As a corollary, look for restaurant supply places to get utensils and whatnot, it's usually cheaper and you'll get more durable stuff. A lot of them don't require memberships either.

Business owners generally buy from business-supply places and not regular retail stores. So if a smaller business could conceivably want to buy something, there's probably a business-supply place that sells it nearby. You may pay a bit more for durable things, but it's often actually cheaper and they don't cycle things out as quickly (businesses will inevitably need to buy more, and they want them to match).