A lot of Costcos also have a complete pharmacy and an onsite optometrist and optical shop.
[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
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=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.
[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.