Sam's vs Costco

[DOREEN1779]

Bingo. Costco avoids lower income areas, and their shoppers have on average twice the income of a Sams Club shoppers.

I think the Wall Street Journal even described Costco as Sams Club for the wealthy.


http://www.chicagonow.com/windy-city-young-republicans/2013/07/costco-vs-walmart/

I have shopped at Costco for 20 plus years( before that they were Price Club). I agree that they do avoid lower income areas but that really isn't a bad thing. When I go into Costco, I recognize the people who work there, They are my neighbors. Why? Because Costco pays them well and provides a nice health insurance package. The Costco in my area runs fundraisers for the children's hospital in our area as well as donating to our local schools. There are countless reasons why they would not want to open in lower income areas but I don't know why that would be a bad thing. They are appealing to a certain demographic. They are a for profit company that pay better then SAMS Club or Walmart. That is why the succeed. Google the richest people in America, most of them are Walmart heirs. Why? Because our area SAMS and Walmart pays minimum wage vs Costco's starting hourly at $17.00 an hour.

 

[tvguy]

I have shopped at Costco for 20 plus years( before that they were Price Club). I agree that they do avoid lower income areas but that really isn't a bad thing. When I go into Costco, I recognize the people who work there, They are my neighbors. Why? Because Costco pays them well and provides a nice health insurance package. The Costco in my area runs fundraisers for the children's hospital in our area as well as donating to our local schools. There are countless reasons why they would not want to open in lower income areas but I don't know why that would be a bad thing. They are appealing to a certain demographic. They are a for profit company that pay better then SAMS Club or Walmart. That is why the succeed. Google the richest people in America, most of them are Walmart heirs. Why? Because our area SAMS and Walmart pays minimum wage vs Costco's starting hourly at $17.00 an hour.

I think the most interesting comment I saw about pay in the U.S. came in about 2009, as the economy was way down. An economist said the U.S. is going to have to rethink how it pays two sectors of the workforce, corporate executives, and unskilled/ low skilled laborers. He said it's clear we can't be paying corporate executives millions any longer, and people can't expect unskilled low skilled jobs to be careers.

 

[mhsjax]

Hmm...Amex is a credit card . The one I have is just like my Visa and Discover card. I know that until a few years ago Sam's only took Discover, now they also do MC. I have to say Amex is our card of choice, great extra coverage on electronics, great customer service and I like the cash rewards I get back.

Nope Amex is a charge card, one of the first things they drill into your head when you go to work for them. Now Optima is a revolving credit card, but the standard green , gold and platinum American Express cards are "charge cards" you can't revolve and they must be paid off when the bill comes.

Sorry, too many years at American Express.

 

[mrsclark]

Nope Amex is a charge card, one of the first things they drill into your head when you go to work for them. Now Optima is a revolving credit card, but the standard green , gold and platinum American Express cards are "charge cards" you can't revolve and they must be paid off when the bill comes.

Sorry, too many years at American Express.

The Costco Amex is a credit card not a charge card - on Amex's own website it tells you interest on purchases - 0% for the first six months and then a variable interest rate after that (currently at 15.24%).

https://www304.americanexpress.com/credit-card/costco-american-express

 

[mrsclark]

I have shopped at Costco for 20 plus years( before that they were Price Club). I agree that they do avoid lower income areas but that really isn't a bad thing. When I go into Costco, I recognize the people who work there, They are my neighbors. Why? Because Costco pays them well and provides a nice health insurance package. The Costco in my area runs fundraisers for the children's hospital in our area as well as donating to our local schools. There are countless reasons why they would not want to open in lower income areas but I don't know why that would be a bad thing. They are appealing to a certain demographic. They are a for profit company that pay better then SAMS Club or Walmart. That is why the succeed. Google the richest people in America, most of them are Walmart heirs. Why? Because our area SAMS and Walmart pays minimum wage vs Costco's starting hourly at $17.00 an hour.

Perhaps Costco does pay a starting wage of $17 per hour in some areas, but in our area the starting hourly rate is $11 per hour - still better than Wal-mart, but not double the minimum wage.

