Posted on 07/22/2005 7:17:48 AM PDT by TaxRelief
... Some Wall Street analysts assert that CEO Jim Sinegal is overly generous not only to Costco's customers but to its workers as well.
Costco's average pay, for example, is $17 an hour, 42 percent higher than its fiercest rival, Sam's Club. And Costco's health plan makes those at many other retailers look Scroogish. One analyst, Bill Dreher of Deutsche Bank, complained last year that at Costco "it's better to be an employee or a customer than a shareholder."
Mr. Sinegal begs to differ. ...Good wages and benefits are why Costco has extremely low rates of turnover and theft by employees, he said. And Costco's customers, who are more affluent than other warehouse store shoppers, stay loyal because they like that low prices do not come at the workers' expense. "This is not altruistic," he said. "This is good business."
...Costco's stock price has risen more than 10 percent in the last 12 months, while Wal-Mart's has slipped 5 percent. Costco shares sell for almost 23 times expected earnings; at Wal-Mart the multiple is about 19. Mr. Dreher said Costco's share price was so high because so many people love the company. "It's a cult stock," he said.
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
You can't compare the two brands?
I have tried both. Ketchup is ketchup.
My grandson works at wal-mart, he's a 4th generation American citizen.
He's not an illegal,he's an American citizen, and he likes working there.
You have the dumbest post on this thread, you have been watching too much MSNBC.
YEARS ago there was a TV ad comparing these two. Each bottle was inverted on a white board to show how fast the catsup ran out - the slower the better as the catsup was thicker.
Naturally one ran out pretty fast while the other slowly creeped its way down the board. Forgot who won, but you know it would be the outfit that ran the ad. The next time I bought catsup, I bought the winner's brand.
A few months later, the winner of the "test" got busted by the Feds for false advertising. It seemed they kept the competitor's brand warm while they chilled theirs. I lost my consumer's virginity that day.
Folks, Willie Green hates Wal-Mart and loves Costco.
That should be your clue that Wal-Mart is better.
Um...Sam's Club.
Gotta love those "New Webster's" definitions.
You're right; It was stupid to attempt to define a word in this day and age of "Write your own dictionary and encyclopedia to suit your own PC purposes."
I don't watch MSNBC but you must or you wouldn't know what they say there.
Is he the CEO? Otherwise, if you think I could possibly make any reference to your grandson then you are of very narrow mind...Maybe too much MSNBC or TV in general.
According to buyblue.org, 99% of Costco's donations went to Democratic politicians. I didn't find an entry for Sam's Club on their list, but Wal-Mart made 78% of their political donations to Republican candidates.
I do appreciate Costco's book selection. They are very willing to carry conservative books.
You've pretty much summed up my impression of the entire situation. So much of it is media driven.
I can't get into a comparison between WalMart/Sam's vs. Costco because i have never been in a Costco, and not for any other reason than I have never even seen one........there are none around here.
As far as Chinese made good go, you can't shop anywhere and not find them, particularly in the small appliance and electronics departments of nearly any store. whether it be JC Penney, Walmart or Target.
Walmart is big, it's anti-union, and folks like it - therefore it is the prime target of the media. And it's a daggone shame so many have fallen for the propaganda.
This says it all:
"True capitalists like WalMart hire illegals at below legal wages sometimes locking them in the buildings to work and all to line the shareholder pockets AND Costco isn't on the RNC list of false idols to worship."
I guess you are entitled to your opinion.
You really don't know what you are talking about, doing you?
Not unusual for a new market. Retailers, car makers, fast food, etc all went throught that phase. Most of them are gone now. Revenue for the internet sector is better than ever, and the growth rate is the best there is.
Which stocks in the 90s grew into their high P/E? Everything I followed did exactly the opposite.
That depends on the timing. Some of the best companies had no earnings, or high P/E's when they fist came public and people who invested there are doing very well today. As to the valuations of the late 1990's, in 10 or 20 years those may seem cheap.
23:1 for a national retailer is too pricey for my budget, good luck
That statement makes more sense. Comparing it to a late 1990's dot com didn't. I still don't think P/E by itself is a very good indicator for a stock.
That's pretty funny!!!!!!!!!!!
ROFLMSS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I went to their website and imho their prices are at the top of the line. I checked things I'd recently bought: dvds, solar landscape lighting, grill, camera....
If you charge more, you can pay more.
But, if you put a Wal-Mart and a CostCo side-by-side in an otherwise healthy business area, would one overcome the other?
I really don't have a dog in the fight. No Costco here.
I would probably shop at one if there were....I hardly ever blacklist any store regardless of political views.
But, being a town of 13,000, we are lucky to even have a Super Wal-Mart.
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