Costco… what a magical places.
You need your daily essentials, they got it. You need a 5lb bucket of mac and cheese, they got it. You need a $400,000 dollar engagement ring, they got it. You need a 4-foot wine glass, they got it. You might have to ask someone in the back room, but I’m pretty sure you can find exotics animals, human organs, and maybe even a hitman at Costco if you really wanted to.
But you know what else you can find at Costco? A hot dog and cold pop combo for a buck fifty, plus free refills.
And since 1985, it’s stayed at that price thanks to store co-founder Jim Sinegal.
According to an old article from 425Business that’s been circulating the interwebs recently, CEO Craig Jelinek once approached co-founder Sinegal regarding the store’s need to raise the hot dog price. Sinegal was having none of it.
“I came to Jim once and I said, ‘Jim, we can’t sell this hot dog for a buck fifty. We are losing our rear ends.’ And he said, ‘If you raise the effing hot dog, I will kill you. Figure it out.’ That’s all I really needed. By the way, if you raised to $1.75, it would not be that big of a deal. People would still buy. But it’s the mindset that when you think of Costco, you think of the $1.50 hot dog.”
And God bless him for it.
Now if only we could get that kind of loyalty to Kirkland Signature Light.
RIP…
