
Costco Capitalism - exolymph
https://www.bryanlehrer.com/entries/costco/
======
Pfhreak
For those who aren't aware, not only does Costco pay well (I was earning
$13/hour back around 2004), they also offer good benefits. I got healthcare,
401k, dental, vision, and time and a half on Sundays. And I was just a food
court/service deli employee. Things got even better when I became a food court
supervisor.

The mantra I heard, over and over, while I was there was "Hire good people,
treat them well, and the rest takes care of itself."

~~~
alexpetralia
This is obviously what any sensible and thoughtful manager aspires to, and yet
it is still so rare. Are there tradeoffs we aren't considering? Why is this
such a self-evident ideal, yet rarely achieved in practice? There must be good
reasons..

~~~
BurningFrog
There are only so many good people.

Someone has to hire the bad people.

~~~
poulsbohemian
This feels a bit like the 10x developer discussion. There is a small
percentage of the population who are 10x developers anyplace they go. There is
another chunk that are 10x developers given a solid environment, who would
otherwise be average or even poor developers in the wrong environment. There
are average developers, and then there are a few that just aren't very good
and should be in some other profession.

It seems almost obvious this holds true for any job, including Costco, where
perhaps someone isn't fast or personable enough to be a checker, but they'd be
great driving the forklift. Find the right environment and suddenly they
shine. There will always be a percentage of the population that is
unemployable for some reason, but my personal experience is that it isn't as
large as is often believed.

~~~
TeMPOraL
To take it from another PoV: most businesses aren't 10x either, and aren't in
a position to leverage a 10x worker. Commodity businesses don't need _good_
employees, they need warm bodies that can do their checklists and smile from
time to time, while not stealing money or equipment.

------
anonsivalley652
A better example than Costco would be WinCo, which is employee-owned. It
doesn't have the same Paradox of Choice exploitation of one item like a Soviet
supermarket, it has several choices. And bulk bins. And they don't accept any
credit cards to save on processing fees, whereas Costco was AmEx only and now
has Visa only.

More generally, workers take care of something as if it were their own when
they have an equity stake in it because it is (partly) their own. Just being
treated well isn't enough of an incentive to go the extra mile when they have
no connection to the profits, only laid-off when the business declines. It
seems foolish to be content to accept benefits that most every other
industrialized country on the planet already guarantees as a basic right. I
think an uncomfortable truth is Americans don't know how bad they have it, and
shouldn't sit back while corporate investors amass trillions on their backs,
no matter how well or badly they are treated. They are being cheated only
because of their failure to get organized and push-back together in some
fashion and failure to demand UBI by taxing corporate profits made off
automation, longer hours and productivity increases. At some point, if
reasonable assistance isn't offered to those who's survival seems threatened
(marginal propensity consume is 1.0) and have nothing left to lose, there will
be more mass shootings, homeless encampments will expand, more internal
migration, less average purchasing power, and more people flamewar-ing in
Youtube comments.

~~~
kccqzy
I've only shopped at WinCo once, in Utah. It was a sad affair. The store was
messy. Employees didn't look happy. Many shelves were empty. Forklifts were
left in the middle of the aisle, with goods partially unloaded. The lack of
credit card payment reduced the peace of mind of a safe transaction. Just no.

~~~
pc86
> _The lack of credit card payment reduced the peace of mind of a safe
> transaction._

This makes no sense whatsoever.

~~~
kccqzy
Credit card transactions are safer than debit card transactions because if
something goes wrong, banks are more likely to investigate and reverse the
transaction. You are technically spending their money, not your own. I thought
it's common knowledge.

~~~
pc86
Are there places where you can use a debit card but not a credit card (or vice
versa)? I've been to places that may only accept a particular card vendor
(e.g. AmEx or VISA only), and places that are cash only, but never to one that
disallowed only one _type_ of card.

~~~
lttlrck
My local ARCO gas station and Winco only accept debit.

------
gesman
Costco == Trust.

Trust in quality, Trust is service, Trust in prices.

To the point that when I need to buy quality stuff at good prices and avoid
doing lenghty research to filter out scam, fakes and crap (aka: Amazon, Ebay
and their little siblings) \- Cosco wins.

There is no other business where people come in with an intention to buy $50
worth of stuff and then consistently spending 5-10 times more each and every
time.

Fun fact: It took me 10 years to stop calling it "Price club"

~~~
mav3rick
Recently bought a high end TV from Costco even though it was 100 dollars more.
I just trust that Costco will do right by me if anything goes south.

~~~
gesman
That said - it's hard to beat BHPhoto - another trusted brand for electronics
and photography specifically.

