I have to admit that Costco’s buck-fifty hot dog-and-Pepsi deal is a guilty pleasure. It’s a damned tasty frankfurter. And, yeah, it’s obviously a loss-leader for them, but every damned person who takes advantage of the deal is also there at Costco to buy other stuff... in many cases, a lot of stuff they didn’t even know they wanted. And that’s the whole idea.
I’m not sure it’s a “loss leader”. Hot dogs are cheap. And some are much cheaper than others
I’m a pepperoni slice guy. And I’d gladly pay an additional quarter if they still had as much pepperoni on there as 10 years ago.
My wife and I stopped eating the hot dog over 20 years ago. We brought it back into our diet just a couple of months ago when we discovered that one of the free soda pops you could get was club soda. We don’t do soda pop, but we will do club soda.
Not me. I eat there every couple weeks but only go for the food. I’m not even sure my Costco card is still active.
“I have to admit that Costco’s buck-fifty hot dog-and-Pepsi deal is a guilty pleasure. It’s a damned tasty frankfurter. And, yeah, it’s obviously a loss-leader for them, but every damned person who takes advantage of the deal is also there at Costco to buy other stuff... in many cases, a lot of stuff they didn’t even know they wanted. And that’s the whole idea”
Actually no, that is only a true statement as of the last few months. No membership was needed for the food Court until this year. And the last two times I have been there since implementing the new policy the Food Court had no lines more than three people. That has never been the case before. Maybe not enough data points being only the last two visits, but it appears the new policy could be keeping down the traffic. At least at the Cjino Hills CA Costco.
Whether they actually take a loss on it probably depends on accounting tricks. The actual bun, sausage, drink and condiments probably don’t cost that much. Prep and cook time also can probably be absorbed. Start allocating in a share of the store overhead costs, transport, share of the kitchen costs, it probably is a loss, but not a big one. Until recently, McDonalds could make money on a dollar hamburger and a dollar large drink. They probably still could. Drinks are almost pure profit-the most expensive element is the paper cup.
I walked out of there with a $700 dollar receipt the other day! Wow! bidungnomics!