Just finished the Acquired episode about Costco, and hearing a detailed breakdown of the business model has convinced me: I’m going to get a membership. (They cap their markup at 14%! For everything!)
As I was listening I slowly realized something strange: Costco basically runs a controlled economy. They only stock one or two items in each category, in part because that’s the only way that the larger business model can work, but also because they assume customers don’t want endless choices as long as the limited choice they do have is high quality and very cheap.
This is basically how Lenin drew it up! State communism and a command economy! The state determines what the best things are, ensures their availability, and the populace happily accepts them, spared of the need to make a decision.
Another thing I learned is that the demographics of Costco members skew wealthy. Rich people want that sweet luxury communism most of all.
