Costco Wholesale Corporation

[cyclone]

Crowds force Costco to shut maiden China store early on opening day

Reporting by Brenda Goh, David Stanway and John Ruwitch; Editing by Susan Fenton
AUGUST 27, 2019 / 6:17 PM

SHANGHAI (Reuters) - U.S. hypermarket chain Costco Wholesale Corp (COST.O) was forced to shut its first store in China early on its opening day on Tuesday, according to state media, after large crowds flocked through the door and caused traffic jams in the Shanghai neighborhood.

Videos posted on Chinese social media showed thousands of people crowding the aisles of the store in Shanghai’s Minhang district, while signs outside warned incoming shoppers that they might have to wait three hours to park.

One nearby school sent out an advisory to parents warning them about the traffic conditions. “Please expect the student dismissal this afternoon to be severely delayed due to the grand opening of Costco Supermarket,” said the message.

The Paper, a media outlet run by the Shanghai government, reported on social media at 2:43 p.m. (0622 GMT) that the store had shut early, citing the local district government.

“Due to the extremely large crowds at the newly opened supermarket, for the safety of the public we urge that residents consume in a rational manner and choose to go shopping at an off-peak time,” it quoted government officials as saying.

Costco did not immediately respond to a Reuters’ request for comment.

Costco announced last month that it would open its first store in China. It first entered the country in 2014 through opening an online store on Alibaba Group Holding Ltd’s (BABA.N) Tmall online marketplace.

More details in https://www.reuters.com/article/us-costc...VH172?il=0

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Costco limits shoppers in first China store after opening-day fiasco

Reporting by John Ruwitch; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman
AUGUST 28, 2019 / 3:20 PM

SHANGHAI (Reuters) - Costco Wholesale Corp (COST.O) said it will limit the number of shoppers at its new China store after overcrowding forced the U.S. big box retailer to shut it early on the opening day.

No more than 2,000 shoppers at any given time will be allowed into the store in a Shanghai suburb, Costco’s first in China, and local police will help to improve the flow of traffic near the store, it said on Wednesday.

Large crowds had flocked to the store when it opened on Tuesday, causing traffic jams in the neighborhood.

Viral images online showed shoppers clambering to get in, jostling with others to snag roasted chickens and meat, and waiting in huge lines to check out.

“We’d like to apologize for the inconvenience caused to our members on our warehouse opening day in Shanghai,” Costco said in a statement posted on WeChat, the Chinese social media platform.

It pledged to send text messages to members when the store was nearing capacity or if there are long wait times.

Snaking queues and frenzied buying are not uncommon when new stores open or trendy new products hit the market in China.

Consumers lined up for hours to buy hamburgers at Shake Shack (SHAK.N) when it opened its first China store in Shanghai earlier this year, and scalpers reportedly held places in line or hawked burgers at huge markups.

More details in https://www.reuters.com/article/us-costc...SKCN1VI0TP

[BRT]

what the...for so many things, the chinese really go big or go home!

[weijian]

Costco is probably abit different from the way that Amazon or Walmart squeezes its suppliers.

How Costco Convinces Brands to Cannibalize Themselves

Kirkland also has a passionate and loyal fan base — not something you typically find with a private label brand. One guy even got a Kirkland Signature tattoo on his left arm and held his 27th birthday party at the Costco food court.

Kirkland’s success defies our intuition and experience. Shouldn’t lower prices lead to lower quality products? How can they offer rock-bottom prices but still have some of the best products around?

The answer is this: they get the best manufacturers in the world — who already have products on Costco shelves — to make Kirkland products. Yeah, you read that right. While customers might not know it, Kirkland products are often made by the same manufacturers who make the branded products that sit next to them on the shelves.

https://napkinmath.substack.com/p/how-co...annibalize

[opmi]

Last time I went, NTUC Warehouse Club at Jurong also sell Kirkland and Carrefour house brands...

When Carrefour was in SG, I found their house brands food really bad tasting....

[Bibi]

I was wondering if Kirkland is successful then how come its making losses for the past 4 quarters? Its share price has been going nowhere for past 20 years

[Wildreamz]

I was wondering if Kirkland is successful then how come its making losses for the past 4 quarters? Its share price has been going nowhere for past 20 years

You are thinking about Kirkland's the retail chain (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kirkland%27s); not Kirkland the Costco private label brand (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Costco#Kirkland_Signature).