~~~
mav3rick
Costco has 90 day returns, hard to beat.

~~~
gesman
BH doesn't charge sales tax (via Payboo card) and has 30 days returns. On $2K
TV it is ~$200 savings.

~~~
mav3rick
If my OLED TV stops working randomly after a year it's going to be a lot more
for the repair.

------
RcouF1uZ4gsC
The real nice thing about Costco is that when I see something I like, I know
that it is of decent quality at a decent price. This saves me from having to
do research on my own.

~~~
bentcorner
The downside if there's something you're not sure you're going to like. You
risk committing to buying a large amount of something and not liking it.

~~~
edoceo
You can't return food but everything else is just a matter of waiting in line.
IMO the only better return policy is Nordstrom.

~~~
jedberg
You can return food. They don’t like it and if you do it too much they’ll stop
allowing _you_ to return food.

But I’ve definitely returned food that I didn’t like.

Once they even let the guy in front of me return an empty container. He said
he had to eat the whole thing to decide he didn’t like it.

------
DanCarvajal
Every time I walk into my local Costco I whisper to myself "Welcome to Costco,
I love you."

~~~
tyoma
I’m going to go against the grain here and say I absolutely _dread_ going to
Costco but tolerate it because of the prices and bulk availability of certain
produce.

A quick ranty list of complaints:

The store is too small for the amount of people and the enormous carts. It is
a game of bumper cars every time.

Similarly, more than once I had to give up since the parking lot was
completely full and I could only take so circling the lot. The gas lines are
reminiscent of the pictures from the ‘73 oil embargo.

The location of items and item selection changes constantly.

There is few staff available to help you find anything.

The free samples attract hangers on like moths to a flame, blocking traffic.
People treat the samples as a free lunch for their kids, and let kids ride
unsafely ride inside the cart and not in the cart seats — no one stops this.

I have more, but writing this is already getting to me.

~~~
InvaderFizz
Sounds like the Costco in Sunnyvale, I absolutely loathed going there. I'm not
sure what the other Costcos in Silicon Valley look like, but Sunnyvale is a
terrible experience.

Every where else I have been, Costco is great. The store is never packed, even
if busy at times. Checkout lines never exceed 5-10 minutes. Gas lines rarely
exceed 10 minutes at the busiest of times.

~~~
EdwardWarren
Go to Sam's Club. No lines. Empty parking lot. Just don't think about why that
is.

------
AlexITC
As others mention, I also have the trust that I can pick anything and it will
have decent quality, even on certain items that are cheaper on different
stores, it's simpler to get them at costco because I know I can return them
very easily if I need to (even without purchase ticket or without box).

Besides that, I like what I have heard from employees, they are very happy,
the salary is far higher for the same role than on different stores, and I
have heard that jobs are costco are very useful for students because they help
you to find an schedule that doesn't conflict with your school.

While people claim that costco has cheaper prices that other stores, that's
not 100% true on Mexico, I can get several items for a smaller price (most of
them aren't that cheaper) but costco gives me confidence on the details I
posted above.

I would love to see more stores following its good practices.

------
lsiebert
I recall an NPR story that touched on costco (I think it was a how I built
this episode on trampolines, but I'm not certain). When they pick a company to
work with, they apparently send people in not just to inspect them for
quality, but to help them be more efficient. They apparently do this not to
make more money, but just so they can pass the savings on to the consumer.

~~~
earenndil
> they apparently do this not to make more money, but just so they can pass
> the savings on to the consumer

...so that consumers buy more/are more likely to buy, making them more money.
Which is kind of the point of the article.

~~~
samatman
As pointed out elsewhere on this page, Costco doesn't even make their profit
on volume. Costco's annual profit is approximately equal to their membership
fees and always has been.

The relentless focus is on customer satisfaction, nothing more. They want you
to come back next year. That's it.

~~~
dragonwriter
> Costco doesn't even make their profit on volume.

Volume is essential to their profitability, and not just because it's what
justifies membership for customers; they are unit profitable on sales, but
without sufficient volume that wouldn't offset fixed costs.

------
Balgair
I worked next to a Costco while going through school. That place was awesome
for a poor college student, even with the membership price. Weekend/summer
lunch was a $1.50 hotdog, soda, and one of every free sample. More than
enough. The liquor was/is top notch and at a bargain too. Great company.

