SFist Photo: Lucky vs. Costco, Which is Better?
Which reusable plasticky shopping bag do you prefer - the one from Lucky (nee Albertson's) or from the Costco? We know our choice.
Due to a combination of recent legislation and consumer demand, our corporate overlords are jumping onto the reusable shopping bag movement in a big way. What's a San Francisco Bay Area shopper to do? Find out after the jump.
Now first of all, your favorite Albertsons grocery store will be changing into a Lucky. Deal with it. We just happened to attend grand openings at two local stores and we witnessed surprised shoppers displaying a total of four stages of the Kübler-Ross model - denial, anger, sadness, and acceptance, it all happens pretty fast for most people. (And on Sloat Blvd., we even saw a San Francisco Supervisor in the crowd reprezentin his Parkside peeps. As shown:)
Anyway, Lucky now has 25-cent plastic bags for sale. You buy one at checkout and then you get a 5-cent discount every time you re-use it. Keep on doing that, and you're making money on the deal, as Lucky helpfully explains.
Now Costco has a different approach - buy two monstrously big (that's an 18-inch ruler shown in the flashy graphic), straight-out-of-Saigon polypropylene tote bags for something like a $1.89, carry all your stuff home, and then use them wherever, whenever. Can you really carry 70 pounds of stuff in one of these bags? That's what we were told. Are you going to see these things used as beach bags? You bet.
The verdict? We gotta go with the Costco. Man, these bags are built to last. How many cases of Mexican Coke will you be able to carry home on MUNI now? Unfortunately, our Lucky swag (they're offered for free on opening day) bag is already showing signs of wear, so it looks like you're going to have to go easy on them.
So, these are the two bags we have seen recently. What reusable bags do you like? How long do they actually last? Hemp, what about hemp? O.K., Think Green!