[ColdNoMore]

Originally Posted by Mrs. Robinson

I don't know anyone who goes to Costco because they "have to;" people go to Costco because they "want to." The distance has nothing to do with living in TV and driving to Orlando because that isn't an issue.

A Costco Club with bus tours? Surely you jest!

Costco's quality of their items far exceeds Sam's. In addition, the selection of similar items at Costco, far outnumbers the amount of choices that Sam's offers. Just look at the difference between the two of them in the coffee aisle.

I even see a difference in the personnel from management on down. Going to Sam's is like Walmart revisited.

In addition to all of the other superior products mentioned in the various threads, your last two sentences...is enough reason alone to shop Costco.

For some unknown reason, it seems some folks just don't like that Costco pays their employees more...and values them instead of treating them as a liability.

Why does that bother some folks so much?


The Costs of Being Costco: Why Ethics Matter | business government society 2

By comparison, “85% of Costco’s employees have health-insurance coverage, compared to less than half at Wal-mart and Target” (Cascio, 32). As of 2010, average hourly wages for Costco employees were $17 per hour, while average hourly wages at Sam’s Club were 42% less at just over $10 per hour (Schmaltz). By spending less on employee health benefits, we now have more money to invest back into the company. Surely, Friedman would approve of this. Won’t that give us the greatest profit?

Costco proves that the answer to that question may be no. Wal-mart may be able to save some money through depriving their employees, but the employee loyalty shown by Costco’s employees more than makes up for that difference. Atypical benefits for Costco’s employees include above average hourly wages, comprehensive health insurance coverage after 6 months, above average 401(k) matching, and mandated 86% of top position hires from within, although the real percentage ends up being 98%.

Consequently, employees at Costco are much happier than their peers.

Employee turnover for Costco is 17% per year, while Sam’s Club is 44% per year, close to the industry average. As Cascio explains, a conservative estimate of the full cost to replace an hourly employee at Costco or Sam’s Club is 60% of an employee’s yearly salary. At Costco, this is a cost of $21,216 per employee; at Wal-mart, this is a cost of $12,617.

When you put these figures together, you realize that Costco saves almost $368 million each year in employee turnover costs. That is a staggering amount of lost profit. Yet, it is not just turnover that proves the worth of Costco’s exceptional employee treatment. Costco’s employees appear to be more productive than their competitors.

In 2005, while Sam’s Club generated $37.1 billion in US Sales, Costco generated $43.05 billion with 38% fewer employees (Cascio, 35). Imagine if they had the same numbers of employees! Additionally, Costco’s employees sell $886 of sales per square foot of store, compared with $525 of sales per square foot at Sam’s Club and $461 at BJ’s Wholesale Club.

And YEA for the new and closer Wesley Chapel Costco.