Why Costco Is So Damn Addictive

2. Why Costco Is So Damn Addictive Jessica McIntosh Zhengyuan Jiang

3. Costco's Warehouses The fourth-largest retailer in the country seventh-largest in the world $59 billion in sales 488 warehouse locations No.28 in the FORTUNE 500

4. Members of Costco • 48 million members • averaging 22 trips a year • many affluent members • incomes over $75,000 • $55 per year for households • $110 per year for small businesses

5. Products • Costco • 3,000 regular items • 1,000 items that always changing • Wal-mart supercenter • 150,000 items

6. Mr. Sinegal's cardinal rules • Costco • Branded items mark-up 14% • Private-label itemsmark-up 15% • Supermarkets • 25% mark-ups • Department stores • 50% or higher mark-ups

7. To be Costco's Employees $17 an hour (42 percent higher than its fiercest rival, Sam's Club) Costco's health plan (makes those at many other retailers look Scroogish). "It's better to be an employee or a customer than a shareholder."--Bill Dreher of Deutsche Bank

8. Managers of Costco "Our managers are entrepreneurs, not somebody who just comes in and unlocks the doors." Indeed, with some locations doing upwards of $300 million in sales a year,each ware- house is a mini-corporation, and each manager a de facto CEO." --Costco CEO Jim Sinegal

9. Thanks for watching !!

10. Sources • Why Costco is so Damn Addictive • http://www.wou.edu/~eltonm/Marketing%20Strategy/ • How Costco became the Anti-Wal-Mart • http://www.nytimes.com/2005/07/17/business/yourmoney/17costco.html?pagewanted=all • Costco raises membership fees; profit misses view • http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/10/05/us-costco-idUSTRE7942D620111005