'The Cult of Costco' (msn.com) 168
Costco's consistency -- from its $1.50 hot dog and drink combo to its functional shopping carts and satisfied employees -- has produced what The Atlantic calls a "cultlike loyalty" among members at more than 600 locations across the U.S.
Its annual membership costs $65. The model traces back to Fedco, a nonprofit wholesale collective for federal employees founded in Los Angeles in the 1940s. Costco's private label Kirkland Signature has become one of the world's largest consumer packaged goods brands while maintaining deliberately understated branding. The company relies on word-of-mouth marketing from satisfied members rather than traditional advertising.
Atlantic staff writer Jake Lundberg, who shops at the Granger, Indiana location, describes the stores as spaces of "cooperation, courtesy, and grown-ups mostly acting like grown-ups." Shoppers follow unwritten rules: move along, don't block the way, step aside to check your phone. Checkout lines form orderly queues. The exceptions come near sample stations and before major holidays, when spatial awareness and common courtesy break down.
Its annual membership costs $65. The model traces back to Fedco, a nonprofit wholesale collective for federal employees founded in Los Angeles in the 1940s. Costco's private label Kirkland Signature has become one of the world's largest consumer packaged goods brands while maintaining deliberately understated branding. The company relies on word-of-mouth marketing from satisfied members rather than traditional advertising.
Atlantic staff writer Jake Lundberg, who shops at the Granger, Indiana location, describes the stores as spaces of "cooperation, courtesy, and grown-ups mostly acting like grown-ups." Shoppers follow unwritten rules: move along, don't block the way, step aside to check your phone. Checkout lines form orderly queues. The exceptions come near sample stations and before major holidays, when spatial awareness and common courtesy break down.
Weird Cults (Score:5, Insightful)
Who wants cheap food, functional shopping carts, or satisfied employees?
Wackos!
Re:Weird Cults (Score:5, Insightful)
Costco. One of the few companies that acts like it doesn't hate its customers.
Re: (Score:3, Informative)
ALDI is another one that doesn't seem to hate their customers, I feel strong brand loyalty to them. While Walmart seems to made awful customer experience an art form.
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ALDI is another one that doesn't seem to hate their customers, I feel strong brand loyalty to them. While Walmart seems to made awful customer experience an art form.
Aldi inside the US is just a small grocery chain with a very limited selection (mostly comprised of generic goods) and almost no "customer service" to speak of, beyond usually one or two cashiers ringing up purchases. Their appeal entirely revolves around their low prices.
If you need help finding something or expect the store to always keep your favorite items in stock - forget it.
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Aldi inside the US is just a small grocery chain with a very limited selection (mostly comprised of generic goods) and almost no "customer service" to speak of, beyond usually one or two cashiers ringing up purchases. Their appeal entirely revolves around their low prices.
FYI, Aldi outside the US is exactly the same thing. Least possible decorum, least possible staff, generic products that can change if something less expensive to source shows up; leading to very low prices. It's a German concept, same as their others brands Lidl and Norma. There is also Netto, and though it's not German-owned, it's successful in Germany due to following the same idea.
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For me that all counts enough as not hating its customers, especially these days. We all know what this is, at least Aldi isn't trying to hustle me all the time. Aldi and me, we're consenting adults whereas Publix feels like an abusive relationship these days.
Re: (Score:2)
There's always a few things on my grocery list that are unobtanium at Aldi, so at least for me they don't actually alleviate having to deal with stores that are less pleasant to shop at. Between Aldi, Walmart, Target, and Publix, they've all got their "exclusives" that you'll have to make the trip for or do without.
Re: Weird Cults (Score:2)
I live in the US and one of the things I like about ALDI is the limited selection.
Re: (Score:2)
The original idea how Aldi started was to have s selection limited enough that the cashers can memorise all the item codes and hence barcode scanners that have been expensive back in the day weren't needed. That only changed by around 2002 if I remember correctly, after they have expanded their selection considerably.
They also hate thier employees less (Score:2)
then other grocers.
