Posted on 07/22/2005 7:17:48 AM PDT by TaxRelief
Heinz does make the best ketchup. Hunts is terrible.
You should really try Costco's Kool Aid PD. It rocks. Great taste, less filling AND a solution to the Social Security mess all in one. Jim Jones gave it a thumbs up !!!!
Costco's bulk items are good quality...
Sam's Club sells cheap crap in bulk.
I've never been to a Costco, but go to my local Sam's often and the stuff they sell there is mostly name brand stuff in bulk. They have a private label and in most cases, it is as good as the named brand stuff. And you can beat there prices on meat.
Quote: I would shop there is Karl Marx himself was checking cards at the door.
..so much for love of country.
Regardless of their political leanings, it sounds like Costco is doing a good job participating in Capitalism. If they can make a profit while paying their workers well, it will go well for them. They will have less turnover and their employees will have more job satisfaction. I applaud their business practices (while I disagree with their politics).
Gum
Sam Walton was a billionaire who drove an old beat up pick up truck. To me, that is just plain "cheap old b@st@rd" behavior, and not to be admired. I've done some business (very little) with Walmart as a buyer of our services, and I can tell you, that cheapness and "wring every last penny out of your suppliers and employees" mindset that Walmart started now permeates factories and businesses of all kinds. It also makes employees and suppliers bitter, for good reason. America was made great due to more things than just raw greedy capitalism. Christian principles should underly that capitalism, and the realization that people should be able to make a decent living by working. "The workman is worth his wages" as the Bible says.
I vote conservatively, but if Republicans would realize that there would hardly be any Democrats if they showed a heart and some generosity to employees and suppliers, the world would be a lot better off. The sad part is, country club Republicans WILL continue to drive working people to the Democrats, due to the same kind of cheap, greedy b@st@rd mindset that Sam Walton exhibited by being a billionaire driving an old beat up pick up truck.
I will admit, for all I know, Sam Walton may have been a Democrat. I just know from personal experience of working for both 'Pub's and conservative 'Dem's, I'd rather work for the conservative 'Dem's. Not much of a point to all this I guess, because greedy b@st@rds come in all shapes and sizes, but I do wish that people could achieve more of a balance, being capitalists without being Walmart greedy, being generous without being Costco liberal commies.
So if Costco's stock price has risen 10% in the last twelve months(and beating WM) at the same time giving their employees respectible wages and decent health care coverage what is wrong with that?
This is a "fluf" stock now, like google.
There is no substitute for good earnings, and there is no hiding a 23:1 price/earnings ratio.
Freepers please note: Don't put a nickle in this stock
Good post. Very well said. I just think capitalsim is going to turn for the worse in this country before it gets better.
I love statistics... SouthWest Airlines, one of the ONLY profitable airlines in the country gave 82% of their political donations to Republicans, Best Buy donated absolutely no money to the Dems, Chik-Fil-A (yum :P) made 99% of their donations to GOP candidates.
This list is fun. :)
The first Price Club (before Costco) I went to was near Herndon, Va., (DC area) It was wonderful, and then Costco took it over, and it continued to be great. They used to carry the best beef barbeque,but as with a lot of their products, they don't carry it anymore. I believe Costco main offices are in the Seattle area.
WMTs stock first hit $50 a share, adjsuted for splits, in 1998, it is still at $50 a share today. Wall Marts reputation is quite poor for customer service, and it has taken a large PR hit for its ruthless tactics in terms of how it does business, not to mention how favorable towrds China they are. There is going to be a point where the bad PR of Wal Mart is going to take a toll, and shareholders will get even less value.
While CSCO are notel citizens themselves, and are also quite ruthless is how they do business, they have not sustained the big PR hits Wal Mart has, because usually Costco backs down when an "issue" becomes high profile, such as employment practices. That said, Costcos political practices are very bad.
Sadly enough (from the sound of it) there's no Costco around here. Target is about a five minute drive away whereas you have to run a gauntlet to get to the nearest Wal-Mart. Our local hippies prevented it from getting built anywhere except on the other side of a thin bridge at the end of a road unfit for even a fraction of the traffic it gets beyond a dreadful intersection that takes about three light changes to get through. That settles it for me!
That's precisely why I purchase meat elsewhere.
It's funny you mentioned Costco and Safeway. One week I had a list made up for things I wanted Safeway to deliver. Then a list of things I wanted from Costco. I eventually gave up and just bought everything from Costco that week.
Why? Some of the best long term investments ever have been in stocks with high p/e's.
"Cult stocks" is what the dotcoms were in the 1990s, ie horrid long term investments.
Whatever happened to the internet, anyway?
Sam's might make the case that its ketchup is cheaper than Costco's, he said, "but you can't compare Hunt's ketchup with Heinz ketchup."
Especially since Heinz still supports the Tides Foundation, last I knew.
Wonder if the new Sam's Club in Horsham will make a dent there. I heard it's a beautiful big store.
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