The fact is that Costco made a conditional offer on some land with the City and it fell through because they (Costco) didn’t remove their conditions. CMH doesn’t tell anyone where to build their store or business. Staff point out available options and quote prices on City owned land, which are set by Council (the only role that Council plays in these matters by the way, unless you count zoning which is usually established well in advance of land sales). Costco makes its own decisions. Why does everyone want to blame the City for this when it is Costco’s decision. Where they buy land and what they pay for it, or whether they choose not to open a store here, are all decisions over which the City has no control.

I’m all for Costco. Sure, I could be the typical “damn the man!” hippie, but Costco is solid. Nothing beats buying your favorite cereal is mass amounts. Same with toilet paper, too!

Buying a large parcel of land also effectively blocks a competitor from moving into that area… (its been done a few times in Vancouver… and I’m sure other areas as well too).

If there are no more BIG chunks of land kicking around…. another Wal-Mart, or Wal-Mart’s division setup to be like Costco, Sam’s Club, can’t get in as well.

J.

Costco loves property speculation… there’s a lot of money to be made in real estate. They’ll buy up parcels of land… sit on it for a bit, let the property value go up (based a little on the possibility of a Costco going in), and then sell it.

As well… Costco never BUYS the land. They use another company to buy it as to not get fleeced by a property developer or what not thinking they can cash in on a big corporate entity.

J.

I for one have always assumed Costco employs a Wal-Mart-ish corporate culture, and it’s good to hear that I’ve been wrong.

Thanks for giving us a glimpse inside Costco, Jaws!

I am paid almost 2X as much as a Wal-Mart employee, and have almost the same benefits package as a government employee. How many small businesses can offer that to their employees? Do they eliminate business to some of their competitors? Depends on the competitor I guess…. retail is a messy place, and businesses have to reinvent themselves from time to time to keep their profits in the black… a big competitor should not neccessarily mean that all the small businesses are going to fold… they just might have to reinvent themselves. Focus on a different strategy than their competitor. If Costco starts selling mid-range stuff, well, take that opportunity to sell high-end stuff. They sell high-end stuff… you sell mid-range stuff. Keep customer satisfaction as a primary goal… Costco does this VERY well. The return policy there is LEGENDARY…. and its one of the reason that it has rabid followers. If the memeber isn’t happy with the product… for ANY reason…. return it. Does this hurt the bottom line a bit… well, maybe… but does it breed customer confidence? OH HELL YEAH!

The salestaff is not commissioned (cough… cough FUTURE SHOP), and generally doesn’t do any kind of hard sell pitch. If you feel like buying it… go ahead… you’re not going to get ‘Honest Bob’ out there pitching a product to you that you won’t need.

What market is Costco interested in? Quite honestly… the markets where people have been gouged for years and years, and are quite used to it, and think its normal now.

Jewelry stores (not all here… I’m generalizing), work on about a 200 - 500% mark-up. Its just considered normal now… a 1ct diamond ring just COSTS that much. Enter Costco with the same diamond in the same setting selling it for mabye about 12-14% markup… and well… that’s a HUGE savings! Mattresses, electronics… blah blah blah.. you name it. There are certain areas that people are just accustomed to paying too much. This is sometimes aggravated in a smaller centre… there just hasn’t been a lot of competition to the mom and pop store… but is progress for the consumer a bad thing? Do you want to keep paying 2X as much for product X or Y, when you could get it for less (at the same quality level), with a better return policy (not just 15 - 30 days, for store credit only)… Yes… Most people think that this IS worth the $50 a year.

Lets not even get started on prescription drugs, or optical stuff… thats almost the same as the jewelry stores.

People embrace Wal-Mart with a passion, and yet all they do is rape and pillage the population… and then people assume that Costco (being large and all), operates in the same manner…. well, its not true.

As a Costco employee (for 12 yrs now… 2 in Regina, 10 in Vancouver… yes… I asked for a transfer, and they said ’sure!’) I am treated well… I get bi-yearly bonuses (of around $2200 per bonus), nearly $20/hour, optical coverage (1 visit to optometrist every 2nd year, and $200 allowance for vision care every 2nd year), medical and dental (can’t remember the % coverage… but its in the 70-80% range), prescription drug coverage, 4 weeks of paid holidays ( +2 floater days), stat holidays off (mostly.. there’s a few that we’re still open on), no graveyard shift… really, the benefits are ongoing…

How can that not be good for the population of your city?

Whew… I think I’m done there for now…

Any other questions about the company… let me know. Just don’t lump them in with Wally’s World…. totally differently run companies.

J.