# American Supermarkets **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 27, 2007, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-supermarkets/413374 "2007-07-27T14:35:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![cher3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/da6949/32.png) [@cher3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cher3)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2007, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-supermarkets/413374/21 "2007-07-27T19:42:16Z")
A lot of Costcos also have a complete pharmacy and an onsite optometrist and optical shop. ---
**Author:** ![chowder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/977dab/32.png) [@chowder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chowder)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2007, 5:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-supermarkets/413374/22 "2007-07-28T05:47:57Z")
[QUOTE=gotpasswords] Some 25 years or so ago when I worked at Dominick’s near Chicago, (a supermarket chain that’s now part of Safeway) we sold oil in the paperboard cans. I think the bigger reason for the switch was improvements in plastic containers and being able to make squared-off containers so very little space is wasted between the containers, gaining some efficiency in shipping. \*\*chowder \*\* - what is the retail trade vs the public? Around here, sales to the general public are retail. It’s wholesale that’s somewhat off-limits to people and theoiretically limited to resellers. As for what they sell, there’s practically nothing that Costco does not sell. Whether you want a carton of 15 dozen eggs, or a casket (overnight shipping is available) or a whole raft of services such as health insurance, tires, garage door installation or new car purchase, or even a mortgage, you can get it. [/QUOTE] Apologies, I got it wrong. :smack: You’re quite right, what I should have said was “wholesale” and not to the general public ---
**Author:** ![Ximenean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/aca169/32.png) [@Ximenean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ximenean)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2007, 7:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-supermarkets/413374/23 "2007-07-28T07:27:56Z")
It made sense to me. “They cater to the retail trade” meaning they cater to retailers, i.e. store owners. Maybe it’s a British vs. American English thing. ---
**Author:** ![Omega\_Glory](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/7c8e57/32.png) [@Omega\_Glory](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omega_Glory)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2007, 12:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-supermarkets/413374/24 "2007-07-28T12:36:12Z")
[QUOTE=cher3] A lot of Costcos also have a complete pharmacy and an onsite optometrist and optical shop. [/QUOTE] The local super walmart has these, along with a bank and a hair salon. ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2007, 1:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-supermarkets/413374/25 "2007-07-28T13:03:46Z")
[QUOTE=Usram] It made sense to me. “They cater to the retail trade” meaning they cater to retailers, i.e. store owners. Maybe it’s a British vs. American English thing. [/QUOTE] As **butler1850** alluded to, CostCo started out that way but then it changed. It used to be you had to be a business owner to shop there, then some companies could offer membership as a ‘perq’ for their employees\* and it’s still kinda like that. If you’re not a member, and an employee, and your employer doesn’t have membership privileges, then you have to find a current member to ‘recommend’ you. Given the penetration into the general public, it’s not difficult to find a friend who’s already a member. One small vestige of that is there are two classes of members, Business (with a black card) and Gold Star (white with a [wait for it] Gold Star). The first three hours the store is open, eight to eleven for my local store, it’s business members only. From that point to closing it’s everybody. \*I put perq in quotes because the employer doesn’t pay the membership fee (currently $45 per year), just the right to apply. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-supermarkets/413374.md?page=1)