Costco Co-Founder Jim Sinegal Backs President Obama on Business


President Obama is getting some help defending his record toward small businesses from a major player in the corporate world.

Former Costco CEO and co-founder Jim Sinegal endorsed the president’s economic policies and bid for a second term in an email message Monday night to be blasted out by the Obama campaign.

The show of support comes amid an onslaught of attacks by Republicans that paint Obama as anti-business, including a new TV ad by presumptive GOP nominee Mitt Romney that uses out-of-context remarks by the president to suggest he has denigrated small business owners’ success.

“You might be seeing some ads or hearing some folks say that President Obama doesn’t support small business owners,” Sinegal wrote. “But he understands that small businesses grow and prosper because of individual initiative – because entrepreneurs like you and me do the hard work it takes, and we can’t do it alone.”

more; http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2012/07/costco-co-founder-jim-sinegal-backs-president-obama-on-business/

at least once/month.

I sure wish the locations were switched.

Are treated way better than Sam's Club. And you can feel the vibe inside the Costco store.

they are a good place.

and you can get some neat stuff there. I had never heard of union problems.

n/t

Keeps the ship running tidy, and I can get help when I need it.

I don't even know where the closest Costco is -- New Orleans, maybe? I buy my bulk items at Sam's now, but would switch to Costco in a heartbeat.

about 3 hours from here. Oh well, thanks for the link anyway.

less than four miles from me. I had no idea. Gonna sign up with them pronto.

The things you find out on DU.

The traffic between here and Costco is insane, but it's just such a better store (and there's a Trader Joe's on the way there!)

A couple of Costcos in the Denver metro area... Closest one is about 3 miles from me.

As much as I love Denver, it is not typical of all of Colorado....

Obama's plan puts more money in people hands to buy shit at his stores.

to supply their business needs whether it's a restaurant, day care, feeding the employees or planning events. I'm sure he comes into contact with a lot of small business owners.

buys all our food stuffs for our annual fundraiser at Costco. And we get a small discount!

They have great benefits for their employees, too, as we learned from a very happy and satisfied employee a couple of weeks ago. .

We were at the one on Dimond last Sunday and had to drive around and around to find a parking place, even with that big, huge parking lot.

That's where I get all bulk consumables, steak, paper products, seasonal yard stuff, and my prescription meds. Their pharmacy is, by FAR, the most cost-effective around and the personnel are invariably up-beat, genuinely friendly, and competent.

They're excellent.

because we're always stocking up at Costco. There's lots of food here for just the two of us.

We've only got Sam's, unfortunately.

I shop there at least once a week

All my local grocery store chains were huge Bush supporters back in the day, giving donations left and right. So I got a Costco membership and started shopping there more. We got a Trader Joe's (we like TJ's, right?) and I shop there a fair amount too.

if my bosses decide to retire (heaven forbid!) i would try to work at costco.

ellen fl

The fresh produce, meat and fish, and frozen foods are all high quality and well priced.

The produce is great, and cheaper than I can get at the grocery chains. However, I do still buy from the grocery chains in my area as well, since they're unionized.

their employees very well and they have pretty good prices.

I buy most of my groceries for the month there.

The nearest is about 35 miles away, but I'm still tempted to join and make a monthly pilgrimage, and swing by a near by Trader Joes, too.

My closest Cosco is 80+ miles away and TJ's is even farther.

My lucky sister has one a couple minutes away and they shop there for just about EVERYTHING one would ever need!

When they come up for a visit...they fill my refrigerator with Cosco goodies. So I can vouch for their quality.

I know what you mean, I just checked the Costco website, the 5 nearest stores are all at least 105 miles from my house. The nearest Sam's Club is 1/2 of a mile away.

I worked at an investment company in the 80's and a guy came in from Costco and said it was company policy to pay their employees well because they had less turnover and more productivity. To this day I shop every week. At the time Costco was $30 per share. I never forgot? The employees are helpful and happy. At Target and other big boxes they are surly, I wonder why ?

we figure the savings in gas we might break even end of year with the fee to join.

