Rebs

[Aakash Gupta @aakashgupta]

Costco put a hard ceiling on how much money it's allowed to make on every item in the building. 14% on national brands, 15% on Kirkland. Bring in a product priced one point above that and a buyer kills it before it ever hits a shelf.

That sounds like a company leaving billions on the table. It is. And it's the most profitable decision in modern retail.

Run the bull case for marking up like everyone else. Walmart sits around 25%. Kroger and the traditional grocers run 25-50%. Price Costco's $249B in merchandise like a normal store and gross profit roughly doubles. Every spreadsheet says raise prices.

Here's what those spreadsheets miss. The product is the $65 card you buy before you're allowed through the door. Everything on the shelves exists to make that card feel worth renewing. Membership fees hit $4.8B last year, cost almost nothing to deliver, and throw off two-thirds of operating income. Renewal sits at 90%, the kind of retention most software companies never reach.

So Costco treats the 21% discount as customer acquisition spend. Every dollar it refuses to mark up makes the $65 renewal feel automatic. Cheaper shelves, stickier subscription.

Now read the chart as a spending report. The number next to each store shows how hard it can discount before the model breaks. Costco can sit at negative 21 because the membership line eats the loss. Walmart can't follow without a second revenue stream it doesn't have.

Walmart makes money when you buy. Costco makes money when you walk in. Whole Foods, at 40% above Walmart, has no membership fee underwriting its prices, so the margin has to come off the shelf.

The discount is the moat. The trade was never close.

[THE Bruce St. James @TheBruceStJames]

Paradise Valley, Tempe, Scottsdale

[The Aztec Commander (name pending) @GoodZibes]

UCSD, SDSU, USD

[m @spidey66s]

the “plastic chairs” album btw

[Astro @CrAstro2]

being a teenager in 2011 must’ve been crazy…

[Andrew Lokenauth @FluentInFinance]

Costco is building apartments above its stores to address the affordable housing crisis, starting early this year.

Walking downstairs and getting a $1.50 hot dog gives new meaning to “affordable walkability.”

It includes free membership, a rooftop pool, fitness area, gardens/ courtyards, and a community space.

Los Angeles is the first residential complex with 800 apartments and a built-in store.

Would you live in Costco?

[Joseph Carlson @joecarlsonshow]

The first Costco $COST in Okinawa opened today. They opened it 3.5 hours before its normal hours. The building quickly reached max capacity. Cars wrapped around the parking lot. They could only let new people in as others left. There was a 5 hour wait to get in.

[Matthew Perez @iTz_Books]

EARL IS HOME!!!

[Terry Rozier @T_Rozzay3]

Osama shouldve hooped instead of tryna kill ppl cause he tall as hell!

[Rebs @rebs_28]

Luv rudog 💞

[ace lacour @AceLacour]

Fuck the presents, I’m grateful my family still breathing.❤️

[Rebs @rebs_28]

@monskiez14 JACKBOYS

[Rebs @rebs_28]

@jcarpi0 Ovidio Guzman

[SOZÉ BLANCO @The_Faiz_Phase]

Imagine ya body built like an expired milk jug and still thinking your the superior race.

[Victor Sweet @ShotByCT]

Shit look like a regular ass plantation now

[justin miles @jgaribay97]

Hey my friend wants a titty pic @DojaCat

[justin miles @jgaribay97]

I just want to have fun :/

[Rebs @rebs_28]

@jcarpi0 @berner415