Contact Costco

[dotti105]

For those of you who are interested in letting Costco know that we Villagers are looking forward to having a store located here, I have an email address for you.

A neighbor on the "NextDoor" forum has been in contact with Costco and has been persistent enough to find out who to communicate with.

Email Robin at this email address, "w01026mkt04@costco dot com". She has has responded and thus far over 50 Villagers have emailed her regarding our desire to have a store here. (I put the quotes and the 'dot com' in so that this does not get xxxxx'ed out by the powers that be.)

Robin is passing the emails on to the head of the real estate dept. to be sure that they get in the right hands. She recently replied that she was surprised to get so many letters of interest and to keep sending them in.

So there you go! Email Robin and let Costco know that this will be a great market for them!

[skip0358]

Just sent an email. Hope it helps.

[jojo]

I tried sending using this email and the address was rejected?

[laryb]

I tried sending using this email and the address was rejected?Same here

[jgm3279]

Sent. Hope it helps!

[DangeloInspections]

I sent them a detailed e-mail outlining stats, etc...hope it helps!

[laryb]

I sent them a detailed e-mail outlining stats, etc...hope it helps!I've tried 4 times now. Can one of you that was successful share how you did it? WWW.-------------------.com. Please fill in

[skip0358]

Welcome to Costco Wholesale (http://www.01026mkt04@costco.com)

[uprivergirl]

I just sent an e-mail and it went. You must that out the "" and the dot.com must be .com I hope it helps. We have been members of Costco since 1987. There are a lot more Costco's in Ca. and not many Sam's. I sure hope a new Costco in The Villages is possible.

[dotti105]

You don't go to a website to contact Robin. You email her. The email address is as posted in my first post. It ends in .com I have seen the moderators block out email addresses when posted. so I spelled out the .com.

Hope that makes sense.

[Retiring]

It would be wonderful if a Costco opened in TV. Living here in the Kirkland, WA area it seems like we have a Costco on every corner. I’m at a Costco almost daily. I do have an acquaintance that works in the upper offices of Costco and a few years ago we were talking about the lack of a Costco in N. FL. As I recall he said it really isn’t rocket science. They look at population and median income. The reason he gave for no Costco in Destin/Pensacola area - seasonal population. I don’t know the reasons for no Costco in TV but I suspect seasonal population may be a factor.

Since I live in Costco country I can’t say I’ve ever seen or shopped at a Sam’s Club, but isn’t it the same thing?

[rubicon]

Costco is over priced and since they are raising employees wages you can be sure the burden will be transferred to customers

[asianthree]

I shop both SAMs and costco weekly. I find that both have something higher priced than the other. Both carry different items that I can only get at one or the other. Costco wages have paid for many part time employees to keep their daughters and sons in dance. For those who are not in that loop a competitive dancers lessons for one year starts at $17,000. If Costco is giving them a raise good for them. I have not had a raise for 5 years in a hospital.

[dotti105]

Costco and Sam's are NOT the same!

Issue #1.
I bought 2 pair of prescription glasses at Sam's recently. Luckily they have a 30 day return policy. I bought a pair of sunglasses and a regular pair of glasses. With my vision insurance from Medicare it was just over $800.00 total. I was surprised at how high they were, but I bought progressive lens and they aren't cheap. The frames were about $90.00 each.

While in Costco in Orlando I went by the optical dept just to check out their selection of frames and prices. I ended up buying repeating my purchases at Costco. The price difference was unbelievable! Both sunglasses and regular glasses, both with progressive lens, high index, anti-glare, scratch resistant etc was under $400.00 !!!

Both stores had a "buy 2 pair get $30 off" deal so that was a non issue.

I was shocked that the price was more than double at Sam's!! The day I received my Costco glasses I returned the glasses to Sam's. I am so glad that I thought to check the price at Costco. That $400+ savings goes a long way.......

Issue #2.
Every time we are in Sam's, customer service is an issue. The registers at the self service lines are down, not enough registers are open and lines are incredibly slow. They have frequent computer issues, glitches, freezing etc.

They also do not have enough help and the attitudes from employees are not the customer service oriented attitude that Costco has. Costco has an environment of excellent customer service.

In Utah we had 4 Costco warehouses within a 10 mile radius. We took them for granted. Always convenient and available. Man, I sure do miss them here!!

[dotti105]

It would be wonderful if a Costco opened in TV. Living here in the Kirkland, WA area it seems like we have a Costco on every corner. I’m at a Costco almost daily. I do have an acquaintance that works in the upper offices of Costco and a few years ago we were talking about the lack of a Costco in N. FL. As I recall he said it really isn’t rocket science. They look at population and median income. The reason he gave for no Costco in Destin/Pensacola area - seasonal population. I don’t know the reasons for no Costco in TV but I suspect seasonal population may be a factor.

Since I live in Costco country I can’t say I’ve ever seen or shopped at a Sam’s Club, but isn’t it the same thing?

Hopefully we will have one here soon. When you move you will quickly realize that Sam's is a very disappointing imitation of Costco. We find ourselves in Orlando at Costco much more than we would like.

