Pelican Parts Forums - Costco today: two interesting observations...

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Quote:

Originally Posted by dd74 (Post 4096158)

I'm still stumped about how you don't have to be a member to buy booze.

No membership required for prescriptions, either...

From the web:

http://www.bargaineering.com/articles/buy-alcohol-from-warehouse-stores-without-memberships.html

thought I'd make this it's own thread since it's really useful and I'm surprised not too many people know about it, let alone how many people don't believe me when I tell them.

You can but alcohol at Costco without a Costco Membership. Most Costco employees don't know about it either or play stupid as they do not want it word to spread.

Things to know-

-You must get what is called a temporary alcohol shopping pass at the member services desk when you walk in
-You can buy alcohol and alcohol only
-You can only pay with cash
-Pass is valid for one day (you can keep getting them over and over again)
-Some employees will deny it exists but if you argue long and hard and ask to speak to their supervisor or their supervisor's supervisor, they'll give in.
-There is no mark-up simply because you do not have a Costco Membership - you'll pay the same as if you did have a membership.
-I believe the same rules/regulations apply to the pharmacy as well, but don't quote me since I haven't tried yet.

I've uploaded a pic of what it looks like (it's one of my yelper pics - you can see the pass and the rest of my pics by clicking on my profile). FYI, most of the pics here originated from me drinking the alcohol I bought from Costco.

11/22/2006 carlos l. says:

i work there. let them know you're going for alcohol or prescriptions. they'll let you in. cash or debit cards only. however, they won't let you purchase anything else. i guess there are laws that say you can't deny peeps their medications.... and ALCOHOL! WOO HOO!

Wow! In a way, I can understand not needing a membership for something as important as prescriptions. But alcohol? I don't know what the thinking is behind that. Maybe it's because people don't usually buy Patron in bulk.

Quote:

Originally Posted by dd74 (Post 4096334)

There's probably verbage in state laws regarding liquor licenses indicating you can't restrict sales to the public (or sumthin' like that)...
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/support/smileys/wat6.gif

Yeah, but to buy a pack of ground round, one has to be a member. Strange...

Quote:

Originally Posted by dd74 (Post 4096350)

Yeah, but to buy a pack of ground round, one has to be a member. Strange...

Dunno...is there a specialty license required to sell round discs of ground cow? :confused:

There should be. Bad meat could kill a person as readily as too much booze. I know there are meat inspectors.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Danny_Ocean (Post 4096318)

Things to know-

-You must get what is called a temporary alcohol shopping pass at the member services desk when you walk in
-You can buy alcohol and alcohol only
-You can only pay with cash
-Pass is valid for one day (you can keep getting them over and over again)
-Some employees will deny it exists but if you argue long and hard and ask to speak to their supervisor or their supervisor's supervisor, they'll give in.
-There is no mark-up simply because you do not have a Costco Membership - you'll pay the same as if you did have a membership.
-I believe the same rules/regulations apply to the pharmacy as well, but don't quote me since I haven't tried yet.
[/i]

Why on earth would anybody go thru this much trouble. Just buy a darn membership and move on....

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tidybuoy (Post 4096477)

Why on earth would anybody go thru this much trouble. Just buy a darn membership and move on....

All those steps are completely unnecessary, I know a multiple people that go to costco and buy booze w/out a card. This is also at many different locations. I don't even show my card when I enter anyway, I just pat my wallet and tell them its in there. I have done this at 4+ Costcos. All that matters is if you have your card at checkout.

And the whole deal about checking receipts at the end- does that extra minute or less really destroy your shopping experience? I completely understand why they do this because they sell many small high priced items what would be easy to hide in a cart.

Quote:

Originally Posted by jhynesrockmtn (Post 4092904)

I audited Costco early in my career. I'm talking mid 80's when they had 12 warehouses. We took them public. I've been a loyal customer ever since.

Yes, they charge to be a member but their margins are the thinnest across the board that they can maintain and sustain the business.
They are non union but maintain a union like pay structure and have great employee benefits. They promote from within and treat their employees well. Look at the name badges some time. Note how many people have been there for years. Cashiers with 8-10 years of service. I know people from their accounting dept. who've been there since the early 80's.
Their executive team is largely the same as it was 20 years ago. Top notch people who don't gouge their shareholders with multi million dollar pay packages. Yes, they are rich, rich from over 20 years of doing things the right way and long term stock appreciation.
They sell quality stuff. Yes, a lot of it you don't need but you don't have to buy it.
Most of their business is actually wholesale, over 60% to small business owners buying restaurant supplies, etc.

Their business model is somewhat recession proof and that has been part of their plan since day one. When people are hurting financially, they'll look to save money and go to Costco. When things are going well, they want the $500 Dyson and expensive BBQ, also going to Costco.

Interesting.

I see Costco has having a split Personality. On one hand, you get everyday staples in huge sizes and the quality is generally quite good. You can expect to find these items everyday. Then you have the other side which is merchandise that shows up and when it is gone, it is gone.

I had a friend who sold wholesale furniture. He told me he did a contract with Costco for a specific chair in a popular color. Sold like hotcakes. When he approached them at doing it again, they said yes, but only if it was in a different color. He told them it would not sell as well but they ordered anyway. As predicted, they sold but slower than the first batch. Costco wanted to do it again in a third color. He told them the color was a DOG but they wanted to try anyway. took a long time for that batch to sell.

Costco has trained us to know that while we can come everyday for our staples, the special stuff needs to be bought when we see it or there will be NO second chance. Pretty clever way to create impulse spending.

Those guys are pretty smart.