In America, as a grocery cashier you have to stand at the register. At Aldi, cashiers get to sit. Sitting at the register is normal in Europe. Standing at the register is an American abomination. Management communicated that standing communicates a sense of urgency to the customer to attend to their every need, but is is really implemented to show who's boss.
Aldi also claims that its cashiers are more productive sitting down, and this may be because they don't have to bag groceries, and t
Re:Weird Cults (Score:5, Insightful)
Re: (Score:2)
Indeed. I am always shocked when I see many of the same employees year after year. That is just unheard of anywhere else in retail. And they are all pleasant and helpful. And, generally, seem happy.
And the checkouts are AMAZINGLY fast. Walmart is orders of magnitude slower. Unfortunately, Costco has little that I need/want, and Walmart has most of what I need. There is just enough at Costco to keep me coming back and barely justify the annual fee.
My main problem with my Costco is parking is a zoo, as
Re:Weird Cults (Score:4, Informative)
Costco pays its employees VERY well. As in, it's not that Costco pays well for retail, they pay well overall. And their benefits are great. They are generally on the "best employer" list all the time. Turns out treating your employees well and paying them well causes them to stick around.
Look at an employee's name tag and the color tells you how long they've been there. Less than 25 years is white. Silver tags for anyone who's been there for over 25 years, and gold tags are for anyone who's been there for 40 years or more. The fact that it's actually a thing should tell you Costco employees stick around.
Now that's really unheard of,e especially in an industry where the average annual turnover rate is 200%.
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I am astonished... 25 years is the first threshold? For many companies, even outside retail, even five years is rare enough.
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Enshitifcation certainly has happened, though it is less visible. Also I don't have any examples of how it has affected employees, but it does affect customers.
It might be considered inconsequential to some as only the price matters.
Two that I can think of, off hand:
- Rewards checks cannot be redeemed for cash at customer service. They also cannot be used at the self-checkout. There's absolutely no reason for this - you do need some assistance from an employee though, it takes probably an extra 30 seconds,
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Costco. One of the few companies that acts like it doesn't hate its customers.
Their total profits have been roughly equal to the revenue they get from membership fees, which suggests the customer experience (rather than marked up goods) is what they are really selling.
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Been to many Costco's around the country.
Always found what I wanted. Service was good.
Wish I had one near me at home.
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Don't miss these incendiary Koreshmas savings! (Score:5, Insightful)
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In "The cult of Costco", cult means "veneration, devotion, ritual" (wiktionary, meaning 1 https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki... [wiktionary.org] ) practised as part of worship to a deity (which here is Costco). It's the centuries-old meaning. It is a different sentence than "Costco is a cult" (or sect) implying "unorthodox system of beliefs" (wiktionary, meaning 2, ibid), also a centuries-old meaning. It's still different from the modern usage which is "generally a pejorative ... variously applied to abusive or coercive groups
Excellent Prepackaged Food (Score:4, Interesting)
The hostess at a recent Christmas party had a delightfully tasteful little charcuterie layout. "Where did you get that?" CostCo, of course! We all acknowledged how surprisingly good some of their food items are when you consider they're essentially coming from a big-box warehouse. And their lasagna has long been a party staple around here!
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There are a number of small coffee shops and drive throughs around here who sell muffins and other pastries that they get at Costco. They're quite good.
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The bakery sections at grocery stores are awful compared to Costco. It seems they don't have try harder to meet or beat Costco's item quality and value for money.
This may be because people don't care and just by the crappy baked goods at the grocery stores anyway, or most people have been conditioned to think the baked goods at grocery stores are as "good as they can get".
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A dozen decent croissants for $5.99 is hard to beat.
Not really a cult then. (Score:3)
The company relies on word-of-mouth marketing from satisfied members rather than traditional advertising.
Everything about this statement indicates this is more of the ideal outcome within a capitalistic society. Are people upset that they aren't heavily exploiting customers? If so, then they are sociopaths that you shouldn't be listening too in the first place.
I remember my grandpa doing a tax trick. (Score:2)
He would use his Costco card to pay a large donation to their current charity, write off the donation as a tax write off AND get that 5% back. Though I am unsure where you would put that 5% back in a tax form? Would it be a gift back from Costco itself? I am betting he just gave his receipt to his accountant and never thought about it.