After moving from Utah where we had 4 Costco warehouses within a 10 mile radius, we really miss our Costcos. Hopefully they will realize the potential of a store here.

Please send an email!

[TNLAKEPANDA]

Costco is over priced and since they are raising employees wages you can be sure the burden will be transferred to customers

If you like Sam's shop at Sam's. Bottom line is that Costco quality is far superior to Sam's. Basically Sam's is just another WalMart.

[MrGolf]

Just sent an email as well. Encourage others to do the same

[rubicon]

If you like Sam's shop at Sam's. Bottom line is that Costco quality is far superior to Sam's. Basically Sam's is just another WalMart.

tnlakepanda: Wow what's up here people are taking this too personal.
No matter what grocery store, you will always find some prices lower and some higher when comparing stores. its a given and its why my professional shopping wife spends hours and hours studying prices. she's impressive and many a clerk and even manager compliment her on her shopping acumen.

Secondly I am not against increasing wages that is not what I said. what I said is that those higher wages will be transfer to the customer....name just one business that does not transfer some of their operating expenses to their consumer.

Finally I am not one inclined on defending or holding brand loyalty for the most part but I am inclined to compare in order to gain utility for my dollar
And yes I am aware that there are people who understand everything about price and nothing about value but again that is not what I am say beside which it often is highly subjective because its one's perception only.

I am sorry if I hurt someone's feelings that is never my intention.

Personal Best Regards:

[rdhdleo]

I just emailed them. Sure hope it helps!

[buzzy]

Dottie,

My wife and I each bought two pair of progressive eyeglasses from Sams, and paid about double what we used to pay at Costco back home. Even worse, we each needed lenses replaced within the return period. We never needed the Costco lenses replaced. While we can't justify the trip to Altamonte Springs for regular shopping, in the future we will go there for eyeglasses and major electronics.

BTW - I just sent an email to Robin.

[Erijo]

Sent e mail to robin. I truly hope we get a Costco here or closer to the villages. I recently heard a rumor that a Costco is being built near Russell Stover, is this just a rumor or is there some truth to it? Thanks. Kathy

[Dr Winston O Boogie jr]

I tried sending using this email and the address was rejected?

Take out the word dot and replace it with a .

[DangeloInspections]

We currently belong to both Sam's and B.J.'s. There are one or two items we like at each, and we find ourselves in Clermont somewhat regularly, so stopping at either one is not a hardship.

We gave up our Costco membership simply because I could not justify having memberships at all three. A friend of ours recently needed the use of our large Town and Country to pick up some items at Costco, so I went with them.

Each one has their strengths and weaknesses. I was disappointed at not finding a few things at Costco when I was there that I thought they would surely have. It would be ideal to have all three close, as it would promote competition, etc.

I think we will surely downsize our memberships and stick with one, as I cannot justify having all three or even two memberships. One has to buy a lot of stuff to offset the membership

The crazy thing is that when I got my Costco membership it was to buy a special order Pergola kit. I could have bought the kit directly from the manufacturer, but they themselves told me their Costco price was hundreds cheaper for the exact same thing. It was drop shipped right to my home, so I did not even need to go to Costco to buy it...just had to have the membership. Even with the membership cost I saved hundreds on the Pergola.

Choices are almost always a good thing. Frank

[outahere]

Personally, I would rather have a BJs close by. We've been members for several years and have saved quite a bit over that time. We did belong to Sam's, but dropped it after one year - not worth the hassle of the crowds and thought their selections weren't all that great.

Like Frank, we are near Clermont at least once a month so we stop at the BJs there. We also have a college student son over in Melbourne and stop by that location when we are over there. Our experience has been that BJs carries what we buy and their stores, both here and up north, seem considerably cleaner to us.

[Jima64]

Just cancelled my membership after costco cancelled a option to build closer to me. Will stick with bjs.

[Fraugoofy]

For those of you who are interested in letting Costco know that we Villagers are looking forward to having a store located here, I have an email address for you.

A neighbor on the "NextDoor" forum has been in contact with Costco and has been persistent enough to find out who to communicate with.

Email Robin at this email address, "w01026mkt04@costco dot com". She has has responded and thus far over 50 Villagers have emailed her regarding our desire to have a store here. (I put the quotes and the 'dot com' in so that this does not get xxxxx'ed out by the powers that be.)

Robin is passing the emails on to the head of the real estate dept. to be sure that they get in the right hands. She recently replied that she was surprised to get so many letters of interest and to keep sending them in.

So there you go! Email Robin and let Costco know that this will be a great market for them!
For those of you that love Costco and still have a membership you can buy almost anything from their store at Google Express and have your entire order shipped for $4.99. Right to your doorstep. They also have online ordering right from Costco.com. Not sure about their shipping costs...

[pauld315]

The Raleigh NC area is just getting its second Costco and the county (Wake) has just under a million people. I don't know what kind of population density they require before building.

