3 ms·

Costco is an elegant solution for the suburbs, where everyone is driving around a vehicle large enough to store giant boxes off a pallet and bring them home. He

by mlinsey 3mo ago

Costco is an elegant solution for the suburbs, where everyone is driving around a vehicle large enough to store giant boxes off a pallet and bring them home. Here in NYC, it's really impractical to go to a warehouse and carry a month's worth of supplies home on the subway. The flip side is that the Amazon last mile deliveries are done on electric scooters that can bring a whole trailer worth of packages to the mailroom of a big apartment building. These have some other externalities (eg around traffic laws and sidewalk space) but they are on the whole a lot more resource-efficient than everyone driving around giant cars to go to the store.

dietr1ch 3mo ago
I wish cities should design a delivery railroad. I don't want to let food delivery robots take over pedestrian spaces and having standardised package sizes and weight limits would help make things efficient.
- luisln 3mo ago
  Large cities are designed to get people outside, not keep them inside. A delivery raiload would take up space that could otherwise be used to transport people.
  - layer8 3mo ago
    It could be an underground system, like sewerage. However, noise might be an issue.
  - dsr_ 3mo ago
    Objection: most large cities haven't been designed. They grew, usually starting because they had a significant transportation advantage (seaport, seaport + river, river junction, river + pass).
  - dietr1ch 3mo ago
    A lot of transportation is required into cities to deliver food and supplies into supermarkets and then homes. If you improved that you'd have more space and time for fun
- mike50 3mo ago
  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pneumatic_tube_mail_in_New_York_City https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pneumatic_tube_mail_in_New_Yor...
mike50 3mo ago
This has to be astoturfed or something. There is literally a Costco in Manhattan and several in suburban Queens and Staten Island. Nothing stops you from going to Costco and just getting a cab back for a once a month trip.
- wilg 3mo ago
  It's also possible its not a conspiracy and you and the other poster just have different opinions.
- missedthecue 3mo ago
  The idea of Amazon astroturfing an HN thread to get more retail customers.
  - jMyles 3mo ago
    This doesn't seem at all unlikely to me. I think we sometimes forget the ease (in terms of scale and cost) of standing up a massive astroturfing campaign. That said, I don't think this particular comment has the flavor, tone, or message I'd expect, and it does seem to be a genuine HN poster.
    - razster 3mo ago
      And the kicker is that this could be an ai-agent doing the astroturfing. Now that even the common man can run local ai-agents that can post.
  - LearnYouALisp 3mo ago
    I mean did you see the completely unironic thread where discussors were mentioning "$50 Tees" as the lowest acceptable end of quality?
  - gunsle 3mo ago
    You are absurdly naive if you think they’re incapable or unlikely to do such a thing. Half the comments and threads on this site are ads at this point.
seaal 3mo ago
Don't know what I would do without Instacart. Closest Costco is 1 hour on a bus or 22 minutes/9 miles driving. The Wegman's that delivers to me is 40 minutes/26 miles driving, all for a like 10-20% fee on every item. Honestly I'm surprised more people don't use it considering how much time they waste going to these places, and how much more they spend by walking through the stores in person. Sometimes I'll get the receipt and the price will be more than what I paid after delivery fee/tip. I'm sad the 80$ for 100$ Instacart giftcard deal at Costco is gone. And the $2 off scheduled delivery. At least uber eats/doordash/walmart+/whole foods keeps this market competitive. Wonder how much trader joe's would make if they turned on deliveries?
- kyawzazaw 3mo ago
  for many, this is a fun activity
- insane_dreamer 3mo ago
  Half the fun of shopping at TJs is the actual shopping at TJs.
jhbadger 3mo ago
Costco also delivers -- I also live in a city in an apartment and order bulky things I don't want to carry from Costco online.
- saveferris 3mo ago
  Heck, I live in the burbs and do Costco delivery all the time. I dont want to carry them either :-)

by mlinsey 3mo ago

dietr1ch 3mo ago

I wish cities should design a delivery railroad. I don't want to let food delivery robots take over pedestrian spaces and having standardised package sizes and weight limits would help make things efficient.

luisln 3mo ago
Large cities are designed to get people outside, not keep them inside. A delivery raiload would take up space that could otherwise be used to transport people.
- layer8 3mo ago
  It could be an underground system, like sewerage. However, noise might be an issue.
- dsr_ 3mo ago
  Objection: most large cities haven't been designed. They grew, usually starting because they had a significant transportation advantage (seaport, seaport + river, river junction, river + pass).
- dietr1ch 3mo ago
  A lot of transportation is required into cities to deliver food and supplies into supermarkets and then homes. If you improved that you'd have more space and time for fun
mike50 3mo ago
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pneumatic_tube_mail_in_New_York_City https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pneumatic_tube_mail_in_New_Yor...

mike50 3mo ago

This has to be astoturfed or something. There is literally a Costco in Manhattan and several in suburban Queens and Staten Island. Nothing stops you from going to Costco and just getting a cab back for a once a month trip.

wilg 3mo ago
It's also possible its not a conspiracy and you and the other poster just have different opinions.
missedthecue 3mo ago
The idea of Amazon astroturfing an HN thread to get more retail customers.
- jMyles 3mo ago
  This doesn't seem at all unlikely to me. I think we sometimes forget the ease (in terms of scale and cost) of standing up a massive astroturfing campaign. That said, I don't think this particular comment has the flavor, tone, or message I'd expect, and it does seem to be a genuine HN poster.
  - razster 3mo ago
    And the kicker is that this could be an ai-agent doing the astroturfing. Now that even the common man can run local ai-agents that can post.
- LearnYouALisp 3mo ago
  I mean did you see the completely unironic thread where discussors were mentioning "$50 Tees" as the lowest acceptable end of quality?
- gunsle 3mo ago
  You are absurdly naive if you think they’re incapable or unlikely to do such a thing. Half the comments and threads on this site are ads at this point.

seaal 3mo ago

Don't know what I would do without Instacart. Closest Costco is 1 hour on a bus or 22 minutes/9 miles driving. The Wegman's that delivers to me is 40 minutes/26 miles driving, all for a like 10-20% fee on every item. Honestly I'm surprised more people don't use it considering how much time they waste going to these places, and how much more they spend by walking through the stores in person. Sometimes I'll get the receipt and the price will be more than what I paid after delivery fee/tip. I'm sad the 80$ for 100$ Instacart giftcard deal at Costco is gone. And the $2 off scheduled delivery. At least uber eats/doordash/walmart+/whole foods keeps this market competitive. Wonder how much trader joe's would make if they turned on deliveries?

kyawzazaw 3mo ago
for many, this is a fun activity
insane_dreamer 3mo ago
Half the fun of shopping at TJs is the actual shopping at TJs.

jhbadger 3mo ago

Costco also delivers -- I also live in a city in an apartment and order bulky things I don't want to carry from Costco online.

saveferris 3mo ago
Heck, I live in the burbs and do Costco delivery all the time. I dont want to carry them either :-)