Love the store….

This is even more reason. Thanks.

No much else, though. I did check prices for eyeglasses, but they were too high, so I went elsewhere. Costco is great, though for generic over the counter medications, paper goods, and laundry detergent. The one near me makes a mean Greek chicken pasta salad, too. We buy a tub of that every couple of weeks.

Just heard this week that Costco was returning to Lexington, KY after being gone for many, many years...Sam's Club moved in and everyone (not me) flocked there. I shopped at Costco all the time when I lived in Miami for ten years.

So happy they are returning and so happy Sinegal is endorsing Obama. Lexington is one of the few counties in KY with a higher Democratic demographic..so hopefully, they won't get run out of town again.

runs counter to the Wall (Mart) Street model.
Wall Street is about the next quarter's bottom line. Squeeze every drop possible from employees.
Costco has far less employee turnover and employee theft. They spend far less on security and training new workers. Even Nazi sympathizer Henry Ford knew to pay his employees enough so they could buy the cars they were building.
By focusing on the bottom line and executives benefits the geniuses on Wall Street diminish demand and thus take money out of circulation while paralyzing the economy.
We go to Costco about once a month. Their Kirkland brand is generally of good quality and reasonably priced.

a good reason to support Costco.

ON EDIT: Here's another good reason.http://positivesharing.com/2007/07/analysts-to-costco-stop-treating-your-employees-so-well/

If I want something, I generally have her pick it up for me. I don't make 40 mile round-trips to shop, and I generally don't buy in that kind of bulk, living alone.

I generally try to support small local shops, and larger concerns that have a decent record, so I'm fine with Costco.

Pres Obama just landed at Boeing field here in Seattle for a fundraiser at Sinegal's house....

when I see this smiley, I am sure he is saying O-Ba-Ma !!

But I've never been able to find one of those 55 gallon drums of Pate de Foie Gras that I've heard about.

But I make a point of shopping there when I'm in Houston or Dallas.

Oh - the fruits and veggies!

It's a long story, but this actually made an aggravating conversation that ruined my day, disappear

I'll work even harder to get them to consider, damn it.

At one time you could bring items back no matter how long you had them and get a full refund. While they don't follow that policy anymore I have always admired Mr. Sinegal's policy of doing business. I remember seeing a video of his office where he answered his own phone (didn't want a secretary) and went across the street for lunch. He worn a Costco name tag just like the rest of the staff and everyone called him Jim. I this his pay that the time was $365,000 a year which for the CEO was modest.

I think it's just electronic devices that they limit to 90 days or something - and even those automatically get extended warranties (I think). We try to buy all our electronics at Costco and have never had any problems.
Milk is always significantly cheaper at Costco, they have great meat and produce, and their in-house brands seem pretty high quality.
Their dog food is supposedly one of the healthiest around - comparable to high-end natural brands in nutrition value. And it's pretty cheap $25 for 40 lbs. That being said, they were hit by the last pet food recall a few months ago.

You can thank me later.

If you leave them in the frig the choc chips stay solid and omg.

to it's customers.

Pricing wasn't exactly competitive with the Blues, but they are working on it.

http://www.costco.com/Browse/ProductSet.aspx?prodid=11531715&whse=bc&topnav=&cat=55291&hierPath=55291

was found dead in his mother-in-law's pool so when I needed new glasses, I figured I'd give Costco a try. Then I kicked myself for not using Costco all along. I spent a great deal less than I did getting an exam and glasses at the doctor's office. And the quality was just fine. Last time I got glasses at the doctor's office, I had to return them the next day because the focus wasn't correct.

$3.35 for a gallon of gas, which was almost 30 cents cheaper than at the cheapest gas station around.

I was able to buy a new pair of glasses for less than half what the local optometrists were quoting. When I went to the desk to sign up and get my card I asked the man there about the differences at Wal Mart and he replied "That's a bad word around here."

this area.