[Susan Schonfeld]

Make sure you use the email address w01026mkt04@costco.com

[mikemalloy]

We too would really like it if Costco came to the villages. I emailed Robin and I suggested that Costco begin adapting to the changing population of the US. It's time for a Costco Silver store. We don't need baby diapers or family sized cereal boxes but we still buy meats, electronics, and lots of pharmaceutical products and wine. We'd be a great place for the first Costco Silver store which would be a model for others near large retirement communities. If some of you have ideas that might make such a store profitable and convenient pass them along. At some point the higher ups at Costco might think that they just thought of a great idea....Costco Silver.:a040:

[Gingersnaps]

Robin is an old friend of mine that I reconnected with at a home show in Tallahassee Florida several weeks ago. With my calls to headquarters and finding that our calls and emails were not going to the people that make decisions at Costco, robin said she would coordinate our email requests and get them to where they need to go at the Costco headquarters. So I'm hopeful with Robin that our voice as one will not go unnoticed. She has asked that we keep on sending her emails so she can bundle them and send them on to corporate. Robin has relatives in the villages and loves this place so she is an advocate as well. If you are In contact with residents in the surround areas such as mount Dora and leesberg please have them put email requests in as well. Together, we have a chance to make this happen. Thank you everyone!

[GeorArno]

For those of you who are interested in letting Costco know that we Villagers are looking forward to having a store located here, I have an email address for you.

A neighbor on the "NextDoor" forum has been in contact with Costco and has been persistent enough to find out who to communicate with.

Email Robin at this email address, "w01026mkt04@costco dot com". She has has responded and thus far over 50 Villagers have emailed her regarding our desire to have a store here. (I put the quotes and the 'dot com' in so that this does not get xxxxx'ed out by the powers that be.)

Robin is passing the emails on to the head of the real estate dept. to be sure that they get in the right hands. She recently replied that she was surprised to get so many letters of interest and to keep sending them in.

So there you go! Email Robin and let Costco know that this will be a great market for them!
Let's form a Costco Club.

[graciegirl]

Let's form a Costco Club.



REALLY? We had memberships to both Sam's and Costco back in Cincinnati and eventually dropped ours to Costco. To me....there isn't a nickle's worth of difference in what they sell overall. One will offer an item you want that the other doesn't have occasionally but they both have a big pencil, i.e. enormous buying power, and that causes their item's to be bargains most of the time.


I think that the amount that the workers are paid is the issue with a lot of people. When I shop, I look for price and quality and am just glad the workers have a job.

[tuccillo]

I find the distribution of Costco stores in FL to be interesting. There are 3 in the Orlando area, 5 down the west coast from Clearwater to Fort Meyers, 1 in Jacksonville (actually in an affluent area of St. John's county) and 1 in Tallahassee. There are none along the southeast coast. They open a limited number of new stores each year and I wonder if we have the demographics to compete with other areas around the country. While I would like to see Costco come to the south side of The Villages, I am not holding my breath. BTW, Sam's Club has 4x the number of locations in FL.

We too would really like it if Costco came to the villages. I emailed Robin and I suggested that Costco begin adapting to the changing population of the US. It's time for a Costco Silver store. We don't need baby diapers or family sized cereal boxes but we still buy meats, electronics, and lots of pharmaceutical products and wine. We'd be a great place for the first Costco Silver store which would be a model for others near large retirement communities. If some of you have ideas that might make such a store profitable and convenient pass them along. At some point the higher ups at Costco might think that they just thought of a great idea....Costco Silver.:a040:

[ilmadison]

We would love to have a Costco near by. Oxford, Wildwood or Belleview would be great for us villages.
Thank you,
William Madison

[graciegirl]

Best Warehouse Store: BJ (http://finance.yahoo.com/news/best-warehouse-store-bj-costco-104106736.html)

Sam's Club Vs. Costco Vs. BJ's - Business Insider (http://www.businessinsider.com/sams-club-vs-costco-vs-bjs-2013-4)

Costco or Sam’s? Which Wholesale Club Is Most Worth the Membership Cost? | TIME.com (http://business.time.com/2011/07/14/costco-or-sams-which-wholesale-club-is-most-worth-the-membership-cost/)

[photo1902]

Best Warehouse Store: BJ (http://finance.yahoo.com/news/best-warehouse-store-bj-costco-104106736.html)

Sam's Club Vs. Costco Vs. BJ's - Business Insider (http://www.businessinsider.com/sams-club-vs-costco-vs-bjs-2013-4)

Costco or Sam’s? Which Wholesale Club Is Most Worth the Membership Cost? | TIME.com (http://business.time.com/2011/07/14/costco-or-sams-which-wholesale-club-is-most-worth-the-membership-cost/)

Having shopped at both for many years, I would take Costco, hands down over Sam's.

[lpaul530]

I tried using this email and it comes back as an error. If you send corrected email, I will send my request,
Thanks!!

[sabibaho8]

For those of you who are interested in letting Costco know that we Villagers are looking forward to having a store located here, I have an eimail address for you.

A neighbor on the "NextDoor" forum has been in contact with Costco and has been persistent enough to find out who to communicate with.

Email Robin at this email address, "w01026mkt04@costco dot com". She has has responded and thus far over 50 Villagers have emailed her regarding our desire to have a store here. (I put the quotes and the 'dot com' in so that this does not get xxxxx'ed out by the powers that be.)

