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Costco is just starting to establish itself here in Australia. There is currently one store in my city (Melbourne). I personally know people who travel 40+km to

Costco is just starting to establish itself here in Australia. There is currently one store in my city (Melbourne). I personally know people who travel 40+km to shop there so they are doing something right. I understand that more "local" stores will be opening soon. I'm not sure how the focus on pay & conditions translates across the pacific however; our national minimum wage for casual workers is already AU$20.34 (US$18.54) and we have universal healthcare. So I'm guessing the relative benefits of working for Costco are lower as compared to in the USA.

netcan 13y ago
I was studying business in Australia when Aldi came in and had a tutor who was a little obsessed with them. Most supermarkets (Coles, Woolworths/Safeway) employed a lot of cheap, casual or part time, high turnover staff. Award rates (Australia complicated alternative to minimum wages) are lower for younger employees (up to 21 yrs) so they employed a lot of high schoolers. The jobs were very narrow. Checkout chicks don't leave the counter. When no one is waiting, they need to pretend to be cleaning their workstations. Aldi paid slightly above award. They preferred to hire adults. They preferred to hire for the long term. They had raises & advancement opportunities. They kept costs down by with efficiency instead of low wages. Intelligent efficiency with brains in use at all levels. Employees are far more independent. If there are long queues, they open another counter. If not, the stock shelve. If they have time, they take stock counts or do something else. The job satisfaction is way way higher. The upshot of all this is that they can run stores with far fewer employees. A lot of other things go into this (store layouts, fewer product choices, display-in-bulk packaging), but better treated, more empowered employees is a big one. Hourly rates is just a part of the picture.
aroch 13y ago
>40+km Ha! Only 40km? I know many people who drive ~300km to get to a Costco. Hell, several people I know refuse to move to a city without easy access to Costco -- even if it means not taking a promotion. That's some serious store loyalty there. I love Costco, but not that much!
russell_h 13y ago
I grew up in Anchorage, Alaska, and its not uncommon for people who live in remote areas of the state to travel hundreds of miles to go to Costco. Mind you, they don't exactly have a local grocery store for the most part, but its interesting how widespread that usage pattern is.
- kevingadd 13y ago
  That probably ties in nicely with Costco's emphasis on extreme bulk sales. If the nearest Costco is hundreds of miles away, at least you can buy a month+ worth of most supplies while you're there and load them all into your vehicle.
  - BigTigger 13y ago
    Also an Australian, Costco is also a single location here, 20km away. My house travels out there once every ~3 months for everything and spend ~$500 The only things we really buy from the supermarket are week to week things like meat etc.

netcan 13y ago

I was studying business in Australia when Aldi came in and had a tutor who was a little obsessed with them. Most supermarkets (Coles, Woolworths/Safeway) employed a lot of cheap, casual or part time, high turnover staff. Award rates (Australia complicated alternative to minimum wages) are lower for younger employees (up to 21 yrs) so they employed a lot of high schoolers. The jobs were very narrow. Checkout chicks don't leave the counter. When no one is waiting, they need to pretend to be cleaning their workstations. Aldi paid slightly above award. They preferred to hire adults. They preferred to hire for the long term. They had raises & advancement opportunities. They kept costs down by with efficiency instead of low wages. Intelligent efficiency with brains in use at all levels. Employees are far more independent. If there are long queues, they open another counter. If not, the stock shelve. If they have time, they take stock counts or do something else. The job satisfaction is way way higher. The upshot of all this is that they can run stores with far fewer employees. A lot of other things go into this (store layouts, fewer product choices, display-in-bulk packaging), but better treated, more empowered employees is a big one. Hourly rates is just a part of the picture.

aroch 13y ago

>40+km Ha! Only 40km? I know many people who drive ~300km to get to a Costco. Hell, several people I know refuse to move to a city without easy access to Costco -- even if it means not taking a promotion. That's some serious store loyalty there. I love Costco, but not that much!

russell_h 13y ago

I grew up in Anchorage, Alaska, and its not uncommon for people who live in remote areas of the state to travel hundreds of miles to go to Costco. Mind you, they don't exactly have a local grocery store for the most part, but its interesting how widespread that usage pattern is.

kevingadd 13y ago
That probably ties in nicely with Costco's emphasis on extreme bulk sales. If the nearest Costco is hundreds of miles away, at least you can buy a month+ worth of most supplies while you're there and load them all into your vehicle.
- BigTigger 13y ago
  Also an Australian, Costco is also a single location here, 20km away. My house travels out there once every ~3 months for everything and spend ~$500 The only things we really buy from the supermarket are week to week things like meat etc.