Costco - Big Discounts or Too Much Food?
Eating, Fast Food, Food, Products, Restaurants, Retail, Services, Shopping
Written by Andrew Torchon
If you’ve ever hiked the long concrete aisles of Costco you understand the warehouse grocery store offers so much more than just food.
The huge selection of items ranging from everyday foods like beef, chicken, cheese, fruits, greens and nuts is really just the tip of the iceberg, which if they had the space and refrigeration, would probably sell too.
Large tables displaying clothes, books, DVDs, electronic equipment and more create a maze to be weaved through and examined. Big flat screen TVs broadcast in High Definition and a plethora of wireless telephones, cleaning products, tools, camping gear and baked goods lay before you as the little old ladies in white smocks and hair nets beckon you to come over and try various samples of foods.
The Tri-Tip is always a crowd please[r]. The salads and vitamin drinks, not so much.
Someone coming from a disadvantaged country would be absolutely staggered by the sheer volume of choices not to mention the huge quantities and sizes they offer. Imagine a visitor walking down a typical section of dry goods, the boxes rising higher than the top of their homes and the expanse of products stretching farther than the length of their crop field, if they were lucky to have one.
Their mind is instantly blown.
When Costco first began as Price Club along with other such stores like Sam’s Club, it catered mostly to private store and restaurant owners. These people searched for a place that they could conveniently find large sizes of items quickly, easily and at good prices because going through a gallon jar of mayonnaise or 3 boxes of Snickers Bars in a few days was typical business. After a while word got round and everyday shoppers clamored to view this wonderland of over abundance.
Costco, seeing a new target decided to open it’s doors to the public and allow the feeding frenzy to begin. The American consumer was never the same.
In the old days when refrigerators and freezers were of smaller size, the grocery and supply purchases from the average homemaker was regulated to items scheduled to last maybe a month at a time or in really big families perhaps a week or two. Even frozen foods were kept to a minimum. This could be a practical reason or a matter of taste preferring to cook fresh items more often.
Today it’s an even bet that the percentage of shoppers in Costco, Smart and Final and Sam’s Club are the typical families, ones that don’t own own a store or a restaurant or even have a large family. You see hordes of Senior citizens, carts bulging with tuna cans by the 12 pack or jars of pickles the size of their head teetering toward the check out stations making purchases that would take them into the next millennium.
By and large prices at Costco, Sam’s Club, Smart and Final and even now Big Lots are of decent discount although the cost of certain items vary from Club to Club. One advantage Big Lots and Smart and Final has over the others is they don’t require a membership. Maybe you won’t feel as special but at least you don’t have to pay for the privilege of getting a bargain.
Most people don’t need cases of Hansen assorted flavor soda or 24 pack Hebrew National hot dogs. But then that’s why we bought the extra freezer in the garage for. Right?
Torchon @ July 23, 2008