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Whenever someone says America can do great things, I don't think of battleships, fighter jets, or AI models, I think of Costco.
by pupppet 3mo ago
Whenever someone says America can do great things, I don't think of battleships, fighter jets, or AI models, I think of Costco.
- DrewADesign 3mo agoI mean, Costco is great, but I think the purest expression of American capitalism is Buc-ee’s.
- frollogaston 3mo ago[dead]
- whalesalad 3mo agoI present to you, the 8th wonder of the world: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Memphis_Pyramid https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Memphis_Pyramid
- DrewADesign 3mo agoYeah that’s pretty not bad. They just need to deposit them along the interstate system.
- deleted 3mo ago[deleted]
- throwawaygod 3mo agoCan you explain why? Non-american here :)
- deleted 3mo ago[deleted]
- DrewADesign 3mo agoIt’s a chain of gas stations along interstate highways, either mostly or entirely in the south. Many are contenders for, and one of them is, the world’s largest gas station— not hyperbole. One has 120 gas pumps and they do so much volume, they have a team of attendants running around outside to deal with card/pump problems. They’re open 24/7/365 and constantly have dozens of fresh, made on-site BBQ items and sides ready to go for very reasonable prices, roasted nuts and other snacky confections being made fresh constantly, plus a huge line of high quality prepackaged snacks, a full clothing store worth of merch bearing Buc-ee the beaver, and a separate convenience store that itself would make an incredible American gas station. In Florida, driving up through Georgia, the billboard advertisements start 200 miles away. Truly shocking thing is that it’s genuinely high quality (considering the venue) and reasonably priced. It’s exactly the sort of product American capitalism is supposed to produce, but almost never does. There are lots of videos on YouTube.
- eurleif 3mo ago>In Florida, driving up through Georgia, the billboard advertisements start 200 miles away. There's even a billboard 979 miles away in Arizona: https://stock.adobe.com/images/eloy-az-nov-23-2024-buc-ee-s-billboard-on-i-10-in-arizona-tells-drivers-to-turn-around-and-drive-979-miles-to-their-nearest-store/1111493919 https://stock.adobe.com/images/eloy-az-nov-23-2024-buc-ee-s-...
- names_are_hard 3mo agoWow. I spent decades of my life living in the US but apparently the wrong parts. Now I'm living in a different continent but I hope one day I'll have the opportunity to experience this part of America. Happy Independence Day!
- DrewADesign 3mo agoBeing from urban New England, which is about as geographically and culturally distant from Buc-ees country as the US gets, I first patronized one at 45. A distinctly American experience, indeed. I’m normally not big on rampant consumerism but, I like them.
- whalesalad 3mo agoWelcome to Costco, I love you.
- oa335 3mo agoAgree 100%. Costco exemplifies american dream... recent immigrants perusing well-stocked aisles, friendly employees, ample parking, cheap tasty hot dogs, etc.
- rustystump 3mo agoThe hotdogs. You know the world is ending when Costco raises the prices of their hotdog.
- spike021 3mo agoample parking? Not at any locations in my area. Even on weekdays.
- baby_souffle 3mo agoGo within an hour or so of opening. I used to work right across the st from one and would spend most of my shift looking out at their parking lot and you could see it get more packed throughout the day, thin out a little bit in the early afternoon and then slowly drain towards closing. It's always least crowded right at open and then an hour (? or maybe two?) later they open for the "regular" people and once that's the case, it fills quickly.
- dpark 3mo ago> Go within an hour or so of opening. Hah. It’s such a PITA that Costco includes an hour earlier entry on the top tier membership.
- 0x457 3mo agoI regularly shop at Costco and its usually one of five which ever is more convenient at the time. In all of my experience with Costco there is exactly one that has shitty parking, the rest are fine. That is if you have enough wrinkles in your brain to notice that in front of the store there 10 cars waiting for spot and parking a little bit in a back is easier. I often see people cruising around still looking for parking while I already managed: to park, walk to the storefront, get myself a hot dog, eat my hot dog, grab a cart.
- marcosdumay 3mo agoWallmart is absolutely impressive. But many places have something similar to Costco.
- culi 3mo agoInternally, Walmart is the a larger planned economy than the Soviet Union ever was. If you have a product you agree to sell in Walmart you basically give up total control. They tell you how to manufacture it, where/when to sell, and even at what price. There's a tongue-in-cheek 2019 book exploring this idea called The People's Republic of Walmart: How the World's Biggest Corporations are Laying the Foundation for Socialism. Cory Doctorow wrote about it https://archive.ph/cnDtu https://archive.ph/cnDtu
- satvikpendem 3mo agoI think of this: https://patrickcollison.com/fast https://patrickcollison.com/fast Sadly this is not the case anymore these days.
- eli_gottlieb 3mo ago"[W]hat earlier century had even a presentiment that such productive forces slumbered in the lap of social labour?"
- makeitdouble 3mo agoTo note, Costco doesn't make much sense in most places outside of the USA (and doesn't have to. No shop needs to cater to the whole world). It still exists in select locations in some countries, but are more exotic experiences than anything else. Shopping for weeks of groceries at a time is IMHO crazy niche, it requires a level of isolation and buying power that is seldom combined.
- senbrow 3mo agoI think your main point is right, but there are many Costco members who are NOT shopping for "weeks of groceries" at a time, and many of them live in suburban or urban areas with high density. For example, I shop at Costco once a week for just my girlfriend and I; we don't buy outrageous quantities. We live in a populous area. Our situation is pretty common; it's just a normal grocery store in effect for lots of people. The weird stereotype of Costco shoppers driving for miles to buy huge carts of food just doesn't line up with the typical case for my area.
