except how many people on food stamps have costco memberships? i mean, maybe some that recently lost a huge portion of their income, but if you're living in the ghetto, $50 is a pretty decent chunk of money to throw down on a bulk store membership.

@katieoh: Maybe more now once word of this gets out.

@katieoh: I would guess that they would pool resources and have a few families go in on one membership. Even if not, the $50 would be offset by savings if you need to by food in bulk (large family or whatnot).

@katieoh: True, hence the CEO clarifying that this policy was due to 'fellow citizens facing unprecedented economic challenges' (read: middle class folk).

This policy is meant more for formerly well off middle class folk who may suddenly be relying on food stamps to make ends meet. Not for those in the ghettos and whatnot. The urban poor I assume would not have the time, money, and means to go to Costco, buy only a few bulk items they can afford, wait in long lines, etc. etc.

Having worked in the office of a large parish which served the needs of the middle class, and having given away countless boxes of food to middle class people who have lost their jobs and who just can't make it till the end of the month, I can assure you that a lot of people on food stamps are not "in the ghetto".

It may make people feel better to think that they are, and sure, *some* are, but so many aren't these days.

I can see a blooming market in selling the use of your Costco card.

Well I guess this would be the last straw. The Costco of old is now dead. This chain is no longer a 'club' wholesale store. They let pretty much anyone one in... and now food stamps. wow.

@katieoh: Except maybe from rap music, I don't think I've seen the word ghetto in years. Maybe you meant the modern term "inner-city" -- you know the places that black folks and the like live and aren't at the right level to make a financial decision like Cosco shoppers

@katieoh:
You're forgetting that a lot of people on food stamps go with friends that have a Costco card already to buy stuff.
Costco can only win on this one, they need to apply this to all their stores.

And if I understand it correctly, there are no food stamps in California.
Cali adds cash to those on SSI or SSA payments that are food stamp eligible, meaning that they can shop at Costco without any hassle.

@katieoh: $50 is a lot for a poor family to spend, but they'll more than make that up over the whole year. Also maybe a family member or friend will buy them a membership as a present! Yeay Costco for all!

Costco is my favorite store, just wanted to share that, sorry.

@Hoss: i spent a year living in bed-stuy. aka the ghetto. it's saying nothing about the people living there, just the fact that the crime rate's a bit high and the buildings are shitty and owned by slumlords.

it's in new york. inner-city makes no logical sense there, because "inner-city" in its literal sense means the inner parts of the city. which is manhattan. which means NO to that definition within the context.

@Greasy Thumb Guzik: yeah, having lived in brooklyn, i can say with a fair amount of certainty that it doesn't hold true there. most people on food stamps don't buy in bulk, at least that i've seen. they might go out of their way to get a better price on something [ie to a chain store instead of the shitty, over-priced associated nearby] but i doubt they're going to go all the way to costco. public transportation and all that.

@Newman!!!!: this comment warms my heart. i kind of want to make an anonymous costco-membership-donation now for someone that could use the discount. they should set that up, haha.

I argued against it before, when people were suggesting Costco should be FORCED to take food stamps, but if they think the time is right then so be it. Their management seems pretty savvy, and a two store test run should give them a good idea of how well this works or how nasty it can get. As long as they think they can still turn a profit on it, it'll lower prices for other CostCo members (more sales is more buying leverage).

@jharrell:

You mean like in the past when you had to take the Costco "Test of Intelligence and Character" and provide three reference letters?

What the fuck are you talking about?

In the past, we have not been convinced that there was sufficient demand among our membership to justify the expense...However, we are mindful that many of our fellow citizens are facing unprecedented economic challenges...

Translation: A bunch of elected representatives are really beating up in the press and we really hope if we add food stamps to these stores that no other elected officials in other cities will bother us. Please make this issue go away.

@jharrell: ... they let you in, so clearly they aren't that exclusive, buddy.

@jharrell: What, so buying in bulk used to be for Bentley drivers and private jet owners? I'm not sure what Costco you were a member of, but it definitely wasn't my Costco.

I'm supposing that this doesn't affect the types of payment Costco accepts...not trying to be snarky here, but how many food stamp holders are also American Express cardholders? I mean, with AmEx arbitrarily cutting credit left and right, and maintaining psychological profiles, they have to know that some middle class people are struggling. If they haven't cut their card credit, I'm wondering whether people will suddenly just start using cash more often at Costco.