Robin is passing the emails on to the head of the real estate dept. to be sure that they get in the right hands. She recently replied that she was surprised to get so many letters of interest and to keep sending them in.

So there you go! Email Robin and let Costco know that this will be a great market for them!
Been going to Costco for in Calif and AZ for over 35 years and love the store. We need one here in the Villages. Talked to over 40 friends and they would desire one also.:bigbow:

[sabibaho8]

Need Costco here NOW!!! Sam's Club doesn't fit the bill.

[photo1902]

:a040:Need Costco here NOW!!! Sam's Club doesn't fit the bill.

[braddy2957]

YES for a Cosco in the Villages

[buzzy]

I find the distribution of Costco stores in FL to be interesting. There are 3 in the Orlando area, 5 down the west coast from Clearwater to Fort Meyers, 1 in Jacksonville (actually in an affluent area of St. John's county) and 1 in Tallahassee. There are none along the southeast coast. They open a limited number of new stores each year and I wonder if we have the demographics to compete with other areas around the country. While I would like to see Costco come to the south side of The Villages, I am not holding my breath. BTW, Sam's Club has 4x the number of locations in FL.

I know of two, North Palm Beach and Boca Raton.

[tuccillo]

I went looking for locations and found two different Costco web pages with different information. One excluded the stores down the east coast. It looks like 20+ stores in FL based on the second page.

Here is the first, and apparently wrong, webpage with the incomplete information.

Find a Costco warehouse- Costco (http://www.costco.com/warehouse-locations%3FstoreId%3D10301%26#)

My bad ...

I know of two, North Palm Beach and Boca Raton.

[dan kachman]

I've communicated with Costco's field reps for years now as to establishing a facility in the Villages. I've been explicit in asking them to come and see the dynamic,burgeoning growth of the area. I've also let them know of the demographic stats and they've always turned a deaf ear to my pleas. Perhaps it has to do with the exposure to Sam's Club?
In Miami we had a Costco,Sam's Club and BJ's that seemed to co-exist quite well in that they were not too distant from one another. Going to Altamonte Springs for a shopping spree at Costco is a bit of a stretch for many of us although we favor Costco.

[cjmccall]

For those of you who are interested in letting Costco know that we Villagers are looking forward to having a store located here, I have an email address for you.

A neighbor on the "NextDoor" forum has been in contact with Costco and has been persistent enough to find out who to communicate with.

Email Robin at this email address, "w01026mkt04@costco dot com". She has has responded and thus far over 50 Villagers have emailed her regarding our desire to have a store here. (I put the quotes and the 'dot com' in so that this does not get xxxxx'ed out by the powers that be.)

Robin is passing the emails on to the head of the real estate dept. to be sure that they get in the right hands. She recently replied that she was surprised to get so many letters of interest and to keep sending them in.

So there you go! Email Robin and let Costco know that this will be a great market for them!
We are very interested in a Costco close to the villages, the 60 mile drive to Orlando is a huge inconvenience, we would frequent Costco at least once a week as I purchase for multiple family members. There is a very large population in the villages that would support this store. Thanks to all that are emailing positive requests. I have been told by many different sources that " the powers that be" turn down Costco store requests as they have agreements with other stores to keep Costco out. Lady lake has allowed a SAMs club and it is crowded all hours it is open so there is a need. Thank you

[Mitzih]

I sent an email to the address you gave. Hope it helps.
MitziH

[graciegirl]

We are very interested in a Costco close to the villages, the 60 mile drive to Orlando is a huge inconvenience, we would frequent Costco at least once a week as I purchase for multiple family members. There is a very large population in the villages that would support this store. Thanks to all that are emailing positive requests. I have been told by many different sources that " the powers that be" turn down Costco store requests as they have agreements with other stores to keep Costco out. Lady lake has allowed a SAMs club and it is crowded all hours it is open so there is a need. Thank you



Horse Feathers! It is population and demographics that makes a store locate in any area. THE POWERS THAT BE don't own all the property in this area.

[graciegirl]

I've communicated with Costco's field reps for years now as to establishing a facility in the Villages. I've been explicit in asking them to come and see the dynamic,burgeoning growth of the area. I've also let them know of the demographic stats and they've always turned a deaf ear to my pleas. Perhaps it has to do with the exposure to Sam's Club?
In Miami we had a Costco,Sam's Club and BJ's that seemed to co-exist quite well in that they were not too distant from one another. Going to Altamonte Springs for a shopping spree at Costco is a bit of a stretch for many of us although we favor Costco.






Danny. Miami has a population of over five million according to this;


Miami Population 2016 - World Population Review (http://worldpopulationreview.com/us-cities/miami-population/)


I am not saying that Costco isn't a great and valid wholesale store...I am just saying they aren't here because we aren't big enough to support them and Sam's. That is all. No conspiracy.

