Maybe Costco near you has them that cheap, but in New York, everything costs more. The local BJ's Wholesale near me has them by the dozen for just under $1.40 a pack. They also still had those cool 4-pack Heritage Series #2 sets for only $8.99, but for how much longer, who knows? Those cards are great not just for the cool historical backs - they're traditionally cut as well, and I imagine they look awesome in fans.
The Walgreen's near my old apartment only sold Bicycle and Stud. They would get standard and jumbo of each, plus WSOP, Pro PokerPeek and The Dog and The Cat decks, plus those silly clear plastic decks (they're so useless - one scratch and a card is marked and unusable, and the soft plastic marks easily). But they generally sold for over $3 a pack, to as high as about $4.30, plus sales tax of nearly 9%.
There was a Duane Reade that opened further from the city and had a mess of older stock - Hoyle Shellbacks, Bees, Tally Ho, etc., all from Cincinnati. But on closer inspection I discovered the Aviator jumbo decks they had were made in China (!) and I checked with a contact at USPC. He said the buyer for Duane Reade must have dug up old stock that was supposed to have been returned to USPC and was dumping it - they did briefly make Aviators in China but stopped when quality issues couldn't be resolved. Then I discovered that Duane Reade was purchased by Walgreen, so from that point they only carried Bicycle and Hoyle. And it was all horribly expensive.
At retail in New York, big pharmacies charge over $4 a pack and have Bicycle and little else. Smaller mom-and-pop stores carry other brands, depending on where you are. Just outside of the city, they have Bee, while inside city limits Tally Ho appears to be the more common local brand. Funny enough, they rarely carry Bicycle! They'll typically charge more like $3 a pack. The best deals are always from the big box stores, selling bricks in display boxes for under $20, sometimes WELL under, but I have yet to see them here as cheap as $1.25 a pack in bulk.
(Read 2536 times)