Dear god, I wish Costco members had to pass some sort of test before being allowed in.

Great. So a place that I pay a yearly membership fee to (I go to the one in Long Island City/Astoria), I now also help pay for the groceries of other people in there, and pay higher prices for goods because of the direct overhead of implementing the system at Costco and the fact that whenever you subsidize something the cost goes up...

...so I, a middle class person, gets what out of this?

Gotta love this country. We wonder why the middle class is shrinking and we're becoming more of a have and have not society.

@oldtaku: lets just hope they pass on the savings to their shoppers instead of having that leverage and keeping the benefits to themselves.

I also would like to guess that a majority of purchases by those on food stamps will be on "junk food" that has little to no nutritional value.

And of those who buy the junk, I'll venture that 90% of them eat to excess---more than 1750-2500 calories a day, which is all an adult needs.

This program needs to end now.

@michaelgibbons: sorry, how are you "helping pay for their groceries"? if those on food stamps were encouraged to shop at costco, they might buy other things as well... therefore making them "profitable" in costco's eyes. the system pays for itself.

also, by your argument, every time costco opens a new location, the cost would come right back to the customers of the previous stores, as they have to "implement" a new location.

your privilege is showing. and your argument sucks.

I don't know why any company wouldn't accept food stamps. The government gives money to the company in the amount of the food stamps, and they are more likely to get paid than if the person paid with a check. Just seems silly.

@katieoh:
Agreed and food stamps don't work like that. It's a federal program. They come in with a quest card. The card reads an amount is deducted the government then takes it's sweet ass time sending the money but it eventually get's to the business. If anything food stamps will slightly lower your food costs because of an increase in business means that they can order in larger increments bringing down cost.

@michaelgibbons: When I worked retail most of it was on bread, hamburger and milk. I'm sorry if those excesses interfere with your standard of living.

@michaelgibbons:

Yeah, gotta this country where there are too many people like you who only want to know "what's in it for me?"

And whether or not they use Costco does not change your taxes in the slightest. The "system" you speak of is supplied to any grocer willing to accepting food stamps and doesn't affect Costo's overhead at all.

@michaelgibbons: GOD YES ALL THOSE GROSS FAT POOR PEOPLE, RIGHT??@#()*$()#@*()

you really need to check yourself, dude. the plural of anecdote isn't data, you have no idea what you're talking about.

@michaelgibbons:

Yes, you do indeed guess.

Food stamp users receive at most $6.50 per day for groceries. Nobody is eating to excess on $6.50 per day. Nobody is eating junk food on $6.50 per day.

You need to stop talking now.

Wow, what's with all the people thinking it's a bad thing? All kinds of people qualify for food stamps. It's not only the poor. And of what consequence is it to you what people buy? No one bothers or ridicules you for the canned goods and bulk hot pockets.

And if you're thinking that people of lower income who go to Costco may bring along with them the unsavory criminal type, you're very paranoid. Most people are just regular families trying to make ends meet.

And if you dislike it so much there, stop going. I don't shop at Wal-Mart. You can stop shopping at Costco.

@katieoh: Then produce data to refute my anecdote. Currently my data is 1 area which is better than your data.

@sonneillon: i have no problem with your anecdote. which i have a problem with is people saying "GOD ALL THEY BUY IS JUNK FOOD."

you make judgments, i have problems. you report an observation, no problem.

@pecan 3.14159265: i don't think it's a bad thing, i guess i just don't see how it would work, given the membership fee.

it would be awesome if costco would offer some sort of discount on their membership for those who are un/underemployed. then the food stamps thing makes sense. of if those with foodstamps were allowed to shop at costco without a membership.

@twophrasebark: Excess calories. I never said they'll have more food, in a spatial/mass sense. I was discussing calories.

And there are plenty of studies which back up my point: Doritos and Gatorade will be lining many of the EBT card recipient's Costco carts.

@katieoh: I'm privileged by being in college loan debt (private loans), working 60 hours a week, and living in modest means?

@sonneillon: Oh, boy. Another liberal-trickle down theorist.

If the government can re-allocate capital so business somehow thrives more, why don't we give them all of our income and let them pave the roads gold?!