 

[disneymagicgirl]

Nope Amex is a charge card, one of the first things they drill into your head when you go to work for them. Now Optima is a revolving credit card, but the standard green , gold and platinum American Express cards are "charge cards" you can't revolve and they must be paid off when the bill comes.

Sorry, too many years at American Express.

My Costco am ex is revolving and I can carry a balance if I choose.

 

[quirty30]

Hmm...Amex is a credit card . The one I have is just like my Visa and Discover card. I know that until a few years ago Sam's only took Discover, now they also do MC. I have to say Amex is our card of choice, great extra coverage on electronics, great customer service and I like the cash rewards I get back.

Perhaps I should have said "Amex is the ONLY credit card" they take. I have a multiple credit cards already that I'm happy with so I don't want or need a Costco Amex. So when I shop at Costco, it comes right out of my checking account. And I don't like that so much.

 

[mhsjax]

The Costco Amex is a credit card not a charge card - on Amex's own website it tells you interest on purchases - 0% for the first six months and then a variable interest rate after that (currently at 15.24%).

https://www304.americanexpress.com/credit-card/costco-american-express

Oops, Sorry. I thought she was talking about "Am Ex" in general. Because this is a mistake that people often make. I don't use credit cards, and haven't worked at Am Ex for years. Didn't even know this little jewel existed. I stand corrected.

 

[DOREEN1779]

Perhaps Costco does pay a starting wage of $17 per hour in some areas, but in our area the starting hourly rate is $11 per hour - still better than Wal-mart, but not double the minimum wage.

It varies by area because of the cost of living. Costco is a well run company that does their research. The pay scale they use reflects the community they open in. Walmart uses an across the board starting rate regardless of area.

 

[AntFarm]

I prefer Sams. They have more of the types of items my family uses. I buy a lot of meats, produce and dairy at Sams. Also get granola bars, powdered gatorade, dental floss and deoderant. I recently bought a two pack of Roc retinol night cream for not much more than one would have cost at Target.

Yep, we prefer Sam's Club for similar reasons. I know it isn't chic or cool to like anything associated with Walmart but we do

 

[lnh'smom]

Thanks for all your thoughts and responses. I think maybe I'll look around Costco and see how it compares for the thing our family uses and we'll go from there. And for those of you that mentioned it, yep, we live in Fort Wayne!

 

[Phlip]

Oops, Sorry. I thought she was talking about "Am Ex" in general. Because this is a mistake that people often make. I don't use credit cards, and haven't worked at Am Ex for years. Didn't even know this little jewel existed. I stand corrected.

American Express offers several charge cards and credit cards and have for several years. There are several co-branded cards too. Go to their website and you can see them all.

 

[Phlip]

Costco/Price Club does and did open in lower income areas.. The income in the area doesn't have as much influence as accessibility (highway access, etc.), cost of running the business, cost of real estate, etc. kind of a 'if you build it, they will come' kind of thing. Price Club was union, and paid scale per the negotiated contract for that area. Back when, West coast wages were higher than east coast. Arizona was a right to work state, so no union, but they followed the same contract, wages etc. as west coast. Costco used the same sort of model, but no union. There is some latitude allowed for starting pay-experience, position, etc.-and the contracted starting pay rate doesn't vary too much from state to state.

 

[ICF]

We've been members of both of the years, but prefer Sam's as they seem to be more of them in the area....and as such it's easier to stop into one or get gas.

 

[Judique]

I will say, though, I really like the self-checkout at Sam's - saves a lot of time!

Our Costco has self checkouts in addition to regular checkouts. I have noticed that several other Costco's in our extended area do not.

 

[yanilat]

After being a Costco Member for five years and recently moved to where there is only Sam's Club, I prefer Costco..if Costco opens up in our City, and even though it will be a drive, I would drop my Sam's membership in a heartbeat despite it is only 15 mins away

 

[manning]

Costco has spent years "in trouble" with Wall Street because they could be making a lot more profit than they do - Wall Street doesn't believe Costco should provide the pay scale or benefits to employees that they do.