That said, I do kind of like how Costco handles donations. Its not just one charity but they are fairly open on giving out donations to people in need.
Costco is awesome (Score:2)
I just don't have a need for the volume-packaging that they sell.
Re:Costco is awesome (Score:5, Insightful)
I just don't have a need for the volume-packaging that they sell.
Neither do I, but they are also good for big ticket items. The savings on some things easily pay for a membership. I've bought a couple sets of tires, a generator, a storage shed, a TV and various other things mostly all online so I rarely ever set foot in the store, which is good because it is a zoo.
Re: Costco is awesome (Score:4, Funny)
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... so I rarely ever set foot in the store, which is good because it is a zoo.
First - what the heck is this story doing on Slashdot?
Second - try going in the evening, as in starting an hour or so before they close. My local Costco, at least, has never been busy when I've shopped during that time. It also has typically not been too bad if I go in around 3:00pm*.
*For older Slashdotters, I will clarify that I am not referring to UTC.
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Second - try going in the evening, as in starting an hour or so before they close. My local Costco, at least, has never been busy when I've shopped during that time.
I guess you live in a town of people that mostly have good time management skills. My nearest Costco isn't really all that close, the traffic in the area is constantly terrible, and it is a mad rush in the last hour that they're open.
Also, it's not just Costco - my local Walmart is especially bad too in the last operating hour of the day. Plus, they start closing most of the self checkout machines, which causes the queue to checkout to almost always be miserably long. And if the experience of rushing was
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I guess you live in a town of people that mostly have good time management skills. My nearest Costco isn't really all that close, the traffic in the area is constantly terrible, and it is a mad rush in the last hour that they're open.
The traffic between my house and the closest Costco here is actually pretty awful from about 2:30 to 7:00 - except I can take a back roads route that largely runs counter to the prevailing traffic direction (and a similar route home).
Or I can wait until 7:30, when the straight route only takes 12 minutes. For whatever reason, our local Costco just isn't very busy during the evening.
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try going in the evening, as in starting an hour or so before they close. My local Costco, at least, has never been busy when I've shopped during that time. It also has typically not been too bad if I go in around 3:00pm*.
I've never seen a time it is not a zoo, morning to night. To be fair they just opened a new one here last summer and have also broken ground on yet another, so we will be going from 2 to 4 locations over the space of a few years. I expect that will probably help a lot.
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We picked up a greenhouse there for a price that was less than just the cost of the polycarbonate sheets for the roof if bought at Home Despot.
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I just don't have a need for the volume-packaging that they sell.
It's fine for things that aren't going to go bad before I get around to using all of it. Paper towel, laundry and dish detergent, etc. I don't need a 5 LB bag of romaine lettuce, though.
Re: Costco is awesome (Score:2)
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Our guinea pigs take care of the extra. They taste better when you cook them if they don't eat just Purina.
Why I don't care for them (Score:4, Insightful)
My wife has a membership there. I am not sure why.
We live in a two person household, if we buy ten pounds of onions, or carrots, they will just go bad.
We can never do all of our shopping at Costco. They just don't have everything. Costco's selection is very limited, they just don't carry a lot of things we buy. For example: we cannot get decaffeinated tea, we cannot get regular soy milk (just organic soy beans and filtered water). What do have is only sold in huge quantities.
I suppose Costco works for some people, it's not great for everybody.
JMHO.
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My wife shares a subscription with her mother. There are tons of things we get at costco that are not perishable quickly and that are hard to get at that price anywhere else.
Cheese is really cheap but it is bulk. We split it off when it gets in.
Coffee is also quite cheap for the quality you get.
Paper products are also priced cheap. Once again it is bulk; but if you have space to store, it is pretty neat.
Not all, but some of the meat are cheap as well. We usually buy one meat bulk. Prep half and eat it over
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Store the meat in a chest freezer, which you can also get a good deal on at Costco.
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Does Costco sell electricity?
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There's usually a person there to talk to you about solar panels so in a way, yes.