A very fine start.
When Sam's supported *Bush i went to the local store, got the manager and quit, and told him why.
Then I went to Costco across the street, Costco was giving money to Al Gore, got the manager, joined, and told her why.
It was a good day, and a couple of startled people. It's what we have to do, be vocal, be visible, and act on our convictions.

Bravo, Mr. Sinegal! You have my admiration and if you build a store anywhere near me, you'll have my dollars too.

I'd like to build one near me!

Just bought some stuff there recently. Their store is kind of addicting.

Costco. My mom and I pass 3 Sams clubs to get there-and love it.
Glad to know they support President Obama.

and she loves it. I have never had a Costco card, but I will get one tomorrow.

french roast coffee beans, string cheese, cat food, paper goods, smokehouse almonds, vitamins, rotisserie chicken, salmon...

I know some who work for SAM's and want to work for COSTCO: They have benefits!

I heard that on a TV doc once.

They're more successful than Walmart per employee and store square footage, but Wall St chides them because they'd be even more "successful" if they treated their employees like shit.

The cognitive dissonance is killing my screaming teabagger right wing father: He knows and admits Costco is the better store from a consumer standpoint, but it burns his ass because "they're left wing". He, and I swear solemnly and truthfully, worships Walmart's business model. Though he was always to the right politically, he was never ill-affected in any way by "labor", but the last few years has seen his absolute major focus of his rage on labor unions. I don't get it.

TJ's is owned 100% by a German family and managed by a genius from Calif. I heard they have the highest sales per sf in the nation and they pay their employees 50% higher than union. I dom 90% of my groceries there now. Good quality low prices helps, and their employees are the best.

Shades of Henry Ford.

bulk in years. I should visit just to see what's going on. I did get some good tires at Costco. I've never really ever heard anything bad about Costco. I think there's one not too far from here.

Yay, Costco.

Love those free samples!

And what I save on Pantene shampoo in a year practically pays for my membership.

At Christmastime, it's a great place for to buy stocking stuffers in bulk.

It tastes good, and Consumer Reports said it's one of the best brands of toothpaste on the market.

The Harrisburg PA Costco is 70 miles away.

The next closest one would be over two hours away. Opens this Fall!

I love Costco.

My boss was in my van with me the other day, when I went very slightly out of my way to fill up my gas tank at Costco. He said that all things considered, it would save me very little on gas cost. I explained to him that for me, there were other issues involved, like supporting blue companies.

I was even able to go to Costco's in the UK and use my card while living there. What I first noticed about Costco was how happy the employees all looked.



This is from 2004:





Costco vs. Wal-Mart - Statistics
Comparing some workplace statistics, as reported by the companies.
Employees covered by company health insurance
Costco - 82%
Wal-Mart - 48%
Insurance-enrollment waiting periods (for part-time workers)
Costco - 6 months
Wal-Mart - 2 years
Portion of health-care premium paid by company
Costco - 92%
Wal-Mart - 66%
Annual worker turnover rate
Costco - 24%
Wal-Mart - 50%
Company Size
Costco - fourth-largest U.S. retailer
Wal-Mart - world's largest retailer
Fulltime employee's average hourly wage
Costco - $17
Wal-Mart - s $9.68.
CEO's total 2004 pay
Costco - James Sinegal [Issaquah, Washington-based] $2.7 million
Wal-Mart - H. Lee Scott [Bentonville, Arkansas] $17.9 million




http://www.vizettes.com/perspectives/tc/walmart/walmart-vs-costco.htm

just a few weeks ago. It was a big deal since it's a fairly progressive area and Sams Club (Walmart) was the only warehouse option nearby until then.

Edit: and like everyone else has said, the employees look really happy/cheerful there. I didn't mention it initially because I haven't actually talked (much) with them so theoretically it could be fake cheer but it seems genuine.

Ann Arbor, MI (really Pittsfield Township)

I told the checker what wall street said . She said yes that they were treated great there.

