Costco was one of the 'big store' places where we got an estimate. Where I live, they use many of the same cabinet manufactures as does Home Depot, the same countertop vendors. The only difference was they required us to pay close to $300 for the kitchen design service as part of putting the cabinet order together that they then applied to the cabinet purchase. Their labor install was a bit more expensive than HD as well.

We went with HD Thomasville cabinets, and spent hours with them as they arranged our cabinet purchase to fit our design. The kitchen designer was / is wonderful: she knows the product, she knows the instructions installers need...all at no added cost.

We are finding that their product costs (both Costco and HD) are more reasonable, probably due to their bulk. We got great discounts on cabinets and quartz countertop. But, their labor is high, so we are shopping around for our own installers / contractors.

Regardless, we had wanted to go with either Costco or HD in case we had installer problems so we could use the parent company to help fix any issues. I sensed HD kept better tabs on that as the Costco rep made a point of telling us that we'd deal directly with the installer at that point.

One final benefit with HD: they offered better financing incentives - 12 and 18 month same as cash- nothing near that at Costco.

But, to answer your question - two of the private contractors we got estimates from (a total of 4 private contractors, plus Costco and HD), assured us that the quality of cabinetry now available through the big chains is much better quality than a decade ago. We purchased a shaker style as well (Eden), and were warned to make sure the panel was 'reverse hung'...something like that..to prevent the panel from eventually shaking loose and rattling, and that technique was/is used in our doors, a nice thing to learn.

Hope this helps.
Anna

Legallin, I love the look of the Polar White Shake Style cabinets you posted from Costco. Thanks Anna for the detailed information!

I'm a frequent lurker but a very slow mover on my kitchen renovation. I queried about this brand last year, probably May or June timeframe, and got some good feedback including a post by one of the total cabinet gurus around here (can't remember the name, my apologies) who rated them pretty decently. You might be able to search via my user name, otherwise I queried based on the brand name I was given (All Wood Cabinetry). They are made in China, which is a downside for some but otherwise the limited info that I got has kept them on my list for what I hope will be a spring start to a new kitchen. Good luck - look forward to seeing if others can offer any input.