~~~
toast0
FYI: Most of the Costco hit dog stands don't require membership. In at least
California, you don't need a membership for liquor either, and if you say
you're going in for booze, you can get the samples while you're in there.

If you aren't buying anything else, you might not need a membership.

------
koobz
If you do Costco, and you surf, then you have inevitably come across the
"Wavestorm" surfboard.

The original article brings up the trust consumers place in the products
Costco decides to sell, and the Wavestorm is a fun example of one such Costco
cult.

[https://www.newyorker.com/sports/sporting-scene/the-cult-
of-...](https://www.newyorker.com/sports/sporting-scene/the-cult-of-the-
costco-surfboard)

I hear their Vodka is really great too.

~~~
fanatic2pope
That wavestorm pearl clutching is hilarious. How dare people do things "for
fun" and without getting approval first!

------
Paperweight
I looked at Costco's financials a few years ago and their total annual profit
is (was?) approximately equal to their total annual income from membership
fees.

~~~
zhoujianfu
I believe that's on purpose... they charge like 3% more than cost, which
covers all their operating expenses, and then the membership fees are their
annual profit.

------
sergiotapia
Hit the nail on the head.

1\. Low variety of items

2\. Quality items

3\. Low price items

4\. Extremely beneficial return policy

I tried em all, Costco, BJ's, Sam's Club, Aldi, Walmart, Target. Nobody can
tell me how it is, I've actually tried it and Costco is by far the best place
for my family to shop. Want a raincoat? Oh yeah rainy season they had a North
Face beautiful blue jacket for $80.

I will say their bedroom sets are shit. Buy their cheap sets if you must,
their premiums are terrible.

~~~
eru
Interesting. Could you expand on how they compare to Aldi?

~~~
sergiotapia
With Aldi, you buy less so you end up throwing out less food. If you're few
people, buy from Aldi. However, the quality in their randoms or out-of-the-box
foods are noticeably worse.

Bought some Aldi sushi and got sick to my stomach, just nasty cheap salmon
cuts, with nasty cheap rice. Mealy and tasteless.

With Costco it's quality all the way, 4 years literally never bought something
of poor quality there.

~~~
eru
The quality of fresh produce tends to vary a lot by country and even location
with Aldi.

I'm mostly asking because I grew up with the German grocery landscape which
has been shaped by cutthroat competition from Aldi and Lidl for decades.

Walmart famously couldn't hack it in Germany.

------
neilwilson
It’s interesting that the Costco model doesn’t seem to work in the UK. Here
the competition amongst the supermarkets is so intense that Costco can’t sell
stuff cheap enough.

The UK Costco’s are a poor imitation of the ones I enjoyed in Canada. Even
thought the layout and the idea are the same.

Not sure why tbh.

~~~
JonoBB
Can you explain what you mean by "doesn't seem to work"?

I regularly go to Costco here in the UK. It's almost always busy, checkout
queues are long (but move quickly).

~~~
tom_
I assume it's just that you often can find stuff cheaper - if you happen to
find a good half price/2-for-3/etc. deal on branded stuff at a supermarket
then Costco will be more expensive. The quality of their own brand stuff is
good, though, and the prices are reliably at least fair and usually better.

Their petrol station used to be reliably cheaper than everywhere else near me,
but they changed supplier and now it's the same price as Tesco. So I go to
Tesco, as it's 99 RON and I get clubcard points.

------
epicgiga
I kind of want to shop at Costco now.

Yet another example of how just being a good company gets you free
advertising.

I basically just consumed a 10 minute ad, and enjoyed it, and now want to go
buy a pallet of something from people who I now assume will cheerfully applaud
my gluttonous purchase.

~~~
bryanlehrer
It’s not all positive

------
somesortofsystm
>>>"While some of my city dwelling friends in their twenties might find it
amusing to shop at Costco"

I live out on the rural outskirts of a central European city, into which I
regularly commute for work and life.

I'm often very amused at the city-dweller point of view. These are people who
live surrounded, in geographically aligned order, by about 1,000 other people,
on average, within a block. They're stacked on top of each other, a literal
hive. Public transportation is superlative, but the city was made for horses,
something that hasn't changed much.