[retired skipper]

For those e-mailing to send to Costco, I can shed some information. I wish you much luck.
Prior to retiring and moving here 2.5 yrs ago, I worked for the company that printed the Costco Connection magazine. Since I also knew the Executive Editor of the Connection was retiring same time as I was, I wrote him about a Costco in or near The Villages. He directed me to their Executive VP for Business Development. We conducted a series of communications in which he told me even with our population and that of the surrounding areas, we did not yet meet their demographics for a Costco Warehouse. Ocala, for instance is considered a different geographic area. At that time in 2013, our area was still approximately 100,000 people short of their requirement. But he did say, "The Villages is on our radar", but it would be quite awhile before our area would be given serious consideration for a Costco.

[bagboy]

For those e-mailing to send to Costco, I can shed some information. I wish you much luck.
Prior to retiring and moving here 2.5 yrs ago, I worked for the company that printed the Costco Connection magazine. Since I also knew the Executive Editor of the Connection was retiring same time as I was, I wrote him about a Costco in or near The Villages. He directed me to their Executive VP for Business Development. We conducted a series of communications in which he told me even with our population and that of the surrounding areas, we did not yet meet their demographics for a Costco Warehouse. Ocala, for instance is considered a different geographic area. At that time in 2013, our area was still approximately 100,000 people short of their requirement. But he did say, "The Villages is on our radar", but it would be quite awhile before our area would be given serious consideration for a Costco.

Your post is absolutely believable. I'm sure for a number of reasons, Costco is very aware of The Villages.

[Quixote]

I personally would not set foot in a Sam's Club, and the only time I visit a Walmart store is when they are the only ones who carry a specific item; fortunately this is rare. But that's me; I cannot judge for anyone else.

I read the Time article whose link was posted earlier in this thread, and if I understood it correctly, it sounds like at the bottom line--meaning prices--the two warehouses are very similar. So what's the difference?

Costco pays its employees a living wage, while at the same time I've been told that there was a collection of non-perishable food items being made at Walmart for its employees! To me, that's unfathomable. How glib it is to say that at least they have jobs.... So it may cost me a few cents more to shop elsewhere. Even if specific items are cheaper there, how can I afford to shop elsewhere? Well, I can prioritize; maybe I can eat out one time less, borrow a book from the library rather than buy it, and on and on. People find different things important; that's how I feel, and again I cannot judge for anyone else.

An earlier poster mentioned that the wage thing is "political." Political??? What on earth makes it political? I can see perhaps "social" or "economic," but how does political enter into something like this? I certainly hope we in TV haven't reached the point of callousness to say, as Marie Antoinette said, "Let them eat cake" when there was no bread available....

I have written to Costco Central any number of times about the demographics of TV and the surrounding small cities. I have now written the email as suggested in this thread, and I will send this info to all my friends in the area who may not see this thread for themselves. I would be delighted to have a Costco warehouse close by--and it certainly doesn't have to be directly in TV but in our area; Altamonte Springs is just too far.

I forgot to mention that you don't have to be a Costco member to use Costco Pharmacy, whether at a warehouse (inconvenient for us here in TV) or at Costco.com, the latter being a mail order setup. I have had prescriptions filled there when I've found that there is significant savings over using my Medicare Part D Prescription Drug plan the way these plans are set up, believe it or not....

[OhioBuckeye]

I would be nice to have a Costco, maybe it'll sink into some of the other retailers & they'll lower their prices a little bit. Not everybody is to high but I think some of the stores right in The Villages are a bit high & they take advantage of us!

[Walt.]

I liked Costco in Miami... but don't find that much difference from Sam's.
If you ever need bubble wrap or bubble-padded envelopes Sam's has great prices.

For the Costco fans here is some info: http://addictedtocostco.com/costco-locations/

I went to BJs once... what a disappointment! :

[Boomer]

. . . . . . .

[graciegirl]

I personally would not set foot in a Sam's Club, and the only time I visit a Walmart store is when they are the only ones who carry a specific item; fortunately this is rare. But that's me; I cannot judge for anyone else.

I read the Time article whose link was posted earlier in this thread, and if I understood it correctly, it sounds like at the bottom line--meaning prices--the two warehouses are very similar. So what's the difference?

Costco pays its employees a living wage, while at the same time I've been told that there was a collection of non-perishable food items being made at Walmart for its employees! To me, that's unfathomable. How glib it is to say that at least they have jobs.... So it may cost me a few cents more to shop elsewhere. Even if specific items are cheaper there, how can I afford to shop elsewhere? Well, I can prioritize; maybe I can eat out one time less, borrow a book from the library rather than buy it, and on and on. People find different things important; that's how I feel, and again I cannot judge for anyone else.

An earlier poster mentioned that the wage thing is "political." Political??? What on earth makes it political? I can see perhaps "social" or "economic," but how does political enter into something like this? I certainly hope we in TV haven't reached the point of callousness to say, as Marie Antoinette said, "Let them eat cake" when there was no bread available....

I have written to Costco Central any number of times about the demographics of TV and the surrounding small cities. I have now written the email as suggested in this thread, and I will send this info to all my friends in the area who may not see this thread for themselves. I would be delighted to have a Costco warehouse close by--and it certainly doesn't have to be directly in TV but in our area; Altamonte Springs is just too far.