Re: Why I don't care for them (Score:2)
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Why is that? It seems that you're paying at least 25% more on those tires, for what? The free rotations?
I can replace my set of of 4 tires, buying online, shipped to home and installed at Discount Tire for for about $700-800 and I'm buying ultra high performance tires which are typically $300 a piece.
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I looked into buying tires online and having them installed locally a while back. A gigantic hassle, only worth it if you want some very specific tires. I don't think it even priced out when I checked for the tires I wanted.
serious question: (Score:2)
i've never been in one and the nearest is apparently 2h away, so i'm curious about this part in tfs:
> Shoppers follow unwritten rules: move along, don't block the way, step aside to check your phone.
i find it rather hard to believe that people do this en masse because of some "behave, we're in the costco" impulse. can anyone confirm this?
> Checkout lines form orderly queues.
on this other hand, this part does not seem particularly novel or noteworthy?
Re: (Score:2)
i find it rather hard to believe that people do this en masse because of some "behave, we're in the costco" impulse. can anyone confirm this?
This has not been my Costco experience. Now I live on the West Coast, so people aren't super rude anyway... but I see as many thoughtless people in Costco as I do in other grocery stores.
grown-ups??? (Score:2)
"cooperation, courtesy, and grown-ups mostly acting like grown-ups"
author apparently has never visited the Burbank, CA location.
Maybe in Indiana (Score:2)
Maybe in Granger, Indiana. Every one I've visited in a major metropolitan area (whether coastal or heartland) has been a cacophony of chaos with, at best, oblivious shoppers looking at everything except where they're going and who
Bullshit (Score:2)
Costco intentionally moves products around, so anythong besides the bakery and butcher wonâ(TM)t consistently be in the same spot.
As for courtesy, that applies in the Pacific Northwest (where Costco actually startedâ"donâ(TM)t give me the bullshit about LA since thatâ(TM)s about Price Club that merged with Costco), but not in the bat area where ironically all the people from crowded countries like China and India block the isles.
The growth of Kirkland Signature isnâ(TM)t a good thin
A lot thanks to.a model CEO in this case (Score:4, Insightful)
Jim Sinnegal the founder and was CEO for a long time set a lot of the culture there with regards to how they approach employees and customers.
Of course we need the famous hot dog story
"I came to (Jim Sinegal) once and I said, 'Jim, we can't sell this hot dog for a buck fifty. We are losing our rear ends.' And he said, 'If you raise the effing hot dog, I will kill you. Figure it out.' That's all I really needed. By the way, if you raised (the price) to $1.75, it would not be that big of a deal. People would still buy (it). But it's the mindset that when you think of Costco, you think of the $1.50 hot dog (and soda).
Costco is a reminder that large companies being shitty isn't an inevitability, it is in many ways a choice or the result of lots of choices. Worth thinking about what our society incentives and rewards, this should be the standard rather than the exception.
The prices are just better. (Score:2)
If you live in an area where there is actual competition between supermarkets, then perhaps Costco isn't a great deal. Where I live in the US, my choice is Safeway and Kroger. I think our local supermarkets know that they have a near monopoly, so they are happy to sell substandard product at premium prices and they NEVER compete with each other. The prices those places charge are always matching and just too high. The alternates are Whole Foods and Trader Joes on the other side of town, but the Costco is r
I recently rejoined the cult (Score:2)
Re: I recently rejoined the cult (Score:2)
It's not rocket science (Score:2)
I can remember .. (Score:4, Insightful)
Cult not available. (Score:2)
The nearest temple is 65 miles away. That, the dues, and the fact I don't need case lots of anything makes cult membership infeasible.
I remember Fedco (Score:2)
I used to shop at their National City location in San Diego in the mid 1980's after Fedmart went under. The grocery section was small compared to the rest of the store, but the prices beat all of the typical grocery stores in San Diego. At that time, most of the grocery stores other than Costco were way more expensive.
Different perspective (Score:2)
When they profit more from the membership fees rather than selling products, the focus is different.
When single, I never even considered the extra cost of buying at those places, and compared with my friends who enjoyed their memberships. But I'm not that much of a consumer.
