A Review of the Downgrading of One Chain Wholesale Stores and the Upgrading of Another

(Disclaimer: First let me say, this article is entirely my own opinion. I am not employed by anyone. I am just tired of seeing big stores go down hill with their service and products when the 'bean-counters' take over the company.)

This is a general letter – asking, shouldn’t we applaud effort and improvement? Then, should we not also point out when things go the other way?

I have been a shopper at Costco (before that, Price Club) for more years than I would like to remember some days. When it was Price Club, I always felt good about buying things there. They had great buys on things that you needed and some things you did not need. But they were always great buys and the quality was always top notch.

Example, I bought a woven 12 X 16 Persian-type carpet in the 1980’s there. It was about a thousand dollars. (Maybe less, but my memory sometimes is questionable on money matters looking back over time.) In 2000, I had the occasion to purchase some really fine Persian carpets. When the merchant delivered the ‘new’ carpets (they were already over 30 – 50 years old but new to our house), he commented on the quality of the carpet from Price Club. (That was after he had examined the carpet; not knowing where if had been purchased.) There was no need for the man to do that, he had made his sale.

Along came Sam Walton and his chain of stores. There has been already too much written on that subject, so I am not talking about Wal-Mart, but rather the Sam’s Clubs that were open to compete not with Price Club (because frankly, no one could really compete with them) but with Costco, who had a sizable chain of stores and bought out Price Club.

Sam’s Clubs were the knock-off stores. You know, the look alike with the quality not quite as good, or the prices are not as sharp. That was when they first opened and Costco had just bought Price Club.

For a while, things remained pretty much the same. Then slowly, the bean-counters took over and things have changed. Costco is not Price Club – not in quality or in good pricing. I have been shocked at the downgrading of the products at Costco and the service. Yes, I know they are a wholesale ‘club’ for supposedly buying at below retail pricing, but I no longer think so. You can better the same thing with better pricing often on Amazon.

(The last interface with Costco’s Customer Service – was not – no service, no thank you for letting us help you – it was “Wait, I’m busy” (there was no one in line ahead of us and the person was talking on the phone with a personal call) and that comment was made after we had been standing there about four minutes. I left there scratching my head, wondering why it was that we went there to shop.)

Sam’s Club carries Black Diamond Sharp Cheddar Spread and other things that we can no longer get at Costco, so we have maintained our membership there. We had to go to Sam’s to get a couple of things and straighten out a problem on our membership information. Customer Service personnel were actually pleasant and not too busy to wait on customers. They gave us a $10 gift card to apologize for the mistake that caused us to make a trip there. Can you believe it?

Anyway, while we were at Sam’s, we decided to do a little shopping. We were pleasantly surprised at the selection, quality and pricing of what we saw. This was not the Sam’s Club of a few years ago, this was very nice indeed. The vegetables were fresh and of great quality. I mean, the green peppers lasted more than 2-3 days which is what was happening with the peppers from Costco lately. I saw no boxes with moldy vegetables or fruit anywhere. Everything appeared to be better than I remembered at Sam’s. Every employee that we saw was smiling and most were approachable for help. (Have you ever tried getting a Costco’s employee to help – they are too busy, probably because they appear to be understaffed!)

Anyway, there has been a flipping of the chains, in my opinion. Costco has followed the road of too many businesses – build a great product, build your customer base then start cutting the quality and selection to increase the bottom line. Someone should remind them that you only stay in business if you have customers.

There is not one link in this article - I am not promoting anything but thought. It is time for us to think about where we buy things. The internet has provided great selections of products and I do most of my shopping online these days.

We need to start voting with our dollars – take them to where you get the best quality and pricing. Right now, for a 'below retail pricing' , brick and mortar store, Sam’s Club gets my vote.