...big fundraiser for Obama one town away from Costco headquarters.

I hate their weekend hours, but we rarely go there on weekends. I also hate that they ditched their exclusive hours. Used to be that Executive members ($110 membership) could shop from 10 AM - 11 AM alone. Gold lever members ($55 membership) could begin shopping at 11 AM. It wasn't much, but it helped. They got rid of that in 2009 or 2010, I think. Now the hours are all the same for everyone. It's a real PITA, as most Costcos are TOTAL ZOOS. You can barely navigate through the place(s), especially with the samples (everyone stops and congregates around the freebies, clogging up traffic). That's the only thing Scum's Club has on Costco. If you pay for the expensive membership at Scum's Club, you can shop from 7 AM - 10 AM. The standard members may begin shopping at 10 AM. It helps if you can have exclusive hours. I'm a people person, but I hate being around people when I'm shopping/going to movies/etc...

We've had a couple of Costco memberships in our family for 10 years now. It started when I spent the summer in Seattle in 2001. My family lives out there, and I got to experience some of the cool things you always hear about (Costco, Trader Joe's, Whole Foods, etc...). Coming back to the midworst sucked. It was like moving to Iowa Shitty from Columbus, OH when I was in college. Columbus had great movie theaters, shopping, restaurants, concerts, sports. Iowa Shitty had NOTHING. It still blows, but it's better (drive-thru Starbucks, Noodles & CO, Chipotle, Costco).

We ended up getting our own Costco membership and shopping at the Costcos near Minneapolis in late 2001. They had the St Louis Park location open already. We joined the Coon Rapids location just after it opened. (Now they have 6 - Eden Prarie, Maple Grove, Maplewood, Burnsville - They're getting 2 more in the fall). My sister was teaching in NW WI. We'd go up to see her. We'd drive 60-90 miles into Minneapolis and load up, then drive home. We did this 3-4 times a year. Costco opened in West Des Moines in August of 2004. We'd load up there once and a while (sister now teaches in S IA, so we'd go from her house). Madison (Middleton, actually) opened in August of 2008, so we started going there. Now we'll probably go to Coralville. We'll still hit Madison, as they have Trader Joe's and Whole Foods.

We went to the grand opening in Coralville on Wed, 6/27. We should've gotten there at 8 AM. We got there about 10 instead. MADHOUSE! It was nuts. On top of that, they only had 2 handicapped/motorized carts (although we only ever saw 1). We got into a fight with someone over the one we found/used. It helped already having a membership, and not having to wait in line to sigh up for one. I now know to avoid Costco on opening day. It's way to big of a deal for us midworsterners. We'd been to the Madison location on opening day too. That was also insane. My sister went back to Coralville on Thursday, 7/6. She said it was just as busy. I hope it doesn't stay that way, because it makes shopping miserable. Or hopefully Costco gets the message and builds more warehouses. People LOVE the place, and most of them aren't even doing it to support a "Blue State" business.

Costco does incredibly well, kicking Scum's Clubs butt in sales each year, even though Scum's has a lot more warehouses. I know they're never coming to Dubuque, but I hope they can branch out and get to the QC. The QC Scum's needs competition (way too busy). DPort needs much better stuff (they do have a Chipotle now!). It seems that West Des Moines got the message that Iowans actually want cool sh*t (they have Costco, Trader Joe's,...Whole Foods opened last Wednesday - WITH A LONG LINE OF PEOPLE WAITING TO GET IN, and they're probably going to have another Whole Foods). Hopefully other Iowa cities follow.

