Pic Of The Moment: Thought For The Day

[EarlG]

Costco's Profit Soars To $459 Million As Low-Wage Competitors Struggle

Follow @demunderground

[SunSeeker]

1. Sam's Club and Wal-mart are filthy, poorly stocked cesspools.

The last time I went to Wal-mart, I was using a gift card from my in-laws. I used it to buy some groceries and print a bunch of pictures in the photo department. I was disgusted by the condition of the store. The stock on the shelves was a mess and the fruit looked bad. The photos came out looking way too dark. The worker in the photo department was there all by herself and said she was having problems with the machine. When I spoke with her I was shocked by the condition of her teeth. They were rotting with black edges. The poor thing looked like she was in pain. It was awful. I felt like I was in a third world country. Wal-mart not only pays low wages but also obviously fails to pay for dental coverage. And who can afford to go to the dentist when they only make $17,000 a year? Sickening.

I find the prices at Target to be just as low as Wal-mart, and when it comes to bulk purchases, Sam's Club can't even hold a candle to Costco's quality and customer service. And Costco is just as low priced as Sam's Club. I guess Sam's/Wal-mart's CEOs are sucking the business & workers dry and putting the money into their own pockets rather than investing into their business. Fuck them.

[LittleGirl]

3. +1

Love Costco. Will not step foot in Walmart or Sam's or Chik-filet. Or Papa John's, or Hobby Lobby.

more to follow. wink.

[freshwest]

19. +1

[JDPriestly]

27. Hobby Lobby is a nightmare. Just a nightmare.

[AllyCat]

47. I've always thought there was something wrong with

hobby lobby. Never knew for sure. what's the scoop on it?

[LittleGirl]

49. right wing owners

they are closed on sundays. They are fighting Obamacare over the "must provide coverage for birth control or abortion in cases of medical emergencies." They are against birth control and of course, abortion of any kind. They also threw a fit (i believe) when the morning after pill was approved by Obamacare policies. They claim to be a Christian organization; until it comes to women's health care options. Then they go totally tea party on their employees.

[AllyCat]

55. Their stuff is expensive garbage anyway. It seems emotionally dead when I walk in there.

I can find much better places, or do without. I kind of figured the "closed on Sundays" thing meant more than "we want our workers to spend time with their families". Thanks!

[Initech]

20. I saw a Walmart commercial the other day...

That made me come this close to putting my fist through my TV. They kept talking about how great it was working at Wal-Mart and how they gave you the tools you need for success. I'm thinking "bullshit". It's the exact opposite - you work long hours for slave wages with no chance of unionization or promotion, and the blogs I've read from Walmart managers paint the exact opposite picture from that commercial. It's truly sickening what the Walton family has done to our country and the world. Their type of greed is a virus that destroys anything it touches.

[LittleGirl]

34. I saw that commerical

It made me want to puke.

[oldandhappy]

2. Thank you for this.

I do not shop at WalMart but do shop at Costco and thot that was the right choice but did not have this info. Thanks.

[PotatoChip]

4. Yes, indeed!

Thank you EarlG! I'm particularly proud to rec this one!

[caledesi]

18. Me too! nt

[valerief]

5. Maybe the other businesses aren't doing well on paper but the individual owners are making a killing

It's the Screw the Investor Era. The owners take the money out before it records as profit.

[florida08]

6. hell yeah

I avoid Chinamart altogether. It's their fault we have that internet tax passed by the Senate. Probably fail in the house..at least I hope. Apparently customers aren't shopping online at Walmart as much as ebay and Amazon. I got news for them..it's not because of the tax. It's their lack of product diversity. Thanks for letting me copy and tweet!

[florida08]

7. oh and thank you Costco

Wish we had one in FL

[lark]

14. There is a Costco in FL,

but it's in Jacksonville FL and I'm going there this weekend again.

[skamaria]

41. Come to Tallahassee Florida08.

We have a great Costco ironically right next door to Wallyworld.....

[pansypoo53219]

8. crapitalism forgot henry ford. ayne rand is killing them.

[FuzzyRabbit]

9. Walmart workers make nowhere near $17, 500

Most of them are allowed to work only part time, so they make far less money and receive no benefits at all.

And to top it off, many Walmart stores require their workers to work several hours a week off the clock.

[SharonAnn]

11. And they constantly change their hours around so the workers are constantly scrambling

for child care and even transportation.

[Riverton]

56. Sam's Club is not that bad.

Your statements are not accurate.

The Sam's Club division pays hourly employees more than WalMart's Supercenter and Discount store division.

Many Sam's Club employees only want part time work. We employ many college student and semi-retired people.