The effort required to walk down the block to a Billa or Aldi is often far,
far too great for these denizens. Actually, as a whole, city-slickers require
far too much motivation to escape the zone of their immediate comfort level.
It gets so cozy.

Out in the sticks, nothing at all is thought of a 20 minute walk to pick up a
jar of honey, a bottle of milk or a bale of apples. Alas, city-slickers take
so much prodding to get out of their city these days.

But, in the sticks, we do have a Costco equivalent. I can honestly say that I
use it quite a bit to keep the house stocked with necessities. I often see
business-owners from the city shopping there, though .. ;)

------
triangleman
I know it's against the guidelines, but has no one here read the article?
Everyone's talking about what they like/dislike about Costco but nothing about
'Costco Capitalism' as described. It's almost a confirmation of what the
author was saying--"consumers only are pressured to act as ethical as their
value-maximizing formulas allow them to be."

~~~
Vinnl
Yeah, the most interesting part of the article for me was the end: the
discussion on the best strategy for increasing the amount of ethical
consumption that is going on. It took a while to get to that point, but I'm
sure there's lots of interesting things Hacker News could say about that.

My personal strategy so far has been to encourage some ethical consumerism by
example, not because that directly increases the share of ethical consumption
significantly, but because I think that attaching ethical considerations to an
action as common as consumption will, down the line, also encourage people to
vote in line with that. In the end, it currently seems to me like regulation
is a required part of upping our collective standards and impact.

------
dahdum
I question the placement of Whole Foods as more ethical. I don’t see shelves
of high priced homeopathic “cures” and pseudoscience literature at Costco.
Whole Foods is all too eager to prey on ignorance and fear.

------
sunstone
It's interesting how few people understand (this author included) about Costco
is how its huge quantities of consumer consumables (eg toilet paper etc)
allows Costco to avoid channel conflict in this segment, which in turn drives
traffic into their stores. To my mind this is the key retail innovation that
separates Costco from the rest.

~~~
enjoiful
Can you explain this concept more? Sounds interesting.

~~~
gowld
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Channel_conflict](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Channel_conflict)

~~~
sounds
It sounds like Costco's larger toilet paper packages make the toilet paper
manufacturer feel less of a conflict of interest? That Costco isn't
undercutting the manufacturer's other channels such as online sales?

What exactly am I missing here? The Channel conflict model seems to be about
maximizing revenue by not selling the product to the customer and ignoring new
channels.

Not selling can boost short term revenue but it's a risky move when your
competitor is Amazon.

------
Dowwie
Back in Summer of 2009, I planned a camping trip for Yosemite. I flew into San
Francisco, bought supplies at Costco, and drove east until Yosemite. I won't
forget the SF Costco. Adults were riding the back of their carts as children
do in grocery stores. They were happy. Very happy. I just assumed that this
was SF behavior and didn't think much more about it. Yet, in hindsight, the
cost of living is the highest in the country. People are struggling. Costco
offers refuge from that struggle. Ride on, costcoers!

------
edoceo
Costco Sunday with the family. The lines are a bit long but the samples are
fantastic the deals are good and nearly all the staff a friendly and helpful.
This is a well run operation.

------
mothsonasloth
Costco came to the UK in the 90's, I remember when it opened in Glasgow in
1994. My parents were some of the first members there and I was so proud when
I got my own membership at 18.

Their Kirkland brand is always good quality and has never let me down unlike
other homestore brands.

As a Brit another thing that makes it appealing, is for us, it seems like the
"American" shopping experience.

Going to Costco is like an adventure trip/excursion. Compared to ASDA,
Waitrose or going into the city to shop.

------
davidgrenier
The day I learn Costco treats its employees the way Amazon does, I will find
an alternatives just like I did with Amazon.

------
tempsy
While I grew up going to Costco many weekends and still go on monthly trips as
an adult, I actually think its business faces a lot of risks over the coming
decades.

The entire concept is optimized for upper middle class suburban families with
cars. Once millennials age into middle age over the coming decades, will they
have kids in the same numbers as their parents (data says no) and thus need or
want to buy in bulk? Will they live in the suburbs where warehouses are
primarily located? Will they have cars to even get there? Will they want to
pay for a membership when they already have Amazon or wide availability of
other stores that deliver for free?

