Last I heard, their profits were nearly entirely from memberships. This was probably five years ago though. I don’t know if their numbers have changed since.
I left reddit after the API fiasco and didn’t return, but I remembered seeing this on Data is Beautiful before that, so I just looked it up for you. (My search query in DDG was “data is beautiful reddit Costco profit margins” and a few popped up; this was the most recent.)
Transcription: infographic states
Net sales +$77.4B
Merch costs -$69.2B
Membership fees +$1.5B
SG&A -$6.9B (Selling, General, and Administrative Expenses)
Taxes -$0.8B
I wish more companies had this mindset. If you treat your employees well and listen to their needs, they won’t need to unionize. When they do unionize, it means they don’t feel that they have been treated well and listened to.
It seems that the end result of this philosophy would be to treat your employees well!
If you have an employer that does the right thing, you should have a union that doesn’t need to do much. But you should still unionise, because it’s niave to think the company will always continue to behave that way. If anything, they naturally drift away from that state and it’s only a matter of time until it changes. The union is about having a level playing field with the company when you need it.
Unionize it’s not only about raising your working conditions. It’s about helping other to raise theirs. If you have better conditions you can tell other business owners that what the Union is asking, you already have it. One less point where they can grab themselves.
To be fair, he’s not really wrong, meaning that they’ve failed to take good enough care of their people, and my understanding is he didn’t stand in the way of one forming…
“I came to [Sinegal] once and I said, ‘Jim, we can’t sell this hot dog for a buck fifty. We are losing our rear ends,’” Jelinek recalled in a 2018 interview with 425 Business. “And he said, ‘If you raise the effing hot dog, I will kill you. Figure it out.’”
Think the CEO of Costco did a similar move with the hot dogs
Close. The founder told the CEO if he raised the price on the hotdog “I will fucking kill you”.
So, who really gets the credit here is up to you.
The person who threatened to kill the CEO if the CEO fucked his customers, or the CEO who didn’t fuck his customers out of self-preservation?
They also bought 2 hotdog factories to minimize the loss.
Costco does pay decent as well.
Could they do better? Yes, but they are pretty decent for employees and consumers.
What if the killer was the Costco founder? He told the United Healthcare CEO the same thing and then followed through.
So what your saying is, Costco’s founder and the shooter have a similar energy?
Costco also puts a maximum percent profit on items.
Really? That’s awesome.
Apparently they make more money from memberships than from sales margins, which are capped.
Last I heard, their profits were nearly entirely from memberships. This was probably five years ago though. I don’t know if their numbers have changed since.
I first heard about that like twenty years ago and apparently is still true today
Does anyone have a source for this?
I left reddit after the API fiasco and didn’t return, but I remembered seeing this on Data is Beautiful before that, so I just looked it up for you. (My search query in DDG was “data is beautiful reddit Costco profit margins” and a few popped up; this was the most recent.)
Transcription: infographic states
Net sales +$77.4B
Merch costs -$69.2B
Membership fees +$1.5B
SG&A -$6.9B (Selling, General, and Administrative Expenses)
Taxes -$0.8B
Net profit $2.2B (2% margin)
Source listed as: Costco Q4 FY 23 earnings
Edit: format failing :(
Great graphic, thanks
Thank you very much!
Also. I believe, he also said , if the workers think they need a union, we’ve failed as managers.
So. Yeah
I mean, it’s an understandable viewpoint.
It’s when union busting tactics are being brought in that things are problematic.
That’s because you view it entirely positively, instead of from the angle that he doesn’t want them to even know of the possibility.
I wish more companies had this mindset. If you treat your employees well and listen to their needs, they won’t need to unionize. When they do unionize, it means they don’t feel that they have been treated well and listened to.
It seems that the end result of this philosophy would be to treat your employees well!
If you have an employer that does the right thing, you should have a union that doesn’t need to do much. But you should still unionise, because it’s niave to think the company will always continue to behave that way. If anything, they naturally drift away from that state and it’s only a matter of time until it changes. The union is about having a level playing field with the company when you need it.
Unionize it’s not only about raising your working conditions. It’s about helping other to raise theirs. If you have better conditions you can tell other business owners that what the Union is asking, you already have it. One less point where they can grab themselves.
its an interesting difference in perspective for sure. here you join as a matter of course because you can push back against changes that are bad.
To be fair, he’s not really wrong, meaning that they’ve failed to take good enough care of their people, and my understanding is he didn’t stand in the way of one forming…
“I came to [Sinegal] once and I said, ‘Jim, we can’t sell this hot dog for a buck fifty. We are losing our rear ends,’” Jelinek recalled in a 2018 interview with 425 Business. “And he said, ‘If you raise the effing hot dog, I will kill you. Figure it out.’”
https://thehill.com/homenews/4696314-costcos-new-cfo-makes-announcement-about-1-50-hot-dog-combo/#:~:text=We are losing our rear ends%2C’%E2%80%9D%20Jelinek,effing%20hot%20dog%2C%20I%20will%20kill%20you.
Out of curiosity, how is it legal for Sinegal to say that to Jelinek? Or it isn’t but no one cares to press charges?
I’m sure the guy can tell the difference between a genuine threat and a hyperbole.
Prob same reason you can say “choke me daddy” ‘OK’ in bed
Not all jurisdictions consider that kind of phrase illegal without an apparent attempt to carry it out.