I live outside of Dubuque now. Our Costco's are roughly:

Coralville, IA - 100 miles away
Madison, WI - 115 miles away (Sun Prarie, WI is getting one in October...that's a few miles further)
Des Moines, IA - 250 miles away
Naperville, IL - 160 miles away

One of the few complaints I have about them (in addition to not having extra hours for exec members) is that they congregate around big cities, and have few warehouses anywhere else. I know it works for them. They stay in affluent areas. But if they'd just branch out a little bit it would help. I mean, there are something like 17 of them around Chicago, and none in the rest of the state of IL. There are 3 in the entire state of WI (soon to be 4). There are 2 in the entire state of IA. People love Costco, so they have to keep up and build more. This new one in Coralville has been VERY busy all 3 times I went there (although the 1st time was on opening day). I'm hoping this shows them that their stores will flourish in Iowa, and we can get one in Davenport, IA (60 miles away). I'd drive there once every 7-10 days and load up. So would my parents. As it is, I'll be hitting the Coralville one as much as possible.

for those of you who don't live near a Costco but would like to do business with them.

It was in the 90s, around the time Costco really started taking off here in Salt Lake. Every couple weekends or so, my grandma, mom and me would drive out to the one and shop. I always loved it. I just actually went with my mom last weekend!

and joined and then immediately unjoined. I prefer to shop at my local independent market even though it doesn't have the variety or the bargains. It's LOCAL.

We shop there once a month. Costco has great prices on wine.

For several years I kept writing to Costco and asking them to build a store in our section of the state. The nearest Costcos were a 4 hr drive so I could only get to them a couple of times a year. Well the just opened a store 12 miles from here. Yay!

I just take their little blue plastic cart and take a pass on a lot of their jumbo products.
And since I pay out-of-pocket for my prescriptions, the savings from using their Pharmacy pays for my membership in nothing flat.

and I'm so excited. Been waiting for one for a long time.

to Costco. It's only 30 minutes - and it's worth it.

I hated them at first. Big box and all but after 2.5 yrs, I've changed my mind completely and shop there at least once weekly; especially when I heard that the employees are treated well. I won't shop at Walmart or Sam's club.

We got our car through their vehicle purchase program. $500 over invoice.
Got our treadmill there and it was delivered to our door.
I didn't realize that eye glasses were so cheap there and have another pair ordered right now.
I got my eye tested last week for 49.00 bucks!
My husband's passport photo was 4.99 and the one we had taken at Walgreens was horrible and twice the price. We returned the walgreens' one.

We buy their organic lettuce, veggies, fruit and OMG, the filets are the best I've ever eaten.
We love the almonds and walnuts and olives!
We get our vitamins there.
We get fresh baked bread and croissants there.
We get all of our paper products and household cleaners, like dish and laundry soap.
Their wine rack has a lot of great ones and I've bought some great glass food storage products.
Their seasonal stuff is exceptional too.

I almost cancelled the membership but their rewards program with American Express can't be beat. The membership pays for itself.

I am one of their best customers. The Costco in Yongjae (Southern Seoul) is the most profitable of their stores in the world.

but i always somehow check out the samples

pharmacy deals are good for those of us sans insurance

in Seattle. I assumed he was a Republican. He's done a couple of things locally I wasn't too crazy about, but this goes to show you that I should learn more before I get my hate on!

I love Costco, and now I won't be grumbling about Sinegal very time I walk in the door.

I'm almost out of tp and paper towels - I can get enough of that stuff there to last me for months. They also have good deals on a lot of electronics and hardware-type stuff. Then I can swing by Trader Joe's on the way home (Costco's food is good but the quantities are mostly too large for one person). I do like Costco.

She enjoyed it and said they treat employees pretty well. So that's another thing to consider.

Spent almost $200 there this weekend (yes, on stuff we actually needed ).

Now I feel even better about spending that money!

I'll enjoy it even more next time! :kick:

I only buy beef at Costco. The cheeses are divine. I even bought a few shares of stock in the company.

I'm a faithful Costco shopper for this reason, and others.

But they need to start building some more stores!!! We have 3 Costco stores in San Antonio and you cannot go to one that isn't super over-crowded. There is NO way to stroll and look at products; the only approach is to go in and get what you need and get out.

I keep hoping to see new construction! If they build it....we will come!

...good prices and fast shipment

because we knew they were a Progressive company.

Thanks for the info.