I forgot to mention that you don't have to be a Costco member to use Costco Pharmacy, whether at a warehouse (inconvenient for us here in TV) or at Costco.com, the latter being a mail order setup. I have had prescriptions filled there when I've found that there is significant savings over using my Medicare Part D Prescription Drug plan the way these plans are set up, believe it or not....



Ahhh yes. These issues are what I was talking about. I like Sam's and I like Walmart and I am glad the people that work there have jobs. My kids worked at McDonalds, for one it was her life work and we were and are very proud of her.


You call them social issues and I call them political issues. There will be entry level jobs and minimum wage no matter what is changed. You don't begin with all your dreams come true. None of us did.

[photo1902]

Ahhh yes. These issues are what I was talking about. I like Sam's and I like Walmart and I am glad the people that work there have jobs. My kids worked at McDonalds, for one it was her life work and we were and are very proud of her.


You call them social issues and I call them political issues. There will be entry level jobs and minimum wage no matter what is changed. You don't begin with all your dreams come true. None of us did.

???

[Brmstech]

Done, Hope it helps :)

[applesoffh]

I personally would not set foot in a Sam's Club, and the only time I visit a Walmart store is when they are the only ones who carry a specific item; fortunately this is rare. But that's me; I cannot judge for anyone else.

I read the Time article whose link was posted earlier in this thread, and if I understood it correctly, it sounds like at the bottom line--meaning prices--the two warehouses are very similar. So what's the difference?

Costco pays its employees a living wage, while at the same time I've been told that there was a collection of non-perishable food items being made at Walmart for its employees! To me, that's unfathomable. How glib it is to say that at least they have jobs.... So it may cost me a few cents more to shop elsewhere. Even if specific items are cheaper there, how can I afford to shop elsewhere? Well, I can prioritize; maybe I can eat out one time less, borrow a book from the library rather than buy it, and on and on. People find different things important; that's how I feel, and again I cannot judge for anyone else.

An earlier poster mentioned that the wage thing is "political." Political??? What on earth makes it political? I can see perhaps "social" or "economic," but how does political enter into something like this? I certainly hope we in TV haven't reached the point of callousness to say, as Marie Antoinette said, "Let them eat cake" when there was no bread available....

I have written to Costco Central any number of times about the demographics of TV and the surrounding small cities. I have now written the email as suggested in this thread, and I will send this info to all my friends in the area who may not see this thread for themselves. I would be delighted to have a Costco warehouse close by--and it certainly doesn't have to be directly in TV but in our area; Altamonte Springs is just too far.

I forgot to mention that you don't have to be a Costco member to use Costco Pharmacy, whether at a warehouse (inconvenient for us here in TV) or at Costco.com, the latter being a mail order setup. I have had prescriptions filled there when I've found that there is significant savings over using my Medicare Part D Prescription Drug plan the way these plans are set up, believe it or not....

I agree with you regarding both Sam's Club and WalMart, although I do buy gas for the car there. I never go inside, and have been in WalMart once.

I, too, would like to see Costco here, and will be sending an email as soon as I finish this.

[looneycat]

never been a store groupie, nor do i beg stores to come and take my money.

[wschoole]

This is strange...I just emailed Costco last week about this very issue. Costco's reply was that they forwarded my email to Costco's Real Estate Department and a thank you for my time.

Keep sending those emails to Costco...the more the better!

[GreenHornet]

Can not get this email address to go through, is there more to it than listed ?

[srattner]

What is the correct email.
We are very interested in a Costco here....
susanne.rattner@gmail.com

[srattner]

YEA that helped thanks-it went thru

[Licismom]

Used this email address and it went right through:w01026mkt04@costco.com
I too used population stats as well as pointing out the big box stores that we support here. Hope it works.

[ScorpioSquared]

Thank you Dotti for sharing this!!! Sent my email...fingers crossed!

[joldnol]

Costco may be an enlightened employer but their attitude to the handicapped is medieval. We will nor darken their doors again

[Wavy Chips]

Costco may be an enlightened employer but their attitude to the handicapped is medieval. We will nor darken their doors again

Care to elaborate?

[joldnol]

Care to elaborate?

We were members for years in Jax. The store only had three mobility scooters. Now I know they have no legal obligation to have any but three was too few compared to other big box stores. I complained to management on my wife's behalf but was told the three scooters they had was three more than they were required to have by law by customer service. Strike one. We made sure never to go unless we had our lift van. We liked the store so even though we had been treated poorly we continued our membership. My son has Asperger's Syndrome (think Sheldon Cooper on Big Bang). One day we were in the store shopping and he wanted to watch the game on the bank of TV's while my wife and I shopped. He was 15 at the time and was attending a college prep high school. Now I know he appears a little off socially but many people do. My wife and I were near the back of the store when a PA announcement was made "will the parents of...please report to customer service". We rushed to the front desk and my son was standing there looking terrified. I asked the associate that was standing there what was the problem. She told me she had noticed he was standing in electronics unattended. I asked her if he had done something wrong (thinking he had disturbed or annoyed someone or had touched the merchandise). She assured me his behavior was perfectly fine but someone "special" like him needed supervision. It appeared she was dancing around the word she wanted to use, "retarded". She was unaware that he has a 130 IQ. I asked if her a 15 year old needed parental supervision why she didn't deal with the two brats (who looked to be around 10) who had nearly run into my wife and me (there were two kids running through the store and skating on Heelies, Thank the Lord that was a short fad). She shrugged her shoulders so I asked to speak to a manager. I remained remarkably calm but mama bear was seriously POed. The manager backed his associate completely telling us if we wanted to continue to shop, our son would have to be with us at all times. Strike Two. My son was standing there embarrassed and humiliated. We immediately left and when I got home I contacted Corporate via email. I waited for a response and when none came I emailed them again a week later. Still no response. Strike Three. As far as my family is concerned we would love if they went bankrupt which they obviously won't. Bj's and Sam's earned our lifelong business on that day.