I'd predict not in the same rate or numbers as boomers or Gen X, and imagine
Costco would need to transform several aspects of their current business model
if they wanted to stay relevant 10-20 years from now.

~~~
AdmiralAsshat
> The entire concept is optimized for upper middle class suburban families
> with cars. Once millennials age into middle age over the coming decades,
> will they have kids in the same numbers as their parents (data says no) and
> thus need or want to buy in bulk? Will they live primarily in the suburbs
> where warehouses are primarily located? Will they have cars to even get
> there? Will they want to pay for a membership when they already have Amazon
> or wide availability of other stores that deliver for free?

My girlfriend and I are millenials with no children. We still have a Costco
membership. Hell, I had a Costco membership _before_ I met her, when I lived
alone. I buy all my gas at Costco, and the savings alone from that usually
equal or exceed the $60 membership dues by the end of the year, so everything
else is pretty much gravy.

~~~
tempsy
yes, same. That doesn’t refute anything though when it comes to looking at how
a massive generational shift will impact their business. It’s not incorrect to
say this is a business that whose main target is upper middle class suburban
families with cars and that in 10-20 years middle aged millennials will in
aggregate likely have fewer reasons to go to Costco in the same rate as our
parents for all the reasons mentioned above.

going to Costco as a single millennial is basically a hack, not the target
customer at all

~~~
AdmiralAsshat
I guess I disagree with your premise that childless millenials are going to be
so radically different from their parents.

Like, _why_ would I not have a car at middle age? I'm still working for
another 30 years, at least. If I didn't waste my twenties moving to a big
city, living in a studio apartment, and ditching my car to ride the metro, why
would I start now?

> going to Costco as a single millennial is basically a hack, not the target
> customer at all

So, admittedly my understanding of Costco might be out-of-date, but once upon
a time the Wholesale Retailer's job was to sell you stuff at basically the
same price they get it from the vendor, such that their margins are low or
nonexistent--their revenue comes from the membership dues. They might have
their own in-house brand so that they can get even better margins, but we'll
ignore that for a sec.

So let's say I'm not the target audience, as a single millenial who only goes
to Costco on average to buy about five things. If Costco gets the same
membership dues from me despite my using _less_ of the store than full
families, isn't that _good_ for Costco?

------
lawlorino
Why do all the top comments in this thread read like Costco adverts with no
discussion of the actual article content?

~~~
bryanlehrer
I’ve read through 200 comments and yet I’m not sure if anyone actually read
the piece

~~~
bradlys
I read it but didn't read it extremely thoroughly (it is long and feels like
it kinda sits too long on points).

Do you think Costco will rise in popularity any further? It looks like it's at
a maximum of ethicalness to profitability in terms of food goods. (It offers
bottom barrel ethics on clothes as far as I've seen) Do you think if the
economy tanks then costco will just immediately switch to less ethical options
because consumers will not be able to afford all their more ethical options?
Did anyone study what they did during the recession?

I feel like a lot of their more ethical food options are more recent in
invention... Mainly following upper class trends. A lot of the things there
seem like they're trying their best to imitate what the upper class has. It's
rare to see a high end good by itself at a good price. They offer thermoflasks
instead of hydroflasks. Only one or two Le Creuset pots but they're really
high priced still. Kirkland versions of kitchenware instead of the cuisinart
ones that are just knockoffs of the all-clads everyone wants.

Personally - Costco feels like a slight improvement over Walmart but only at
certain goods. It feels far lower than Whole Foods when it comes to ethical
choices. I think that ethical gap is far greater than the image you posted
gives off.

As far as price goes - I think Costco only feels like a good value to
consumers who aren't savvy at shopping. For me - an overly savvy shopper - I
feel like I'm getting ripped off when I go there as I buy most goods for less
or equal to what they offer.

------
yufeng66
Costco capitalism can be summarized as hire top 5% of the population and the
rest can take care of itself. However, not all worker are in the top 5% and
they need jobs as well. Hence Walmart capitalism

------
bllguo
the concept is simple, really. make sure incentives are aligned at every step
of the business model and for all stakeholders. that's really the spirit of
capitalism anyhow.

------
codingmess
So they simply found a way to operate more efficiently, allowing them to pay
their workers more (as they earn more per worker). Why does that need to be
framed as "fair"? According to the article, they can afford to pay their
warehouse workers more, because they need fewer of them. is that "fair" or
"unfair"? How do the people who need a job but don't get a job at Costco
because they are not needed anymore feel about it?

Also, shoppers beware. I don't know Costco, but here in Germany there is also
a company that is famous for its good prices, Aldi.

Legend has it that they deliberately used wooden shelves in their stores
because they looked cheaper, even though actually metal shelves would have
been cheaper. Was reminded of that story when I read in the article that at
Costco you shop off shipping pallets.

Also Aldi is being criticized for using its market power to demand low prices
from suppliers. How does Costco fare in that regard? (I personally don't share
the criticism, but I suspect people who are in the business of worrying about
"fairness" would).

------
cortesoft
I am not a Costco member for a few reasons.

The biggest one is that the parking lots at the nearby ones are CRAZY. Always
packed, and even worse on weekends. They are so bad, in fact, that I even
avoid the streets NEAR the Costco, because they back up. And I live in Los
Angeles, where I expect bad parking and traffic... this is another level.

Also, I am just getting so used to ordering everything online. We get all our
household items via amazon subscriptions (toilet paper, paper towels, dish
detergent, etc)... so nice not having to ever think about those things and
they just show up when we need them. I can't see myself going back to shopping
at stores myself for those things.