I'm not sure you understood my point about the overhead and red tape that Costco must deal with creating costs that must be passed onto the consumer.

@twophrasebark: Are you for universal health care?

I ask this because you probably will answer "Yes." And if so, isn't one of the biggest reasons amongst the pro-UHCers that it will somehow cut costs for us all?

So when you have your fruits of your labor withheld and would prefer more was taxed, aren't you, too, wanting your self-interests fulfilled?

So you can try to use the pejorative term on me, when we all work in our self-interest.

And though empirical economic fact on subsidization of goods is being dismissed by you, don't you at least agree that private charity would achieve far greater nutrition for the poor than giving them a debit card?

@michaelgibbons: aaaand there you go.

you're in college. that is a privilege. you have good enough credit to take out loans. privilege.

oh, wait, you live within your means?! oh, nevermind. i forgot the way the poor blow all their money on such excesses!

also, ps, you should really, really try to show me how "poor" you are some more. so i can laugh.

@michaelgibbons: if you really gave a shit what the poor are buying with their foodstamps, you would be helping them get better education. want to know why brands are so pervasive? because people with lower iqs/educational opportunities can't comprehend the notion of calories, fats, etc, so they buy what is marketed to them. the brands. the doritos, the gatorade.

cutting off their food stamps isn't the answer.

@sonneillon: What's your data? The standard claim that people in America buy bread, eggs, and milk on food stamps when I have to sort through the soda and chip racks to get to those staples at my corner bodega?

Furthermore, I question your credibility on the topic. Even the staunchest defenders of EBT cards admit to the fact that has issues with "junk food," and the inner-city paradox: More recipients live in areas where fresh, nutritious food isn't readily available (see bodegas). So how do you promote nutrition amongst the recipients? Do you force them to buy fruits and veggies only? So not only do you buy their food you tell them what they can eat---that sounds a bit dehumanizing to me. Then again, a simple look at Americans tells you that their free will leads them to shitty foods.

I would like to tackle a bigger issue in this rambling post, too---farm subsidies, the farm lobby, and milk caps. Given the choice between a $4.00 gallon of milk (the price in urban areas) vs. $.99 2-liter of soda, the choice is quite simple. A bunch of grapes and 5 applies for $6.00, or a bag of Cooler Ranch and Chewy Granola bars for $5?

[www.foodnavigator-usa.com]

@pecan 3.14159265: Costco does take debit cards. My debit card has a mastercard logo and they accept it because it's not run as a credit card.

@katieoh: What's privilege to you? You obviously see college as some kind of entitlement. So what's your answer? More federal money?

Do you ever care to consider why prices, dismissing inflation for this example, rise so much?

And am I supposed to feel pity for those who do not have what I have? That's condescending. On the flip side, what is "poor" in your eyes, anyway? Isn't wealth relative...

@sonneillon: overhead for processing the foodstamps of ebt cards costs money and takes away from profits, especially for a store like costco that takes cash/debit/check/amex only.

@katieoh: so now in addition to taking a new form of payment, you want them to give their service away as well?

@katieoh: Why do you feel that it's your responsibility, or the taxpayer's responsibility to educate people on what they eat?

So you want to somehow educate these people on how they should eat, and you think you'll have an iota of success? Look around. There are thousands of people with high IQs who eat themselves to death.

Your ideas are infantilizing and humiliating. You know, even if I agree with you on giving people public money for food, I would completely be against your idea on educating them on their choices. If they want to eat an ice cream bar, so what? That's their choice. I'd prefer it be with their own money, but I'm humoring you in this example.

Katieoh, what is your ideal scenario? Make these people take a nutrition class? I'm sure that will work... Force them to only buy food that some created bureaucracy deems "healthy?" Okay...

Please, I'm curious.

@xtc46 - thinksmarter on twitter: No, everyone here thinks the government getting involved in business somehow saves you money...

@katieoh: I really think Ford should give a discount to those who are underemployed---whatever the heck that means.

You know? Because without a car how do you get a job or get to a job?

I also really think that Century 21 should just waive closing costs for those who can't afford a house.

Geez, you think everyone's entitled to everything in this country. You don't understand it, but the entitlement system further separates the elite--that you probably abhor--from the middle class.