Analysts don't tend to say the same things about WalMart.

Not that Costco doesn't make a profit - they do - but they aren't returning value to shareholders they way they could if they put in more part timers, stopped paying benefits, and stopped paying a living wage.

And Costco has told them that. I remember reading several years ago Wall Street tried to press Costco to lower wages and benefits for their employees. Their response was thanks , but no thanks. The employees were one of their big reasons for success.

Also I had a Cuisinart K-cup coffee maker for three years that gave me trouble. I couldn't find the receipt and called Costco to see if I could get a copy in hopes of getting Cuisinart to fix it. They said bring it in for a full refund. The only other retail I saw that happen was Sears in the 50s.

 

[JGoodish]

Costco has spent years "in trouble" with Wall Street because they could be making a lot more profit than they do - Wall Street doesn't believe Costco should provide the pay scale or benefits to employees that they do. Analysts don't tend to say the same things about WalMart. Not that Costco doesn't make a profit - they do - but they aren't returning value to shareholders they way they could if they put in more part timers, stopped paying benefits, and stopped paying a living wage.

No company is accountable to "Wall Street," whatever that might be; companies are accountable to their investors. If investors aren't happy with the way a certain company is run, they will change the leadership or divest from it. This is true whether the company is Costco or Walmart.

No company, including Costco, can afford to pay people based on anything other than productivity, or they would quickly go out of business. Business isn't the fantasyland government paradise that can subsidize less productive individuals by forcefully taking money earned by their more productive coworkers. Costco appears to simply run a more efficient business than Walmart, one that is focused on the consumer. They appear to value employee retention, and do a good job of training and promoting employees, even into senior management positions, because they know that this results in better efficiency and greater customer satisfaction. They have high quality standards for suppliers, because they know that customers will reward them for it. That's why they beat the pants off of Sam's Club, not because their customers are social activists looking to feel good about where they buy their organic milk.

Sorry to sound so harsh, but the implication that Costco is somehow "sticking it" to their investors in the name of social or economic justice demonstrates a misunderstanding of how companies operate.


JKG

 

[lauradis]

No company is accountable to "Wall Street," whatever that might be; companies are accountable to their investors. If investors aren't happy with the way a certain company is run, they will change the leadership or divest from it. This is true whether the company is Costco or Walmart.

No company, including Costco, can afford to pay people based on anything other than productivity, or they would quickly go out of business. Business isn't the fantasyland government paradise that can subsidize less productive individuals by forcefully taking money earned by their more productive coworkers. Costco appears to simply run a more efficient business than Walmart, one that is focused on the consumer. They appear to value employee retention, and do a good job of training and promoting employees, even into senior management positions, because they know that this results in better efficiency and greater customer satisfaction. They have high quality standards for suppliers, because they know that customers will reward them for it. That's why they beat the pants off of Sam's Club, not because their customers are social activists looking to feel good about where they buy their organic milk.

Sorry to sound so harsh, but the implication that Costco is somehow "sticking it" to their investors in the name of social or economic justice demonstrates a misunderstanding of how companies operate.

JKG

Thumps up $$$$$ rule in business.

 

[pjlla]

Interested to find this today. I was just talking to DH last night about dropping our Costco membership in favor of a Sam's Club. I will admit I am NOT a fan of Walmart and will avoid it at ANY COST. Many years ago we had a BJ's membership and liked it okay, but not enough to make the drive (45 minutes to the closest).

DH decided about 2 years ago to get us a Costco membership, even though the nearest Costco is an hour's drive. It was an occasional trip for us for the first year (but we did/do love it), but last year our DD started swimming for a new club that was just a few miles away from Costco, so it easily became a regular stop for me. Now she is gone to college and so Costco will again become a "once-in-a-while" stop for us now. There is a Sam's Club about 35 minutes away, so I thought that maybe we be better off there. But after reading all that was said here, I think I'll stick with my Costco membership and try to work it into the schedule at least once a month. Wish it could more often, as I love their produce and DD adores the dried mango!

Thanks for all of the opinions and such! .......................P