- smithclay 3mo agoAs someone who lives in central San Francisco: Costco is amazing with a cargo bike (or Waymo off-peak). Haven't had Amazon Prime for 2+ years and don't miss it, but would definitely miss my Costco membership.
- newsoftheday 3mo agoAgreed. We have two Costco's within 6 minutes driving distance, my wife visits them once a week, like Walmart and Whole Foods. We also shop regularly on Amazon. We don't buy weeks of food at a time.
- alfg 3mo agoI now live in Tokyo and still make my Costco runs at least once a month. It's nice to have access to most of the same inventory since moving from Los Angeles.
- btheunissen 3mo agoI’m in Australia and I love going to my local Costco with my wife monthly to load up on meat we re-portion and freeze. Calling it an exotic experience is a little much, they operate in 14 countries, I’m just there for the bulk savings with a hot dog or two.
- newsoftheday 3mo agoI tend to think of veterans and their sacrifices manning those battleships, fighter jets and battlefields so that companies like Costco can exist.
- alephnerd 3mo agoThey're shifting around 1,000 corporate roles from Issaquah to Hyderabad [0]. They're across the street from TJX and AMD [1]. [0] - https://www.reuters.com/world/india/us-retail-giant-costco-set-up-global-capability-centre-india-employ-1000-people-2025-07-21/ https://www.reuters.com/world/india/us-retail-giant-costco-s... [1] - https://maps.app.goo.gl/?link=https://www.google.com/maps/@17.4352726,78.3828238,612a,52.8y,58.13h,131.3t/data%3D!3m5!1e1!3m3!1seUkoi6-6fpgUw52f27CK5Q!2e0!6shttps:%252F%252Fstreetviewpixels-pa.googleapis.com%252Fv1%252Fthumbnail%253Fpanoid%253DeUkoi6-6fpgUw52f27CK5Q%2526w%253D900%2526h%253D600%2526ll%253D17.435273,78.382824%2526yaw%253D58.127262%2526pitch%253D-41.298599%2526thumbfov%253D73%2526cb_client%253Dgmm.iv.ios?g_ep%3DCAISEjI2LjI2LjMuOTM1NzQyODExMBgAIIGBASpTLDEwMDgyMDk0NCw5NDI5NzY5OSw5NDIzMTE4OCw5NDI4MDU2OCw0NzA3MTcwNCw5NDIxODY0MSw5NDI4MjEzNCwxMDA4MTM0NjQsOTQyODY4NjlCAlVT%26skid%3D16466442-4241-437d-a66f-dd6107e1ce64&apn=com.google.android.apps.maps&afl=https://www.google.com/maps/@17.4352726,78.3828238,612a,52.8y,58.13h,131.3t/data%3D!3m5!1e1!3m3!1seUkoi6-6fpgUw52f27CK5Q!2e0!6shttps:%252F%252Fstreetviewpixels-pa.googleapis.com%252Fv1%252Fthumbnail%253Fpanoid%253DeUkoi6-6fpgUw52f27CK5Q%2526w%253D900%2526h%253D600%2526ll%253D17.435273,78.382824%2526yaw%253D58.127262%2526pitch%253D-41.298599%2526thumbfov%253D73%2526cb_client%253Dgmm.iv.ios?g_ep%3DCAISEjI2LjI2LjMuOTM1NzQyODExMBgAIIGBASpTLDEwMDgyMDk0NCw5NDI5NzY5OSw5NDIzMTE4OCw5NDI4MDU2OCw0NzA3MTcwNCw5NDIxODY0MSw5NDI4MjEzNCwxMDA4MTM0NjQsOTQyODY4NjlCAlVT%26skid%3Dc3c2da71-1e6d-431a-b853-fe76322fdb1b&isi=585027354&ibi=com.google.Maps&ibi=com.google.Rzimuth&ibi=com.google.Azimuth&ibi=com.google.Bzimuth&ibi=com.google.Czimuth&ibi=com.google.Dzimuth&ius=comgooglemapsurl&ifl=https://www.google.com/maps/@17.4352726,78.3828238,612a,52.8y,58.13h,131.3t/data%3D!3m5!1e1!3m3!1seUkoi6-6fpgUw52f27CK5Q!2e0!6shttps:%252F%252Fstreetviewpixels-pa.googleapis.com%252Fv1%252Fthumbnail%253Fpanoid%253DeUkoi6-6fpgUw52f27CK5Q%2526w%253D900%2526h%253D600%2526ll%253D17.435273,78.382824%2526yaw%253D58.127262%2526pitch%253D-41.298599%2526thumbfov%253D73%2526cb_client%253Dgmm.iv.ios?g_ep%3DCAISEjI2LjI2LjMuOTM1NzQyODExMBgAIIGBASpTLDEwMDgyMDk0NCw5NDI5NzY5OSw5NDIzMTE4OCw5NDI4MDU2OCw0NzA3MTcwNCw5NDIxODY0MSw5NDI4MjEzNCwxMDA4MTM0NjQsOTQyODY4NjlCAlVT%26skid%3Ddd14482f-3ebd-43a8-b804-debfd4232c9a&cid=6342297417160171850&_osl=https://maps.app.goo.gl/iW8eakwDu5W5Xxky8&_icp=1 https://maps.app.goo.gl/?link=https://www.google.com/maps/@1...