You're right, part time workers make far less in a year than full time workers. That's why the 17K vs 45K is a misleading statistic. It would be more accurate to compare hourly wages. For example, a Sam's Club cashier starts at over $9/hr vs $11.50 for A Costco cashier. That equates to an annual difference of 18K vs 23K in favor of Costco cashiers.

Part time workers at Sam's Club (and WalMart) do have benefit options: Health insurance, dental, 401 K, profit sharing, st/lt disability, holiday pay, personal time.

Any Sam's Club or WalMart employee asking/requiring someone to work off the clock has committed a fireable offense. Any employee working off the clock, or with knowledge of someone else working off the clock, is risking termination for violation of company policy.

I am an hourly employee at Sam's Club.

[The Magistrate]

57. The Net Worth Of The Walton Heirs, Sir, Equals That Of 120,000,000 Other Americans

Your noble stepping up to defend your betters is duly noted, but will not, repeat will not be rewarded by them....

[The Wizard]

10. Costco shit canned the Wall Street

business model as propounded by MBA programs. If your business is primarily concerned with the next quarter's bottom line it will fail. Short term thinking is a recipe for failure.
When workers have money it goes into circulation and grows the economy. As Huey Long once observed: Money is like manure. When it's spread around it makes things grow, but piled up in one place it starts to stink.

[aquart]

32. Stole the Huey Long quote for a tweet.

Thank you.

[tclambert]

12. It's about lower turnover in the workforce.

Pay them decently and give them benefits and they stick around. You get a store with experienced, productive workers who take pride in their jobs.

Pay them slave wages without benefits, force them to get food stamps to supplement their meager income, and cheat them every way you can and you get high employee turnover. You have to constantly send new employees through orientation and training, yet they won't stick around long enough to become experienced and productive. Plus workers who don't feel appreciated in their jobs typically won't care much about the quality of the work they do. And your best employees will try to get a job at Costco.

Where do you think you will find the happier, more courteous, more helpful employees?

I like to think, too, that people like us DUers are voting with our dollars for better treatment for workers. I know I wouldn't set foot in a Wal-Mart, but I will shop at Costco.

[erpowers]

13. People Might Like Shopping At Places That Pay People A good Wage

It is very possible that Costco is benefiting from people deciding to shop there because they like the idea that Costco pays it workers well. I imagine that at least a few of the people who shop at Costco do so partly because the workers there are so well paid.

It probably also helps Costco that it workers can possibly afford to buy the products it sells. It seems a company gets many more customers when its workers can afford to shop at the place at which they work.

[blahblah98]

54. In retail, it's good business practice

to pay your employees enough so they can afford to shop there themselves.
This is the multiplier effect (positive feedback) of cash flow in a local market, where employees constitute a high, significant percentage of gross revenue.
A percentage of salaries paid comes right back as revenue.

[Brigid]

15. Great thought for the day!

[ballardgirl]

16. A bit misleading..

the average salary for "front line" supervisors is around $45K but clerks average around $12 - $15 per hour and supervisors make quite a bit more. I'm thinking they included the benefits in their "typical annual salary" amount. That said, I avoid Walmart like the plague.

[AllyCat]

23. I have no access to a link right now, but

Cashiers average over $ 43k a year from multiple reports I've read. Lots of opportunity for advancement from other things I have read.

[TBF]

48. I doubt cashiers are making that much but the supervisors are -

here is info from glassdoor.com: http://www.glassdoor.com/Salary/Costco-Wholesale-Salaries-E2590.htm

I avoid Walmart/Sam's Club. I do a lot of shopping at Kroger, Costco, Amazon. Kroger does have a union at least. It is really hard these days - the unions have been so broken down that all salaries have plummeted (unless you're looking at highly educated professional salaries). It's a very sad state.

[Shiraz]

17. Both my daughter and son-in-law

work at Sam's Club. We heard a couple weeks ago that a Costco is coming to our area in about a year. We are so excited. If just one of them were to get a job there it would be life changing for them. They are newlyweds until next week when they celebrate their 1st wedding anniversary. They struggle so much even though they work their butts off. They can't even consider starting a family until they are more settled , which right now looks like never.

[DCKit]

29. "Worked at Sam's Club" should be a great intro for them both.

I've been shopping more at CostCo lately because of their living wage, haven't given a penny to BeastBuy in years.

Now, how to solve my Amazon addiction... they've got shit you can't buy anywhere else, but they treat their warehouse workers like shit, in every possible way.

[aquart]

33. I know, I know.

[DCKit]

42. You would. PM me if you want to suss out ways to take revenge.

Hate that I'm supporting their evil, but there's so much shit I can't get anywhere else.