As a couple, we got memberships for the gas savings alone. Yes, their fuel price difference more than covers the basic (not executive) membership for us. They also let you downgrade your membership and refund the difference before the
Re: Handmade (Score:5, Informative)
Re: (Score:2)
Their business plan involves keeping prices as low as possible by buying in very large quantities. They need more than 3 a week.
Their business plan involves keeping prices low but still profitable for the most part. Costco has a net profit of around $8 billion with more than $5 billion coming from membership fees. So, most of the profits come from membership fees. However, in contrast to other companies (like Sam's Club), Costco is able to squeeze out about $2.5 billion in non-membership fee profits out of around $270 billion in sales. That's tight but at least positive, even considering the loss leaders, like the hot dogs and r
Re: Handmade (Score:5, Insightful)
Right. Fair enough. I suppose there is a place for that sort of shop.
Somehow though, it seems to play into the idea that eating is just to refuel the body - something that had to be done, rather than something which is a part of the enjoyment of life.
The idea of buying large quantities of mass produced and largely processed food, is a path I'd rather avoid.
You are projecting quite a lot on the choice to shop at Costco. Sometimes people need a lot of canned ingredients. The meat and other staples there a good enough quality. Shopping at Costco does not mean that you have given up on the joy of cooking. Tone down the pomposity.
Re: (Score:2)
Pickles could be more processed.
Re: Handmade (Score:5, Informative)
Re: Handmade (Score:4, Insightful)
Actually, speaking as a Costco customer, it is not that way at all. They have quite nice produce and meats, and one does not have to buy in mass quantities. Sure, you buy a pack of, say, four strip steaks instead of a single one, but it is not focused on stocking up for the next month or two. And, yes, you have to buy a 36-pack of, say, Dr. Pepper instead of just a six pack, but it works quite well for our needs (a couple whose two children are grown and living independently).
Thanks. I've obviously been a bit harsh on Costco. I shouldn't be so quick to judge.
HEY (Score:3, Funny)
What? Stop being reasonable on the Internet! I come here for the flamewars and entirely avoidable vitriol-soaked arguments, but look what you're doing to the place!
Re: (Score:3)
What? Stop being reasonable on the Internet! I come here for the flamewars and entirely avoidable vitriol-soaked arguments, but look what you're doing to the place!
I know. All I can offer by way of explanation is that my childish urge to flame back was overcome by the season, and the stirrings of peace on earth and goodwill to men that it brought.
Re: (Score:2)
> Thanks. I've obviously been a bit harsh on Costco. I shouldn't be so quick to judge.
Bro, the title is literally 'The Cult of Costco', what did you expect LOL
Re: Handmade (Score:4, Informative)
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It's also possible that different Costco stores have different vibes, depending on what the shoppers see as unwritten rules of courtesy. I've been to three or four different Costco stores and found subtle differences in the crowds.
Fair point, although I've also shopped in four or five different Costco stores and found them all to have the same vibe. Then again, I'm in Canada, so that may explain the difference.
Re: Handmade (Score:4, Informative)
We met someone who does quality inspections for Costco, they're amazingly thorough. A lot of the products are organic, free range, and/or sustainably sourced, which surprised us. What surprised us even more is the quality of the produce. Yeah, we have to buy five pounds of sweet potatoes or a three pound bag of Opal apples, but can be sure that they're going to be good.
Even better, they treat their employees like real people, pay them well, and give them decent benefits.
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"Tokyo has a lot of family owned shops."
Tokyo is a modern, walkable city with good mass transit. In the US most places are totally dependent on cars. Having separate, butchers, bakers, and so long would mean making multiple trips to multiple destinations with multiple stops. And that assumes said places could be priced competitive with the big box stores and grocery stores.
Re: (Score:2, Informative)
Re: Handmade (Score:4)
Best place to get:
butter
olive oil
flour
sugar
whole black pepper corns
coffee filters
vanilla extract
capers
vinegar
box wine ( for cooking)
Dijon mustard
garbage bags
food service film
aluminum foil
parchment paper
tomato: sauce, paste, stewed
Regiano Parm
aged cheddar
whole prime ribs and filets
pork shoulder
whole chickens
whole salmon filets
bacon
I promise you I cook far far more than you do. They are an invaluable source of high quality reasonably priced staples
you pompous twit.
