The membership thing always puzzled me as well. But perhaps their studies show that the ones who pay for membership buy more stuff? After all, it was originally a wholesaler for other businesses. Imagine how crowded it would be if they had no membership fee! I balked at it for years until I realized that I saved way more even with the fee. Kids are gone so shopping for mainly two people I get rebate check of over $120 per year. That pays for the executive membership. End result I shop there for free basically.
While some items are not necessarily cheaper, the quality is generally through the roof. I rarely let a steak, burger or hot dog from anyone else touch my bbq.
As for the crowded stores, shop there midweek. A few less free samples than weekends but even the gas lines are shorter. I often find gifts for SPs (and others) that they seem to appreciate and don't care (or know) that I paid less than Shoppers or elsewhere.
Can't beat the snack bar $1.50 quarter pound all beef hot dog with pop (free refills), especially if you are feeling low on sodium..... 1800 mg ought to get your sodium jacked back up lol. Wish they would bring back the $5 smoked meat sandwich.....
Is it worth it? To me, yes in spades. To each their own.....
Is the food fresh? Yes as turnover is incredible. However the produce can go bad because of the quantity, I share it with others to prevent spoilage.
Is the meat crappy? To the contrary, it generally is better quality than your average grocery, better than some butchers. Not a lot cheaper, but a lot better.