[USA] Walmart Is Still Putting Ebenezer Scrooge to Shame
Infamous for its starvation wages, Walmart just posted staggering first-quarter profits. The surge is a result of its strategic shift toward catering to affluent shoppers while its full-time workers continue to rely on Medicaid and food stamps https://jacobin.com/2024/05/walmart-living-wage-medicaid-snap/
This is really freaking stupid. These people are manufacturing a controversy, claiming that #Costco is selling "fake bananas" because one of the #bananas they bought was off. Bananas cost about $0.55/lb. It would surely cost significantly more than that to produce a high quality fake banana. And for what? There's no banana shortage. It wouldn't benefit Costco to buy and sell fake bananas. How do people this dumb manage to dress themselves each morning?
Somehow, #Costco was out of carts. I don't know how that happens. There were people waiting at the entrance, trailing other people to their cars to grab their carts.
"No sweat," I told the security people at the store entrance. "I brought my own cart."
"Costco's gross margins are 12%, compared with Walmart’s 24%. The company makes up the shortfall through its membership fees: customers pay $60 or more a year to shop at its stores. In 2023 fees from its 129m members netted $4.6bn, more than half of Costco’s operating profits."
At #Costco today they were advertising #gold bars for sale right at the entrance. The woman with the clicker checking membership cards had a sign advertising them for sale for something like $2500 or $2900 per ounce.
@douglasvb Probably the same people that buy those gold proofs of various coins that are advertised on television, which are usually sold for more than the actual face value of the coin itself.
They're all just selling speculation on gold prices, essentially trying to trick less-financially-savvy people into thinking that they're getting something that will always be worth whatever is stamped on the face. But since gold is never a constant price per ounce, that face value is meaningless.
I was pleasantly surprised to see Donsuemor’s French Almond Cakes back at Costco after many years. This time packaged in a red Lunar New Year tin. Probably only in certain Nor Cal locations. They are as delightful as I remember them. However, they used to be sold in the clear plastic tubs like their madeleines and had sliced almonds on each little financier cake. The cases in these tins do not have almonds on top. Here is a pic from Costco’s website #SFBA#Costco#Donsuemor#LunarNewYear
This is much like the difference between buying Twin Dragon premium almond cookies from a grocery store like Safeway vs buying them at the 99¢ store where a different version without an almond on top is sold. The item number is 1774576 in case anyone wants to ask their local Costco about locations carrying them. I discovered them when browsing the “What’s New” section in the 2-day delivery part of the Costco app. Let’s me see if there is something to look for on future in-person trips.
@paarth
I would love to know where you think nuns would get glasses. But then again, as someone who used to live up the street from a friary, I suppose I'm pretty used to seeing berobed people shopping at Safeway and the like 🤔
Pulled up to the #Costco here in #Kalamazoo. They had a small gasoline spill and the staff were there treating it. The guy behind me, in a hulking giant black Denali just didn’t want to wait, so he pulled along side and menaced the staff person cleaning up the spilled gasoline. I was shocked at the #entitlement and #impatience. The staff shrugged it off. These people deserve what is coming for them. #today#misanthropy
@br00t4c Theres a ton of operating expenses to be saved by preventing employee turnover and having a consistent well experienced work force, Jim, ya schmuck. Amazing indeed. Now go hawk some more penny stocks and stay in your lane.
#Costco recently established themselves here. I hopped online and looked at their offer to see what the buzz was all abo… lol I don’t even need a calculator to clearly see that I have to be fucking stupid to think I won’t continuously lose a lot of money one way or another there.
It's a bizarre place with a strange buying philosophy but my wife and I would rather drive the hour and a half into Billings, Montana to shop at Costco than drive the ten minutes to shop at the Walmart in our town.
Fortunately, there's not much we need from either store.
@ai6yr A brother went to a yard sale and saw several tote boxes crammed with stuff. The seller explained that a relative of his had passed away and the stuff had belonged to that person. "How much?" Seller said $25 each but you have to take them all.
Brother bought them and found many $100s worth of stamps in values of 32, 33 and 34 cents.
I now have a lifetime supply of perfectly good stamps. This year I sent Christmas cards out with one Bugs Bunny stamp and one Lucille Ball stamp.
If you see these tomatoes, don’t buy them. They are incredibly tart and don’t make a good sauce/gravy.
The older I get, the more I’m realizing that San Marzano D.O.P. tomatoes are a giant lie pushed by Big Tomato.
Time and time again, I find the best canned tomatoes are plain ordinary Cento brand at $2-3/can. Not their San Marzanos, but the cheap ones. #Costco#Tomatoes#SoWhatNoFuckinZitiNow
