Can someone give me the scoop on naturals/organics at BJs?

[knittingintheround]

Anyone shop at BJs? There's one about an hour from me. My inlaws are going to check it out (using a free pass before they decide to join) and although I asked them to keep an eye out for organic/natural products, they are pretty mainstream shoppers so I know they won't be aware as I would be. Just wondering what kind of naturals/organics they sell and how prices compare to regular grocery store/hfs. Thanks!

[OHeather]

I think that you can get good deals on organics, depending on what you are looking for. I know the organic carrots are the cheapest at $2.99 or close to that for 5 lbs.!

Not too long ago they had a good deal on cleaners, but I couldn't find the product when I went. I searched everywhere, and it ended up not being worth my time or the gas to drive there. Like you, it is about an hour away for me, so I just plan to go when I have other errands around the same area.

Some of the items that I generally will buy at BJ's is

• organic produce,
• organic frozen berries--when they have them,
• organic olive oil (although I heard it was cheaper elsewhere now),
• goat cheese,
• Eggland's Best eggs (best price for 2 dozen I've seen and you can use 2 coupons),
• and usually meat (not usually organic and I'm not sure if they even have it).

[RedSoxRosie]

I just did the free trial thing as well to check things out. I was there about 2 weeks ago. With it just being myself and a 4 year old, it's not always worth it to buy in bulk and the price has to be good.
I'm sure they are all different, and carry different things, but I found some decent deals and some not so decent deals.
This is what I found at my local BJ's
They carry a 2-lb pack of Earth's Pride (first time I'd ever heard of this brand) organic butter for $4.99 (WAY good deal to me!!)
They carry a 3-pack of Earth's Pride organic frozen pizzas for $11.99 (again, another good deal to me, considering most organic pizzas run about $6 or more for ONE)
A 12 pack of Stonyfield Farms yogurt...can't remember the price, but I bought it because it seemed like a good price, plus I had coupons.
I found a 3-lb (I believe) package of no hormone, no antibiotic, etc, boneless, skinless chicken breasts with each one individually packed in it's own vacuum packed bag...I can't remember the price on this either, but I bought it, so I must've thought it was good.
And I also got a 1lb container of Olivia's organic salad for $5.99, which I thought was good (7oz is usually $3.99 for me)

They had some Kashi and Cascadian Farm cereals, but they were comparable to my super market prices and I've stockpiled so much cereal from Amazon that I won't be buying any for at least 6 months!
They did not carry any organic eggs.
They had organic milk, but only in half gallons and just as expensive as the grocery stores.
I didn't find any organic produce.
The organic apple juice was Apple & Eve (I think), and was a two pack, but was $5.99, where I can get one at the grocery store for $2.49.
I was told they had grass fed beef, but I couldn't find it. Then later someone said it was on the opposite side of the deli and you had to get like half a cow or something like that! The deli was stinkin' CRAZY, so I didn't even bother trying to get through all the people.
I didn't see any organic frozen berries or any type of organic cheese as Heather had mentioned.

For me I don't think it's worth the price of the membership. Plus my aunt is a member, so I can piggy back on with her if I wanted to or just let her know what I need if she's going.

JMO

[knittingintheround]

Thank you both! I appreciate the detailed info! I'll see what the in-laws say and perhaps tag along with them sometime to check it out myself.

[mfaust]

Mine has a really good deal on Pacific organic chicken stock - it is a 6 pk 32 oz containers for $10.49.

The 3.5 lb natural chicken mentioned above was $5.99 w/ a $1 off peelie coupon - I picked one up - normal rot. chicken was $4.99 for 4 lb, so it seemed like a good deal with the coupon to try. It was delicious. It is packaged in a bag rather than the clam shell type packaging that normal rot. chicken comes in.

[OHeather]

LOL, rot chicken...that's not a good abbreviation! $4.99 each is a great price though.

[moon and stars]

It's been years since we've been members of BJ's. We stopped by today to check out what they have now and found the following...

- Earth's Pride Organics lemonade, 2/96oz. $5.99
- Stonyfield Farms organic strawberry smoothie drinkable yogurts, 6/10oz. $7.99
- Earth's Pride Organics milk, 64oz. (skim, 1%, 2%, and whole) $3.49
- Heinz organic ketchup, 2/44oz. $6.49
- Bigelow organic green tea, 150ct. $7.29
- Organic Sumatra Mandheling whole bean coffee, 40oz. $13.99
- Rumford aluminum-free baking powder, 2/10oz. $3.19
- Earth's Pride Organics extra virgin olive oil, 34oz. (glass bottle) $8.49
- Earth's Pride Organics salted butter, 2lb. $6.99
- Organic spring mix, 16oz. $4.99
- Organic baby romaine blend, 16oz. $4.99
- Organic baby spinach, 16oz. $4.99
- Earth's Pride Organics yogurt (strawberry w/ other natural flavors), 10/6oz. $7.99
- Earth's Pride Organics carrots, 5lb. $3.99
- Berkley & Jensen wild-caught sea scallops (frozen, product of USA), 2lb. $19.99

Non-members can purchase items by paying an additional 15% on the total purchase price.

[mfaust]

There is a $2 coupon out right now for the Earth's Pride Organics yogurt which makes it a great deal - regular grocery store yogurt is on sale for that price around here - to get organic yogurt for roughly $0.50 a cup is awesome!!! I bought the yogurt last time I was there - it is good, but mild tasting. I have another coupon, so I'll be buying more!!!

[OHeather]

I noticed that a 3-pack of Tom's of Maine Deodorant is $9.97. This winter they had $2/1 coupons out, which would have brought the price down to $3.97 if you used 3 coupons ($1.33 each)!

The Wyman's Frozen Wild Maine Blueberries are $6.99 or $7.99/bag. There's about 6-8 cups of fruit in a 3 lb. bag. We go through so many of these, and this is much cheaper than any other way I've found at the regular grocery store.

I also found 2 1 lb. boxes or Earth's Pride Organic Butter was around $5-6. Walmart has their brand butter normally for $1.99, so I thought this was a great deal.

[moon and stars]

So BJ's is not consistent with their prices nationwide? The butter, as an example (only salted is available here), is $6.99 at the store here, but one poster here found it for $4.99 and another has now stated $5-$6.

[thinkgreen]

I find that many stores aren't consistent w/their prices nationwide. Just by looking at the price books I can see this. What's listed in the price books don't match w/my local store prices many times. The Kashi waffles, for example, are higher at my Walmart store than what's listed in the price book. Even some of my Publix stores aren't consistent within the same town. They have different 'everyday' prices for the same exact items which can vary by a few cents or up to $1 or more.

[moon and stars]

Yes, I know other stores do this, but I wasn't aware of BJ's practice. It's definitely best to keep your own homemade price book based on the stores where you live instead of going on information that doesn't apply.

[thinkgreen]

For the specific stores I shop frequently, like Publix, I pretty much know the prices of all the items I frequently buy (or items I watch to go on sale) off the top of my head and don't have a need to make a book personally. Good idea for some though. The price books we have here are nice to get an approx. price gauge for stores that I don't go into too often, such as Walmart.

[moon and stars]

By the word "your" I didn't mean you personally. I meant it as a general "everyone" overall. Dropping the subject now.