Costco, warehouse clubs begin accepting food stamps

What? Their prices are not cheap on grocery. The only thing I find grocery being cheap at Costco are the salads, mushrooms, bananas, and sometime their stew beef. But other than that, they are expensive when compare with sale items at supermarket or even Smart and Final.

If a person can afford a Cosco card they do not need to be on food stamps. What a bunch of crap. These are the same people who can also afford a cell phone and milk the system for everything they can get. They keep popping the kids out because they are too stupid to use birth control. Probably drive a brand new SUV to be able to transport all the bulk goods.

Costco membership cards coSt money if they can afford that tthen why are they using food stamps? Can they buy other stuff @ costco with there free money or just food?

My reading of the article was that the change was more for income generating reasons than a charitable effort. For large families, the large bags of food staples and even bulk meats and dairy products offer price advantages. Buying for a small family like mine is a waste of time. I get fruits and vegetables at Randy's on Sepulveda cheaper and with better quality while in small quantities or individually.

THe clubs do offer good value on the staple items---rice, beans, some canned goods, but the meat and produce is overpriced and in my opinion the quality is not great either. Randy's is a great place to shop as is Saturday's farmers market at Wilson Park. I shop at both. I live in VDO, but go to Torrance for these 2 gems and to visit friends. Downtown San Pedro should offer a Saturday farmers market like Torrance, then I would shop here. A little shop like Randy's that offers a wide variety of fresh produce at great prices would do a booming business there too.

Now they can buy bulk on shrimps and steak !!!!!

Yeah I used to have a marketing job with a large firm and now I lost my job and am thankful that I will still be able to shop. I had to go to ralphs before this, but now costco here I come.

And did I fail to mention they only give u a 100 dollars in food stamps, so u can only buy milk, eggs, bannanas, and nothing else. A 100 to feed a family of three is hard, I'm going to join the navy, they have better benifits. I too had a suv before, now I got cheap old car from the used lot for 1200 bucks. Time to bring the jobs back. To america and stop globalization with chinas undervauled currency. Sorry guys without food stamps my family would be hungry.

My kids have to eat.

There goes the neighborhood, the reason people pay for Membership is to have unwanted people out, same goes for country clubs and private schools. we are going to have bus loads of people going to your neighborhood Cosco this means more shoplift more vehicles vandalise more fake slip and falls,hundred of kids running around the stores unsupervise. Cosco is this realy what u want?

Costco offers tremendous savings on quality products of all kinds. Buy two chickens for $5 and then see haw many you can buy at the supers for that amount. No comparison. Costco is great!! I just hope they have a designated line for those with stamps or WIC vouchers because they can really hold up a line verifying each and every item.

store clerk wrote:

There goes the neighborhood, the reason people pay for Membership is to have unwanted people out, same goes for country clubs and private schools. we are going to have bus loads of people going to your neighborhood Cosco this means more shoplift more vehicles vandalise more fake slip and falls,hundred of kids running around the stores unsupervise. Cosco is this realy what u want?

Sadly, this is true. The store clerk has seen it all. There are people who have lost jobs and need this until they can get back on their feet but, as usual, the generations of welfare recipients will flood the store. I, too, wish they could have check-out lines for food stamps only so as not to bog down the "paying" customers.

This is what public option is going to turn out to be. Freebies.

the new food stamps work like a debit/ credit card there are no more check looking things. they swipe the cards and thats it. its not slowing down anything most people pay with credit/debit cards anyway. i think its a good idea for costco more money for them it would be stupid for them not to try and get evey single dollar they can especially in this economy.

Concern wrote:

This is what public option is going to turn out to be. Freebies.

Idiotic comment from a knckle draggin moron.

Its good that they do take food stamps.AND they do not hold up lines.Its a card people- just like debit or credit. You people that write checks are the hold up line ones... A lot of people have lost their jobs in the past 2 years and the unemployment rate in Georgia is now over 10%. I have been out of work 6 weeks and no prospects yet. I have just recieved food stamps for the first time in my life. I know even family dollar and dollar general take food stamps now. Target does too-I just found that out. If you have a family and you are out of work-Dont be ashamed to go apply for food stamps. It will keep you and your kids from going hungry.I paid taxes since I was 16 years old. The system is there to those who need it. I am going to use it till i get me another job. AND NO I am white for those who make nasty comments about race in these comments. AND I am a paying customer, I am not shoplifting

store clerk wrote:

There goes the neighborhood, the reason people pay for Membership is to have unwanted people out, same goes for country clubs and private schools. we are going to have bus loads of people going to your neighborhood Cosco this means more shoplift more vehicles vandalise more fake slip and falls,hundred of kids running around the stores unsupervise. Cosco is this realy what u want?

And some of the regular memebers don't do this??? This happens all the time. Geez!!!

some of u guys writting here should read again what u wrote it sounds stupid to judge people this way come on kids running around the store unattended? not only people on food stams have these kids all kids are energetic and maybe a lil bit out of control and about aforting the membership well these people could always ask a neighbor to come along with them and use theres plus my neighboor is on food stamps and she got the costco membership free of a program so dont be judging people this way not all of us use the sistem the wrong way i say tgis because i was denied food stamps and i was really in need i lost my job with the crisis but im back working thank god ... good luck costco with this decision ... and those of u who judge i hope u guys never come to the point of needing the help!!!

A lot of ignorant comments I see. Food stamps or not, my membership at Costco easily pays for itself and I am single. Items like bread, cheese, juice, etc. are much less than a regular grocery store. The $50 membership can be made up easily, especially for one who has a family to feed.

guilty till proven not wrote:

What? Their prices are not cheap on grocery. The only thing I find grocery being cheap at Costco are the salads, mushrooms, bananas, and sometime their stew beef. But other than that, they are expensive when compare with sale items at supermarket or even Smart and Final.

You obviously are uneducated. The products are quality not crap.