4 ms·
It's a co-op not a private business
by ipaddr 3y ago
It's a co-op not a private business
- wpietri 3y agoIts stock is traded on the NASDAQ, so it's definitely a business: https://www.nasdaq.com/market-activity/stocks/cost https://www.nasdaq.com/market-activity/stocks/cost As far as I can tell it was always structured as a normal business, albeit one requiring an annual membership fee: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Costco https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Costco Co-ops are different: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cooperative https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cooperative
- skyyler 3y agoCostco members aren’t owners, are they? It’s just a membership, like a gym.
- eru 3y agoI'm not sure that would actually make much of a difference in this case. Eg the investment manager Vanguard has a very curious ownership structure: > Vanguard is owned by the funds managed by the company and is therefore owned by its customers. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Vanguard_Group https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Vanguard_Group So Vanguard is in some real sense a co-op, even if that's not the legal official form of the company. See https://investor.vanguard.com/investor-resources-education/news/who-owns-vanguard https://investor.vanguard.com/investor-resources-education/n... for more on the matter. (But keep in mind that it's advertisement by Vanguard about itself. So take it with a grain of salt.)
- mook 3y agoEven if you somehow banded together all Costco members (i.e. people who paid membership fees to be able to ship there), you wouldn't be able to force the board of directors to resign (other than via boycotts etc.). For a clearer example, Sam's Club has a similar membership, but that's well-known to be owned by Walmart…
- Ekaros 3y agoAnd when there are real co-ops owned by customers around the world. Which require investments to get membership. And often you get that investment back if you leave.
- extraduder_ire 3y agoI expect that happening would cause the hot dog guy (Jim Sinegal) to force them to resign, if it made sense.
- uxp8u61q 3y agoDoes Costco do "business"? It buys merchandise from suppliers, sells to people. It's incorporated. Its shares are traded on the NASDAQ. Yes, evidently, it partakes in business. Is it owned by the public (the state), or by private persons? Private persons. It is a private business.
- uoaei 3y agoConsumer co-ops like REI and Costco are different kinds of entities than worker co-ops like your local leftist coffee shops and bakeries.