Buying in Bulk

I am a buy-in-bulk kind of gal. As a holder of a Costco card, I regularly buy a year's supply of a particular item even if it will only save me a mere dollar. And that way, it saves me on frequent trips to buy bath soap or paper goods. I smiled when I realized that Costco is based out of Washington; it clicked when I thought of the Kirkland-brand products that I grew up with, undoubtedly named after the city of Kirkland, Washington.

You can imagine my delight when I recently discovered Cash & Carry.

Jess and I have been purchasing items in preparation for Lunar New Year. Jess' job was to buy 40 white onions for the bulgogi and I was assigned a purchase of 150 plastic cups for boba milk tea. A friend suggested that I visit Cash & Carry to find a large amount of cups. I hadn't been introduced to a Cash & Carry until the past couple years when I moved to Seattle; it's a warehouse style store that has lots of restaurant supply stuff like take-out containers, napkins, vats of ketchup and mayonaise, etc. There, I purchased 150 cups and 200 corresponding lids for about $20. I'd say it was a purty good deal.

Misleadingly, at Cash & Carry, customers don't need to pay in only cash -- Jess and I both assumed this would have to be the case. At checkout, I saw a display that said the store accepted various types of credit cards. Of course, I didn't test this boundary as I came prepared with cash. Maybe we will never know for sure.

On the other hand, Jess went the local, small business owner route for her onions. She hit up a small grocery store in our neighborhood, Lenny's Produce. Lenny doesn't appear to package his goods in a traditional sense. Jess tells me that upon asking for 40 white onions, she was given a huge box of onions -- we opened the box when she came home and it was filled with approximately 50 some onions of varying sizes, colors, and quality. It was so interesting.

Bulk buying appears to take many forms and qualities. I know for sure that I'll be back at Costco before long to stock up on some household stuff. Cash & Carry has possibilities. I am extremely curious to shop at Lenny's with the full understanding that I will get a unique, non-uniform product. So much shopping, pricing, and eating lies ahead!