[Cleita]

21. Thanks EarlG. I wish that were a bumper sticker. n/t

[AllyCat]

22. I love Costco!

Fun to shop there, lots of free samples, knowledgeable employees, good quality, low prices.

[indepat]

24. Anticipate spending $250 to $300 at Costco's tomorrow. Last shopped at a Walmart store some

four to five years ago which was likely my final visit.

[Coyotl]

25. BOYCOTT Wal*Mart! Support your local unions!

[tavalon]

26. I can't shop at either right now (I live on a tiny houseboat)

but there is no question that it would and always has been, in the past, Costco all the way.

[nvme]

28. It isn't limited to Walmart

I am currently working 20 hours in a social non for profit agency in Florida. I am buried in debt. I am making $14.50 hourly. my loans exceed 100k. I will probably never make enough to pay back the money for my education. I am trying to help "at risk youth" . I am saddened because I got reprimanded for working 2 hours more than the 20 hour max schedule. I have to budget my time judiciously otherwise I work for free. It sucks because I love what I do. so I am going to have to let mentally ill individuals run the streets. All because Walmart sets a fuck the workers standard.

[mountain grammy]

30. Yes, Walmart has set the standard for American workers

The largest employer in the country and they pay low wages with no benefits. If you keep repeating that fact, you know why we're in the mess we're in. A Congress that won't raise the minimum wage to even $9/hr.
But how many Walmart workers vote Republican or don't bother to vote? A good friend, 67 years old, hurt by the housing bubble, has been forced to return to work and Walmart hired her. She can't get over the fact that so many of her fellow workers, many in her same circumstances, watch fox and believe the bullshit. People making $8/hr with no benefits and absolutely no job security, never knowing from one week to the next how many hours they'll get, voting for Rmoney, and loving Sarah Palin.
Propaganda is the powerful tool that will be the end of us. I honestly used to believe Americans couldn't be so stupid.

[SoapBox]

31. I so wish...Billboards!

Nationwide.

Call it "Greed Shaming".

...I can dream.

[another_liberal]

35. The Walmart Empire is going to fall.

We will see it happen in our lifetimes.

[AndyA]

38. I hope you're right.

I want to scream at the TV every time I see a Walmart ad with a happy employee. Sure don't see that when you go into their stores, and that's a rarity for me.

[another_liberal]

43. Every working woman and man in the United States . . .

Every working woman and man in the United States should boycott Walmart until they radically change their minimum wage, no benefits style of employee compensation. Money is all those greedheads care about, so hit them where it hurts them.

I have not spent a dime in a Walmart store for nearly ten years. They can treat their people decently or they can do without my business forever!

[Ccarmona]

36. One Can Hope

that the Walton family will all rot in Hell.
They have as much $$$ as the bottom 145 million Americans, yet they can't provide a living wage and healthcare to the vast majority of their employees. They and the Koch Brothers are why this country will be a leader, of the Third World, because this isn't a First or Second World country any more.

[AndyA]

37. This must be propaganda

How could a company pay its employees a living wage and still remain profitable? Why, if Walmart can't do it without bankrupting the company, how could Costco possibly do it?

All those employees running around, being paid better than at other places, and having benefits and health insurance and everything...I mean, they're employees. They aren't supposed to be happy. They're supposed to barely make ends meet, if that, worry about health care, how many hours they're going to get next week, etc. In short, be terrified of losing their job all the time, and fear being out of work for a long time if they do lose their job.

A fearful, under paid employee is the best kind to have. Can't have them all happy and healthy and helping customers...how un-American is that?

[KinMd]

39. My wife and I shop at Costco

and have even more reason too now. Treating your employees well..what a concept

[Grateful for Hope]

40. K&R

[cbdo2007]

44. Looks like the average wage at Costco is $17 per hour....

which equals $35,000 per year annually. Not sure where they're getting the $45,000 figure from. Here are bunches of sources:

http://hbr.org/2006/12/the-high-cost-of-low-wages/ar/1

http://addictedtocostco.com/2011/12/06/costcos-secret-weapon-better-salaries-benefits/

http://www.allbusiness.com/staffing-hr/16745820-1.html

[4lbs]

45. Oh, and CostCo pizza >>>>>>> Papa John's

Yum!

[Niceguy1]

46. and they are also diffetent kinds of stores

With different classes of products.

[closeupready]

50. Won't step foot inside Walmart. Love Costco, though.

K&R

[liberal N proud]

51. Example of what it would do for the economy.

[niyad]

52. k and r--have not set foot in wally world in over 17 years, and won't even if they are GIVING

the store away.

[ctsnowman]

53. K & R