Go back to Trader Joes and buy another snack ( though thir organic cream is nice )
Apologies for the pomposity.
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MOST OF THE FOOD AT COSTOCO i not processed they do not sell everythign under the sun. What they do sell is high quality products at about the same prices as the junk you get elsewere that is supose to be high end.
This is why costco is a cult. There shit is that much better. And they dont fuck with you when you dont like it.
if you ask were something is they usally offer to go get it for you are take you to it.
THEY ARE JUST BETTER
Re: (Score:2)
Have you ever shopped in a Costco? The one my family frequents has quite a large selection of fresh meat, eggs, dairy, fruits, vegetables along with the stereotypical ginormous packages of paper goods and other household goods.
Food Security and the elderly (Score:2)
The idea of buying large quantities of mass produced and largely processed food, is a path I'd rather avoid.
Many people in the USA are food insecure. I buy fresh and canned meat for myself and to give out to those I know need it.
Being an epicure is fine; if you can afford it, then by all means you should enjoy your meals. In the mean time, there are many that buy cat food, and they don't have any pets. Even that is dropping off - have you seen that a case of cat food costs more than 8 rotisserie chickens?
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Do bakery, deli, and butcher departments count?
=Smidge=
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Do bakery, deli, and butcher departments count?
=Smidge=
Yes - Good point - I suspect they potentially do count.
An item in the deli is likely to be at least put together by a human. And surely some of the bread products will require human "craft".
Re: Handmade (Score:4, Insightful)
What does that even mean ? Would their bread count ? Rotisserie chicken ? Salads ? All of these are made on site, by humans. They wear gloves. But machines are usually involved, such as an oven.
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What does that even mean ? Would their bread count ? Rotisserie chicken ? Salads ? All of these are made on site, by humans. They wear gloves. But machines are usually involved, such as an oven.
You're right. There are certainly items in Costco that involve individual human craft in their preparation.
I suppose I'm expressing a wariness for mass produced food, but on reflection, asking "Does Costco sell any products which someone has made?" does sound a bit aggressive.
Re:Two big reasons for the politeness (Score:5, Insightful)
Between $65-per-year and the fact that a costco run is at least a hundred bucks. Haha. 200. Who am I kidding? This means that the bottom socioeconomic 2/3 of society is mostly excluded.
The absolute rudest people I regularly encounter are Tesla drivers and theme park guests (more so at Universal Resort than Disney World).
Re:Two big reasons for the politeness (Score:5, Interesting)
The membership requirement helps to keep out the riffraff not because of the financial burden but because they can cancel the membership of anyone who misbehaves. Other stores have to keep even cheap stuff locked up out of reach of shoplifters and that gets annoying for customers quickly. (Costco has a cage for small, high priced things but they always keep it staffed so there's never a wait.)
Re: (Score:2)
The membership requirement helps to keep out the riffraff not because of the financial burden but because they can cancel the membership of anyone who misbehaves. Other stores have to keep even cheap stuff locked up out of reach of shoplifters and that gets annoying for customers quickly. (Costco has a cage for small, high priced things but they always keep it staffed so there's never a wait.)
That wasn't the reason. It usually begins because they want to maintain some specific exclusivity, with Costco it began with US government employees (which is why Costco still discriminates on industry). Australians and Brits may be familiar with the style of store that costco is, we used to call them "Cash and Carry" stores which were large warehouse outlets that were often (and in some cases like Booker still are) limited to business customers, so you had to have a business to get membership to shop there
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I used to have a similar bias. Now I am a member, spend safely >$5,000/year there, and I get it. I am also safely in the 1%. There are plenty of expensive things that are a good value, as well as staples.
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Around here (Netherlands) ... the gov't decided against having big box stores that require a car to reach.
