have.

 

[shushh]

Don't forget the audiologist for those who need hearing aids!

I, too, went on the opening day at Sydney's Costco. Right on opening time, I dragged my youngest child, my mother, and a friend. We had so much fun.

My purchases included maple syrup, mayonaise, fresh produce (I concur that the strawberries were awesome, as were the kiwifruit and pineapple), ready made fresh meals, napisan, and much much more. I couldn't beat Ms Shuttergirls fantastic figure however, we only dropped a mere $477...:lmao

 

[Ms. Shuttergirl]

Well truth be told is was $589 but $600 sounded better .

Well let's see, this is what we bought:-

* A leg of ham - nothing to do with cheapness, we are just having people over for a Christmas in July dinner on Saturday night
*Up&Go's - lots my DH and DS are obsessed with these for breakfast
* Chicken breast fillets
* Primas or actually I think they were Glos - very cheap
* Large Sultana Bran
* Hersheys Kisses (well of course)
* Hershey chocolate sauce (well double of course)
* Duracell batteries - now these were CHEAP
* The largest Ranch dressing you ever saw, we love us some ranch
* Gilette Pro Glide Razor blades - my husband nearly wept with joy when he saw the price of these, it wasn't as excited but I don't know the pricing
* Keens Curry
* Soy Sauce
* Shampoo for husband - he only has short hair and he bought enough to perhaps last the next decade
* Coke Zero - this was cheap, 24 cans for 13.99 I think
* Tinned peaches, the Kirkland brand which is Costco. My daughter said they were nicer than the SPC ones we normally get and the price was good
* Colgate Total 4pk for cheap
* Finish dishwasher tablets - I think it was 2 packs of 56 tablets for $29.89. I'm fairly sure I pay over 20 bucks for one pack of 56 tablets
* Rib and Wing Sauce, my husband almost wants to drink this stuff lol

We also bought some cheese, most esp monteray which I haven't seen here before, we bought some white bowls, an egg poacher which I am in love with, a couple of skillets for omelettes, choc chip cookies, garbage bags etc etc.

It's common knowledge that I am not a frugal person as a rule, but I do love a bargain when I see one so Costco just brought joy into my heart haha.

Glad you loved it as much as I did Shushh

 

[Busy Busy]

My DD had a dance eisteddfod on the other side of Sydney early on Sunday morning, so off we went at 8.00am, zipped along the motorway and had a wonderful time (2nd place!!).

Then it we headed home........I missed the motorway turnoff so I decided to just come home the normal way. I started to hear traffic reports saying "stay away" about the area around Costco. Unfortunately I had no idea which other way to go - so almost through the middle of the traffic nightmare we went!!

I took us about 1/2 an hour to navigate through it all - and we weren't even going past the entrance or exit - it was MENTAL!!

So, I would love to check out Costco - but until the madness settles down I think that I will have to stick with Woolies!!

 

[Ms. Shuttergirl]

Yay for 2nd place. Boo for traffic

 

[Mum from oz]

I also went to the Sydney one but on Monday. I did a post about it on my blog if you wanna check it out. I dropped a cool $600.25

I priced everything I bought (don't judge ) so people can get an idea on the prices of items.

ETA Link: http://supermum-mony.blogspot.com/

 

[shushh]

Excellent blog post Mum from Oz! Thanks for reminding me to udpate my much neglected blog...

Just came home from work, will try to post some more prices of other items later.

 

[kylieh]

Great reviews - thank you all.

I live in Costco Sydney's "Catchment", and about 10 minutes from store. On the weekend I went to regular Woolworths and they had some of the best specials I can remember seeing in a long long time. Like crazy, Costco (looking at the above) cheap and less again. And lots of them at the front of the stores with huge signage. Funnily enough I had to go to one near work and probably outside the area today and no where near the big specials as the weekend, and it's still in the same specials cycle.

On Costco DH and I want to join, but will wait for the initial crazy period to settle down as we're pretty much restricted to weekends and perhaps after work on the way home as we drive past.

 

[ame]

These posts make me excited for theSydney one! I live 30-40 mins away and am planning to go in two weeks when it's settled down a little.

 

[WAMUMOF4]

sounds like you all had great fun shopping at Costco hopefully we will oneday get one in the Wait Awhile state

 

[PrincessInOz]

Go early on a week day. Weekends are still pretty manic in the Melbourne store.

 

[PrincessInOz]

The Melbourne store - we were there for 'rope drop' on a Sunday morning. Sadly, by the time we got to the bakery (10 minutes later), there were so many people in the store that I felt compelled to stop taking pictures.

But here's what it looks like...

I'll try and get more next time we go.....on a Monday morning! But by then, most of you would have already either made it to the Sydney or Canberra stores.

 

[Aust]

PrincessInOz, I laughed when I read about your Costco 'rope drop' - I was all excited one time because I was at Ikea for rope drop! and there was an actual rope just like DL! I have a sad life.

I am really looking forward to checking out the Sydney Costco but am waiting a few weeks for the crowds to (hopefully) die down.

 

[queenie82]

Don't forget the audiologist for those who need hearing aids!