[bagboy]

I know there are quite of few Villagers who shop Sam's Club, and would shop Costco. But the fact of the matter is that we, the retirees living in the Villages do not fit the demographics for Costco. Warehouse stores depend on business owners, larger families and groups that have formed to buy in bulk. All of which shop on a regular basis..weekly if not more.
As retirees, our needs are much different now. We live in smaller homes with less storage for the most part. We usually don't buy in bulk. I agree warehouse stores have some items that are attractive to us, most of which are non perishable goods, paper goods, toiletries etc. But our shopping needs are not what Costco depends on. And if the Villages were to double in size, we would add 100,000 more residents that do not fit the demographics.
I have nothing against Costco, for those who want one, I hope you get it.

[KathieI]

I know there are quite of few Villagers who shop Sam's Club, and would shop Costco. But the fact of the matter is that we, the retirees living in the Villages do not fit the demographics for Costco. Warehouse stores depend on business owners, larger families and groups that have formed to buy in bulk. All of which shop on a regular basis..weekly if not more.
As retirees, our needs are much different now. We live in smaller homes with less storage for the most part. We usually don't buy in bulk. I agree warehouse stores have some items that are attractive to us, most of which are non perishable goods, paper goods, toiletries etc. But our shopping needs are not what Costco depends on. And if the Villages were to double in size, we would add 100,000 more residents that do not fit the demographics.
I have nothing against Costco, for those who want one, I hope you get it.

Great post, totally agree. Thinking this through, I would guess that a better location might be closer to Ocala or down on C301 nearer to the Florida turnpike. Then they aren't relying on seniors with smaller homes as their customer base.

[tuccillo]

There have been some stories that suggest that Costco is shifting towards trying to woo younger shoppers. Their "typical" member is older, has plenty of space to store bulk items, and has an average salary of $100K/year. It isn't clear to me that The Villages has the demographics they are looking to expand into.

Great post, totally agree. Thinking this through, I would guess that a better location might be closer to Ocala or down on C301 nearer to the Florida turnpike. Then they aren't relying on seniors with smaller homes as their customer base.

[UpNorth]

Have both Costco and Sams Club memberships. If Costco was closer, I would probably drop Sams. Too long a ride to Costco to make a real difference for me. I've tried BJ's in the past and felt that they were nowhere near the quality or pricing of Costco or Sams. Hope to see a Villages Costco here soon.

[Barefoot]

Horse Feathers! It is population and demographics that makes a store locate in any area. THE POWERS THAT BE don't own all the property in this area.

We conducted a series of communications in which he told me even with our population and that of the surrounding areas, we did not yet meet their demographics for a Costco Warehouse.

There are many "conspiracy" theories that the "powers that be" are somehow preventing Cosco from opening.
I agree with Gracie -- horse feathers.
When it makes economic sense to Cosco, they will open a store in The Villages, and not before.

[Quixote]

I know there are quite of few Villagers who shop Sam's Club, and would shop Costco. But the fact of the matter is that we, the retirees living in the Villages do not fit the demographics for Costco. Warehouse stores depend on business owners, larger families and groups that have formed to buy in bulk. All of which shop on a regular basis..weekly if not more.
As retirees, our needs are much different now. We live in smaller homes with less storage for the most part. We usually don't buy in bulk. I agree warehouse stores have some items that are attractive to us, most of which are non perishable goods, paper goods, toiletries etc. But our shopping needs are not what Costco depends on. And if the Villages were to double in size, we would add 100,000 more residents that do not fit the demographics.
I have nothing against Costco, for those who want one, I hope you get it.


There are indeed "quite a few Villagers who shop Sam's Club," and theoretically we don't fit their demographics either (which would be the same demographics for Costco). I would think that if a Costco were nearby (and I don't necessarily mean in or immediately adjacent to TV but somewhere in our region and much closer than Altamonte Springs), many of those Sam's Club shoppers would switch to Costco. Just my opinion....

The rare times we're able to get to Costco, we can spend $300-400; more often, though, others will pick up a few items for us. If they were local to us, we would shop more often and (obviously...) spend less each visit. But we would certainly use them a lot more than we're able to now.

