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Comment by Waterluvian | Hacker News Reader

Buying in bulk is about having the ability to both afford next week’s food this week and have the means to store it. Not to mention the annual subscription.

Responding to a comment about dollar stores preying on the poor with, “that’s why I shop at Costco” is… a choice.

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The fact that the strategic wedge with which a successful, relatively socially-positive business manages to sustain itself isn't universally accessible doesn't negate its value.

The Venn diagram between people who shop at dollar stores and people who shop at Costco isn't empty.

> the ability to both afford next week’s food this week

At minimum that's everyone on a normal paycheck, paid every two weeks. There are situations where someone couldn't get together a few days' pay at once, but that's a tiny fraction of situations.

And the means to store most food is a two foot square of space in a room somewhere. And then most of the rest fits in the empty fridge space you already have.

And there are deals there that can be useful for your wallet right away. This isn't something where you have to put up a ton of money for months before you benefit.

The biggest issue is probably that costco isn't easy to get to.

For me it's very simple: What I save on glasses pays for my membership. I don't go all that often but it's still worthwhile.

This is true, but a valuable - and damning - observation that this variation in business model, that seems to be both decent and profitable, is so rare

... and a car to haul all that stuff, and time to drive to the nearest Costco.

It really is a luxury that a ton of people can't afford.

Indeed. And I say this as Costco member. There are lot of factors that make Costco memberships work. And a lot of people won't be able to make much benefit out of Costco membership.

I say this as someone who admires their business model and how they treat customers & employees: your typical Costco experience is drive to the suburbs, spend $500 and load up your car with nice to have food products and discretionary purchases. Poorer people cannot do any of these things.

Why is car a luxury? A clunker car worth $2000 will still work fine for years with minor maintenance that can be done by yourself.

Oh, yeah. Cities. Cars are expensive when you live in a 100 sq. ft. box.

Perhaps that's what is causing problems?

The cost of the car itself is minimal compared to insurance, gas and storage costs.

What "storage"? You put it on your driveway. The minimum liability insurance around here is about $50 a month.

Some people do not own a driveway or a car space. There is an active rental market just for that.

A competently planned city makes car ownership unnecessary.

A competently planned _country_ makes cities that only seem to create generational poverty unnecessary.

Sprawl comes from urban planning. I think you mean to say a certain approach to planning makes it unnecessary.

There's no way to plan a city so most people can walk to a Costco. Warehouse stores are an inherently car-based phenomenon.

They don't require everyone to own a car. At the very least, they can run an efficient delivery service. And there's got to be a way to make a 3 hour rental or single taxi drive once a month much cheaper than owning a car.

The $2000 daily driver died with covid.

Time to go and acquire necessary food stuff is not a luxury in any reasonable framing. What is the alternative, eating drive-thru every day or having Instacart deliver overpriced groceries?

I believe eating food from street vendors was the usual way for paupers until quite recently. Recall that it was common to rent a bed for a few hours and share it with someone who worked different shifts.

not sure your comment is any less insufferable.

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