It would be nice if Costco could become less car-centric. They make an extra effort of being car-friendly, by selling cheap gas, tires, etc. A Costco membership helps pay part of the cost of maintaining a car. What about serving customers who use public transport or bicycle? Perhaps this should be mandated by the state or city.
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Around here (Netherlands) ... the gov't decided against having big box stores that require a car to reach.
It would be nice if Costco could become less car-centric. They make an extra effort of being car-friendly, by selling cheap gas, tires, etc. A Costco membership helps pay part of the cost of maintaining a car. What about serving customers who use public transport or bicycle? Perhaps this should be mandated by the state or city.
People joke about all the trucks and SUVs around here that never leave paved roads. Indeed you can see them all parked at Costco, but I'd argue these people probably still need trucks and SUVs judging from the overflowing shopping carts they are wheeling out.
Re: (Score:2)
One can fit a heckuva lot into even a small car (especially with the back seats down). SUVs often have surprisingly poor internal volume for their size, because they're styled to "look big", i.e. chunky, high off the ground for extra rollovers, nice thick pillars to protect drivers from the much more likely rollovers and so on and so forth. Minivans are somewhat superior in terms of internal volume IME.
Trucks are just crap vans with poor visibility and less convenient beds.
Re: Two big reasons for the politeness (Score:2)
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Well indeed the only two possible choices are a micro compact and a lifted F350. Nothing in between exists.
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[looks at my micro compact (40-60 mpg) and 1969 power wagon with 8x12 flatbed]
Micro handles 98% of yearly motor usage while flatbed, driven less than 2000 miles a year is good for everything else.
Lucky to live in the country with space for an oversize vehicle.
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Trucks are just crap vans with poor visibility and less convenient beds.
People seem to like them. Not my place to judge. You do you.
Re: (Score:2, Insightful)
This means that the bottom socioeconomic 2/3 of society is mostly excluded.
I don't follow. How would limiting membership to stuck up self-obsessed narcissists that make up the rich population improve things? My experience is the rich people are the ones that are most likely to block the path.
Re: (Score:2)
Or, crazy idea I know, maybe wealthy people aren't universally - or even mostly - stuck up self obsessed narcissists, and that's just your own seething envy and sense of self justification?
If I had to choose between Walmart vs a store that literally filters out the poorest at the door, I know where I'd rather work or shop.
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This means that the bottom socioeconomic 2/3 of society is mostly excluded.
I don't follow. How would limiting membership to stuck up self-obsessed narcissists that make up the rich population improve things? My experience is the rich people are the ones that are most likely to block the path.
It works for Apple....
Jokes aside, I don't think that's what Costco does. Costco (at least in the UK) limits membership to ether business owners or people in certain professions. From the UK website it's Banking / Finance, Local Government, Fire / Rescue Service, Post Office, Airlines, Education, Police Force, Civil Service / Armed Forces, Medical / Health Service, Insurance. Not exactly the bottom run, but a lot of those are not high paying careers either. Also your company can arrange to be added to th
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I'd put it another way: the "you have to pay to even GET IN THE DOOR" keeps out the rifraff.
"...describes the stores as spaces of "cooperation, courtesy, and grown-ups mostly acting like grown-ups." Shoppers follow unwritten rules: move along, don't block the way, step aside to check your phone. Checkout lines form orderly queues. ..."
Note the entire article is about how civilized an experience it is, and how "weird" that is; that Atlantic tries to paint it as "cult like" shows how utterly fucked up our Int
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Between $65-per-year and the fact that a costco run is at least a hundred bucks. Haha. 200. Who am I kidding? This means that the bottom socioeconomic 2/3 of society is mostly excluded. The tweakers and drunks go to Walmart, along with almost all the poor people.
Yearly cash back from having a Costco card more than pays the membership fee. It hurts to grocery shop elsewhere due to insane shrinkage normalized over the years. Prices elsewhere are insane when compared by weight.
I'm not judging it or justifying it. Just pointing out that Costco is basically running the country-club of retail shopping. Is anyone surprised that there's more good behavior?
I just don't understand how anyone can come to this kind of conclusion.
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There are only two of us, but we cook pretty much every day and our Costco membership pays for itself pretty quickly.