[PJackpot]

I've tried 4 times now. Can one of you that was successful share how you did it? WWW.-------------------.com. Please fill in
Do not put the WWW in the address.

[dotti105]

Yep. This is not a website address. It is an email address. Don't type in www. before the email address. It will go through.

[jblum315]

I had a Costco card for many years in NY.
And now SAMs Club. The only difference I perceive is that I did a lot more impulse buying at Costco. I guess the layout was more attractive.

[grapevine]

can't use the words dot com if you copied and pasted. need to change to proper email symbols. Good luck.

[Chatbrat]

If Costco came nearby--it would be our only hope of getting good Italian bread without having to go to St. Pete

[LuckySevens]

For those of you who are interested in letting Costco know that we Villagers are looking forward to having a store located here, I have an email address for you.

A neighbor on the "NextDoor" forum has been in contact with Costco and has been persistent enough to find out who to communicate with.

Email Robin at this email address, "w01026mkt04@costco dot com". She has has responded and thus far over 50 Villagers have emailed her regarding our desire to have a store here. (I put the quotes and the 'dot com' in so that this does not get xxxxx'ed out by the powers that be.)

Robin is passing the emails on to the head of the real estate dept. to be sure that they get in the right hands. She recently replied that she was surprised to get so many letters of interest and to keep sending them in.

So there you go! Email Robin and let Costco know that this will be a great market for them!

I sent a detailed email to Robin for Costco. Please ask your friends to do the same.

[CindyNah1]

I'd LOVE to have one closer to the village. I loved mine in PA:BigApplause::BigApplause:

[dirtbanker]

Horse Feathers! It is population and demographics that makes a store locate in any area. THE POWERS THAT BE don't own all the property in this area.

I agree that Costco could purchase land just outside the Villages (as Sam's did) and the developer would have little to say about it (of course the developer could try to influence the municipality that would issue the building permit, but that apparently did not happen with Sam's?).

I believe the demographics are good for a Costco in The Villages. Obviously Sam's thought so too, and Sam's is doing well with the store in Lady Lake (at least the parking lot appears to be full of cars most times of the day).

[dirtbanker]

Care to elaborate?

Thanks for that! :ohdear:

[graciegirl]

I agree that Costco could purchase land just outside the Villages (as Sam's did) and the developer would have little to say about it (of course the developer could try to influence the municipality that would issue the building permit, but that apparently did not happen with Sam's?).

I believe the demographics are good for a Costco in The Villages. Obviously Sam's thought so too, and Sam's is doing well with the store in Lady Lake (at least the parking lot appears to be full of cars most times of the day).



There is a term for this in business. It is called adequate distribution. Although many might like to have another large wholesale club, the goods, services, supplies sold at Sam's may AT THIS POINT have adequate distribution.


OR you can only cut the pie in so many ways.


I think the whole kerfuffle (as Judge Judy says) is the issue of how much the workers are paid. I don't see any significant difference in the goods and services between Costco and Sam's Club. If you wish for overgrowth, you wish for urban decay and dead business and vacant buildings. You have to look at the big picture and not just what you would like.


Or..........carry on. Go for it. It is whizzing in the wind because it is based on population and demographics and distribution. Impassioned pleas aren't going to change how and where Costco spends the huge amount to open a new store.

[dirtbanker]

It is whizzing in the wind because it is based on population and demographics and distribution. Impassioned pleas aren't going to change how and where Costco spends the huge amount to open a new store.

True. Neither yours, or my, personal interpretations of the "population and demographics and distribution" are going to influence their decision. ;-)

[rcook715]

w01026mkt04@costco dot com change to w01026mkt04@costco.com

[Walt.]

True. Neither yours, or my, personal interpretations of the "population and demographics and distribution" are going to influence their decision. ;-)

Or... if we really want a Costco...
Let's find a barn and build a stage in it. Then we could make costumes, write songs, build sets and put on a show!!
I don't know exactly how this would get a Costco... but it always worked for Andy Hardy.

[Dolphin416]

I too have submitted an email to Costco to support The Villages as a preferred location. Thanks for sharing the information.:)

For those of you who are interested in letting Costco know that we Villagers are looking forward to having a store located here, I have an email address for you.

A neighbor on the "NextDoor" forum has been in contact with Costco and has been persistent enough to find out who to communicate with.

Email Robin at this email address, "w01026mkt04@costco dot com". She has has responded and thus far over 50 Villagers have emailed her regarding our desire to have a store here. (I put the quotes and the 'dot com' in so that this does not get xxxxx'ed out by the powers that be.)

Robin is passing the emails on to the head of the real estate dept. to be sure that they get in the right hands. She recently replied that she was surprised to get so many letters of interest and to keep sending them in.

So there you go! Email Robin and let Costco know that this will be a great market for them!

[photo1902]

:coolsmiley:I too have submitted an email to Costco to support The Villages as a preferred location. Thanks for sharing the information.:)

[memason]

When you contact Costco, send them this link.... There is good demographic information contained on the page...population growth projections, average Villagers' income, etc....

The Villages Commercial Property Sales & Leasing (http://www.thevillagescommercialproperty.com/the-villages-market.asp)