(Reposting this message from the Property & Home category - maybe it’s better in the General discussion (?))
Hello,
I am an American who recently bought property in France with three other partners.
Our goal is to do a little renovation to the stone house from the 1850s and put it on the short term rental market.
We will need to furnish and to outfit the entire household. And we plan on going there in July to take advantage of the sales in France at that time.
I saw that there are two Costco warehouses in France. Both south of Paris.
I am used to the high quality merchandise from Costco and being able to also order online from Costco.com and have things delivered.
I want to know what people’s experiences are with Costco.fr. -Can you order online from that website and have it delivered in rural France. (My house is near the Dordogne River, east of Libourne.)
If Costco.fr doesn’t deliver I am wondering whether or not people feel it would be worth it for me to make a trip to the Costco warehouse and purchase things there directly. I will be in the Besançon region for a little while before using a moving van to go to our house. It could add three hours to our trip, but that doesn’t seem like a terribly onerous diversion to me.
Let me know what your thoughts are about Costco.fr and whether or not you feel it would provide much better values than buying items from a local LeClerc store. I am thinking of dish ware, cookware, silverware, towels, sheets, blankets, appliances, etc.
Costco dont deliver unfortunately. As for prices, some are good and some are pretty much the same as anywhere else. For example, we were looking at washing machines and the prices were broadly similar to the usual places though, you do of course have the benefit of the Costco guarantee. We mostly use them for our glasses and that more than pays for the subscription.
Ideally do not add the same post to multiple categories at the same - I will delete the other one.
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Thank you everyone for your feedback. I am new to the forum and after I posted in the Property & Home category I noticed the description regarding repairs. So, I thought it might be better in this category.
I am really trying to understand if the Costco in France is anything like the ones in the United States. They have really nice sheets, towels, cookware, etc. that is at good bargains.
Something that would make it worth my while for a detour in my travel to stock up at the warehouse. But if it just seems to be in close competition with other national chains such as LeClerc, then it might be better for my time and energy to get things closer to the house on an as needed basis rather than one big trip.
Can you tell me what the sales are like in France? In the United States we have sales all of the time.
Like “January White Sales,” “St. Patrick’s Day Sale,” “Mother’s Day Sale,” “Odd dated Tuesday Sale” (that last one is a joke).
There are sales almost every week in America and many consumers simply do not purchase things full price when it is likely they will be discounted in a week or two.
So I am wondering how deep are the discounts for sales in France if they are only done twice a year. (Or so I have been told about sales in January and July.)
I agree with others, look to stock more locally, not least because when you need to replace or repair, you will have a relationship with a local supplier.
Ikea (in Bordeaux) is good for some stuff but we find their bedlinen disappointingly thin. Places like Leclerc do reasonable bedlinen or buy better quality online.
I also find sales in France can be disappointing, with questionable real reductions. Also prices between major retailers are not that different, so better not to expect real bargains.
Ikea is fine for your basics but if you are looking to give your 1850 stone house some character look out for secondhand stuff in trocs / brocantes. Also, some household retail chains do surprisingly interesting things like large wall clocks, small knickknacks, bedside tables, etc that give the property extra character. I’m a great fan of Centrakor for that. I also love Casa for interesting crockery and cushions and throws (though they may not continue their lines, so perhaps less good for replacing broken stuff, unlike Ikea)
Centrakor for me too, loads of household items from cutlery to bedding, the bigger LeClercs have a good range too. IKEA down here is 1.5hrs each way in Montpellier so not used unless anyone having to do there. There are also lots of local shops that you don’t see elsewhere too that specialise but are a bit more expensive. Carrefour also do household stuff as do all the big supermarkets.
Leroy-Merlin? I’ve had some good stuff from there, can’t speak for deliveries though. we are too far out in the sticks for some stores, hence my devotion to the Big A.
Yes so have I especially bathroom bits and pieces, kitchen oddments and various decorative stuff like photoframes, lamps, cushions etc. Just got back into doing jigsaws again so got a big piece of hardboard there for €5 to put the puzzle on so it can be moved when the little ones come round.
If you are south of Bordeaux - Costco in Bilbao is closer than the Paris stores.
Costco mrmbetship cards work in Spain too, but they also will not deliver.
Linen and towels are of better quality than IKEA.
But probably not that much different from Leclerc’s. For an American, M&S is probably not on their radar, but I buy my bed linen from M&S France online and it arrives in 2 days.
Plenty of shops about. I dont have to buy towels ever again. Mine came from a merchant for hotels etc… been using them for 20+ years and they are only showing very little wear. Some got stained while we still had the hotel - i dyed them a dark green, hides the stains beautifully. They are our pool towels now.
As to bed linen - bought a load at TkMaxx while still in the UK. But would second your choice of Marks & Spencer France… find supermarket linen a bit underwhelming.
Mind you Alinea has some nice quality duvet covers etc…
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