Posted by
RepublicanEvangelist on Sunday, November 23, 2008 8:22:28 PM
I have a couple of observations. Costco should scrap charging for membership and start charging for parking. I think the average shopper would have preferred to pay a valet 10 bucks vs the stalking shoppers like a shark stalking swimmers in shallow water to paraphrase Dave Barry. After a nearly twenty minute crawl the the parking lot looking for a place or just looking for a chance to leave, I finally found a spot and rushed inside to get the 2 items that I forgot from last night's run. Inside was the same gridlock of shopping carts throughout the store. I found myself driving my cart in such an aggressive manner that had it been my car, my insurance would have been revoked. This was further complicated by two things : 1.) Costco employees moving up and down the cramped aisles with hand trucks to refill the shelves. I do consider this a necessary evil but 2.) The sample tables. Anyone who has been to Costco knows the routine. People are hired to give shoppers samplers of various products like sausage, cheese, crackers, etc. On a good day where time wasn't a factor, one could have a complete meal of small samples, a Costco Tapas if you will. True the combination of random foods may not sit well in your stomach but no one is worse for wear and some times you actually buy something being showcased. But for the love of all that is good, couldn't Costco forgo this from now until after Christmas? People will jam up an aisle to get their sausage sample and you just want to get past them. Unfortunately for Costco, the economy as a whole, but fortunate for me personally, no one was buying anything and I got out in under five minutes. It seems there was a lot of people just hanging out there or perhaps with the collapse of all other investments, maybe the most valuable assets people have at Costco are their parking spaces and are waiting for the price to go up before they leave or perhaps they are just having dinner.