~~~
cold_fact
that's cool and all. but you don't understand how much the membership pays for
itself with just gas alone

Right now my Costco has gas 50c less than any place around me

~~~
baddox
How does that work? From what I’ve heard, gas stations don’t get anywhere near
50 cents of profit per gallon. Even with massive scale and logistics I would
be surprised that they can pull that off.

~~~
genocidicbunny
In my area Costco gas is usually the cheapest, but it's not always the
cheapest by amounts like 50 cents. Its usually more on the order of 20 cents
cheaper. The next cheapest stations share some similarities with Costco though
-- they all tend to be unbranded gas stations. These don't usually have the
agreements that branded stations have, where they have to buy a certain % of
their supply from the brands refineries. So Costco tends to be buying the
cheapest gas available at the time, has no brand-name overhead, and on top of
that, purposely keeps their profit low to get more people joining. Another
thing that Costco does, not just with gas but with everything, is they only
accept their partnered credit cards. Their merchant fees are likely much
lower, and as Costco does, they just pass that onto you.

So Costco is paying less, and keeping less (if any) profit. The net result is
that their gas is appreciably cheaper.

~~~
lotsofpulp
I don’t know where they get it from, but Costco gas is supposedly same quality
as other branded gas stations:

[https://toptiergas.com/licensed-brands/](https://toptiergas.com/licensed-
brands/)

------
arsome
A word of warning, I've frequently found Costco meats are far more expensive
than at my local grocer, often on the order of 50-100% on sale items.

The design of the stores is also horrific, designed to make you maximize
browsing time. Availability of products is piss poor too - one week you might
find something you love, the next week you can't get it at all. I cancelled my
membership after the first year because the main product I bought it for was
no longer readily available.

Don't waste your money. Check your local flyers and cancel the expensive
yearly memebership, it's just another way for big businesses to scam you.

~~~
solotronics
For me I find the average quality of stuff they sell at Costco is higher than
other places. A nice warm weather resistant jacket was $35 this winter, I
would have gotten something similar for $80 at a mall. The food is all good. I
can pick something randomly I haven't tried before and I know it will be
quality food. Compare this something like Walmart or Amazon where trying
something new is like russian roulette.

~~~
tw04
I bought a high sierra "camelbak" type water pack for $25. I actually told
someone I got it for a steal at $30 because I forgot what it cost. By the time
my girlfriend went back they were gone - same thing at Amazon was over $40.

While I hate that you basically have to make an on-the-spot decision, they
absolutely crush it on quality and price 9 times out of 10.

[https://www.amazon.com/High-Sierra-Visalia-Hydration-
Backpac...](https://www.amazon.com/High-Sierra-Visalia-Hydration-
Backpack/dp/B01EBF2NRW)

[http://www.costcoweekender.com/2016/03/high-sierra-
visalia-9...](http://www.costcoweekender.com/2016/03/high-sierra-
visalia-9-hydration-pack-costco-1017129.html)

~~~
CuriouslyC
Or you can buy it from costco.com and have it delivered to your local store
for free.

