Joined: Sun Oct 17, 2004 7:19 pm Posts: 39068 Location: Chapel Hill, NC, USA Gender: Male
Quote:
CostCo vs. Wal-Mart
The Financial Times has a nice article on the classic CostCo vs. Wal-Mart head-to-head. Most notably, the vast differences in average wage—$17.41 per hour at Costco, $12 per hour at Wal-Mart's Sam's Club—don't seem to be hurting the former any. And the resulting lower employee turnover—17 percent at Costco compared to 70 percent in the rest of the sector—has probably helped the company's productivity. As anyone who's worked at a large retail chain can attest, you don't tend to put in much effort if you're only sticking around for a few months. The other key factor here, as Nathan Newman points out, is that about a fifth of Costco's workers are unionized, which in turn has had ripple effects for the rest of the chain's employees. (Though I believe Costco paid decent wages, and treated its workers fairly, before it acquired the unionized Price Club in 1993.)
Anyway, this brings to mind an old-but-worthwhile Seattle Weekly article. In 2003, investors flipped out at Costco co-founder Jim Sinegal—he was treating his workers and customers much too well for Wall Street's tastes, you see. Sinegal held on, but he seems like the great exception here; most CEOs obviously won't rank "rewarding shareholders" as their fifth priority. The piece also quotes a number of experts squaring off on whether the CostCo model always makes good financial sense for companies to pursue on their own. Not every store can be like CostCo, after all, and consumers might be worse off if CostCo was all there was. The likely answer, then: it depends. If the federal minimum wage were raised, or if the country was running at full employment and wages started rising naturally, businesses like Wal-Mart might run into trouble, and companies such as CostCo would thrive. (Although, worth noting that Wal-Mart managed just fine during the tight labor market in the late '90s.)
_________________ "Though some may think there should be a separation between art/music and politics, it should be reinforced that art can be a form of nonviolent protest." - e.v.
Joined: Mon Oct 18, 2004 4:50 pm Posts: 3955 Location: Leaving Here
I don't shop at either of them (neither Costco nor Wal-Mart).
Depending upon what I need, I "spred it around" and shop at Target, Walgreens, Longs, Rite-Aid, Mervyns, Orchard Supply Hardware, Safeway, Nob Hill Foods, Cosentino's, and Petco or Petsmart for pet supply stuff. That along with online shopping for music and books, and I have no use for Costco nor Walmart.
Joined: Sun Oct 17, 2004 7:19 pm Posts: 39068 Location: Chapel Hill, NC, USA Gender: Male
Can you believe how much better they pay their employees???
_________________ "Though some may think there should be a separation between art/music and politics, it should be reinforced that art can be a form of nonviolent protest." - e.v.
Joined: Sun Oct 17, 2004 7:19 pm Posts: 39068 Location: Chapel Hill, NC, USA Gender: Male
PJDoll wrote:
I would like to suggest that all Walmart workers go work at Costco.
there, end of thread.
What should they do when Costco can't hire them all and they just quit at Wal-Mart?
Real responsible, PJDoll!!!
_________________ "Though some may think there should be a separation between art/music and politics, it should be reinforced that art can be a form of nonviolent protest." - e.v.
Joined: Sun Oct 17, 2004 7:19 pm Posts: 39068 Location: Chapel Hill, NC, USA Gender: Male
Walmart smells like death.
_________________ "Though some may think there should be a separation between art/music and politics, it should be reinforced that art can be a form of nonviolent protest." - e.v.
Joined: Sun Oct 17, 2004 7:19 pm Posts: 39068 Location: Chapel Hill, NC, USA Gender: Male
PJDoll wrote:
B wrote:
Walmart smells like death.
Yeah, and costco's a haven of fresh air?
I don't know where a Costco is. I've never been in one. Maybe.
_________________ "Though some may think there should be a separation between art/music and politics, it should be reinforced that art can be a form of nonviolent protest." - e.v.
Joined: Sat Oct 16, 2004 11:52 pm Posts: 1058 Location: Hong Kong
I don't shop at either. Walmart gives me a sick feeling as soon as I walk in and I am not in the market very often for a 40 lb. tub of butter from Costco.
Joined: Sat Mar 19, 2005 7:50 pm Posts: 10229 Location: WA (aka Waaaaaaaahhhh!!) Gender: Male
petemd wrote:
I don't shop at either. Walmart gives me a sick feeling as soon as I walk in and I am not in the market very often for a 40 lb. tub of butter from Costco.
Agreed, partially. There are a lot of things there that would go bad before I even consumed half of it...Costco dominates though cuz you can stock up on dry goods and frozen foods for cheap.
Joined: Sun Oct 17, 2004 12:59 am Posts: 18643 Location: Raleigh, NC Gender: Male
Costco rocks.
I got Copper River salmon for $7/lb, rather than the $25 the grocers were charging.
I get most of my meat there, bath products, film developed, beer, wines...
Joined: Wed Mar 02, 2005 3:43 am Posts: 18418 Location: Anytown, USA Gender: Male
the costco around here starts at $15/hour.
i shop at both, but costco is like a once every two months thing, where wal mart is more like a once a week thing.
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stip wrote:
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