I, too, went on the opening day at Sydney's Costco. Right on opening time, I dragged my youngest child, my mother, and a friend. We had so much fun.

My purchases included maple syrup, mayonaise, fresh produce (I concur that the strawberries were awesome, as were the kiwifruit and pineapple), ready made fresh meals, napisan, and much much more. I couldn't beat Ms Shuttergirls fantastic figure however, we only dropped a mere $477...:lmao

Wow...I'm surprised you went then...Well done!!

Wish I could have gone then...


Went on the Saturday morning I couldn't take it much more by 11am...

I LOVE it...but the lack of crowd control was awful.
Family went at the crack of dawn on opening and loved it. Sadly they forgot to do that control on the Saturday

I loved getting the Annies fruit bars and great apple juice.
Got me big bag of Crasins
And I'm loving the paper towels. Sad...yes...but the dispenser they sell for these big rolls along with the rolls...it's AWESOME!!!

 

[Ms. Shuttergirl]

I'm going back on Friday, on my lonesome, to have a slower look through.

I am sitting here with a coffee and some massive cookies that we got from the bakery and the cookies are ridiculously good. I may have found my new vice .

 

[PrincessInOz]

I'm going back on Friday, on my lonesome, to have a slower look through.

I am sitting here with a coffee and some massive cookies that we got from the bakery and the cookies are ridiculously good. I may have found my new vice .

The cookies are ridiculous....but just remember.....you need to watch....

Ms Shuttergirls fantastic figure

 

[shushh]

PIO, your photos are great! The sydney one pretty much looks the same. I was going to list my purchases last night but fell asleep putting the kids to bed!

Wow...I'm surprised you went then...Well done!!

Wish I could have gone then...


Went on the Saturday morning I couldn't take it much more by 11am...

I LOVE it...but the lack of crowd control was awful.
Family went at the crack of dawn on opening and loved it. Sadly they forgot to do that control on the Saturday

I loved getting the Annies fruit bars and great apple juice.
Got me big bag of Crasins
And I'm loving the paper towels. Sad...yes...but the dispenser they sell for these big rolls along with the rolls...it's AWESOME!!!

Yeah, I surprised myself too. My mother was telling me off all the way towards Auburn but I think she ended up being the one who had the most fun! To be honest, it wasn't so bad right on opening. The store hadn't been saturated yet and so we got a park right near the entrance, walked straight in and had an about an hour of shove free browsing. By the time we left about 2.5 hours later though, it was packed. I'm surprised they didn't maintain crowd control all through opening weekend. I loved craisins too!

I'm going back on Friday, on my lonesome, to have a slower look through.

I am sitting here with a coffee and some massive cookies that we got from the bakery and the cookies are ridiculously good. I may have found my new vice .

Maybe we can do a costco excursion when I go to Canberra...

 

[5ofus]

So ladies, it sounds like it's well worth it? How often do you think you would have to shop there to make it worthwhile? I'm about 40 minutes away from the Sydney store. My boys are 4, 2 and six months and you can imagine they are starting to eat us out of house and home. What are the clothing options like? We're more trackie dacks and shirts kind of people than high fashion! :lol:

Would love to hear your opinions on a) whether it's worth traveling that far to shop and b) how often you think you need to shop there to make it worthwhile.

 

[Ms. Shuttergirl]

Oh Shushh - that would be so fun, let's do it.

5ofus - they had trackies, t-shirts and shirts there. I didn't have a good look though but definitely worth checking out.

As far as how often to go, mine is a 30 minute drive away from me. I would saw with 3 kids, and depending on your pantry storage size, I would go fortnightly or maybe monthly.

It will really depend on what they have there that is regular purchases for your family. Definitely know the pricing of your regular main items, esp the more costly quickly consumed things and then of course toilet paper, cleaning stuff, etc. It really comes down to you only buying what you would use, not getting caught up in the hoopla and buying something in bulk that sits there gathering dust.

 

[PrincessInOz]

So ladies, it sounds like it's well worth it? How often do you think you would have to shop there to make it worthwhile? I'm about 40 minutes away from the Sydney store. My boys are 4, 2 and six months and you can imagine they are starting to eat us out of house and home. What are the clothing options like? We're more trackie dacks and shirts kind of people than high fashion! :lol:

Would love to hear your opinions on a) whether it's worth traveling that far to shop and b) how often you think you need to shop there to make it worthwhile.

For my family, the mathS for breakeven is as follows:

Assumptions: Visit and shop at Costco once a month.
Cost: $60 for the yearly membership.
Breakeven: Save $5 on the Costco bill for each month's visit (Just buying toilet paper, kitchen paper and apple juice would get us to this breakeven point).

Reality: We visit and shop at intervals of about 4 - 6 weeks. We spend anywhere between $150 - $400 at Costco per visit on grocery items (not including electronic equipment). We save between $20 - $60 per visit, depending on what we buy, which more than covers the cost of petrol.

NOTE: My mother has bought a television at Costco. She saved over $600 on that one item alone. She is set for the next 10 years of membership!