Steakhouse Swoon Means Boon for Barbecuers

People are avoiding steakhouses (and lots of other restaurants). But all those USDA prime steaks are still being produced and need a place to go. Turns out they're showing up at places like Costco (COST), where they never had appeared before.

Supermarkets are serving as outlet stores for high-end beef, according to the Wall Street Journal. And often, the prime steaks are selling for not much more than the usual gocery store fare. Backyard barbecuers, rejoice.

Previously, it was fairly difficult to find USDA prime steaks—which make up only 2 percent or 3 percent of the market—outside of high-end groceries or mail-order services. Steakhouses, which had been proliferating until the recession hit, bought up most of them. But sales at steakhouses (the good ones, not the Sizzlers and the Ponderosas) have plummeted.

You can even find Japanese Wagyu beef at some stores.