Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Politics : PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Mana who wrote (694942)	8/2/2005 12:52:38 PM
From: DuckTapeSunroof	Respond to of 769670

Yep, Mana.... (Of course, it also goes without saying that a free people can make up their own minds about where they wish to shop, or not shop. There was an interesting NYT piece last week about COSTCO --- still linked on their front page, I believe --- that illustrated the somewhat different path COSTCO has chosen for itself... It pays well above the prevailing wages, and offers much better company health care for one example [& so benefits from MUCH lower hiring and retraining costs then it's competitors like Sam's Club or Walmart... people strongly desire to stay at COSTCO and make careers out of it]. Although it's management squeezes it's suppliers just as hard as Walmart to get low prices [an example was given of it dropping a vendor who wasn't giving it the same, or better, price then it was giving Walmart... :)] Another business choice it has made is to carry a somewhat SMALLER line of merchandise then Sam's Club... but to support those products in the after-market better, or for longer. Perhaps as a result, COSTCO has a HIGHER AVERAGE PER-CAPITA INCOME in it's customer base then it's competitors do.) All choices. Incidentially, back to Walmart: I expect (if China continues to re-value it's currency higher over the next few years) that Walmart will CONTINUE it's low-priced strategy... but will likely shift it's sourcing to lower-cost locales, Vietnam, India, Bangladesh, Burma, where ever....