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Ok, i have to say something here.

1. Costco is a private business, not a charity, so all these comments about the recession and the holidays coming up are irrelevant
2. I don't think that Jennifer Lee's (btw, is her middle initial the number "8"???) points are particularly valid. Most working poor don't have credit cards and usually don't have to cash to get the benefits of a monthly Metrocard, why would they suddenly have enough money to pay for a Costco membership? The point that people spend appx $6 on travel for shopping trips is a little hard to believe, personally.
3. Shopping at Costco is only cost effective for bulk purchases. Things like produce (from my experience) is no cheaper than at grocery stores, but is offered as a convenience to shoppers. People on food stamps can't spend 50% of their allocated dollars to "stock up" on something that will last them several months... they only have enough money to buy enough for a short period of time. The math just doesn't check out!

Fine, should Costco take food stamps? Sure, why not. But the point is that they're not keeping hordes of poor people from shopping at their stores... those people probably wouldn't come anyway.

Who cares that they don't accept food stamps? I don't see what is so "cruel and nonsensical" about this practice.

If they want the business of people using food stamps, then they'll accept its use. It's a privately owned store that requires annual membership dues and doesn't accept government subsidies to feed the poor (that I know of). It's their prerogative.

Costco isn't the only store in town, is it? There are other alternatives to shop for groceries. Hell, they can shop at Whole Foods.

Costco Wholesale is a members only shopping club. It has never been for everyone for various valid reasons. (Membership fee, No credit cards, etc).

Competitors and critics are full of ideas about how to run a warehouse club.

But----

Costco's methods have worked for the company and the members it now serves.

Should the company risk this? For Whom?

At the risk of repeating points already raised by others...

First, it's a business decision. Costco has been stellar at running its operations over the years. They have a duty to their employees and investors to make sound business decisions that ensure solvency and profitability. If this is what they have determined to be the correct operational move, if they feel it's what will keep their employees working at those good jobs, keep the communities earning all that good tax revenue, and keep the shareholders (which includes 401k and pension plans) earning a good return on their investment, then they have made the right decision.

As far as being a good corporate citizen is concerned, if there is some moral imperative for a business to help the less fortunate (which is an arguable premise), the fact is that Costco does satisfy any such imperative through charitable grants and donations focused at the local level. Costco actually has a very good social responsibility profile. And it is certainly free to choose the programs and philanthropic vehicles it prefers. It is not obligated to support food stamps or any other *worthy* program just because people think it should.

Second, low income shoppers and users of food stamps are NOT the Costco target demographic. The company has always been very frank about the fact that it caters to affluent shoppers with plenty of disposable income. They specialize in selling luxury or semi-luxury items for less. Sure, they may sell a pair of designer jeans for 50% less than retail, but if they still cost $75 a pair, who do you think they are selling them to?

Take a look at the non-food merchandise and the selling model should be completely obvious to even the least informed consumer. Costco sells stuff for much less than another store selling the exact same item, but most of the products are things that aren't that cheap to begin with. Yes, they sell reasonably priced milk and eggs and whatnot, but most of the food is name brand or specialty -- they really are not staple-focused goods.

I was just there yesterday, and engaged in my usual compulsive price comparing. There are very few things at Costco that there isn't a cheaper version of somewhere else (e.g., store brands, weekly sales). I shop there because I like certain specific products they sell. But if I were on a super limited budget, there is only a small handful of food items I would be regularly buying there. E.g., maybe your supermarket charges $1.50 a can for Hunt's tomato sauce, and maybe you can get it for $1 a can at Costco. But if you're on food stamps, and you can get store-brand tomato sauce for $0.50 a can, does the Costco price really matter to you?

I know there are some food stamp recipients who would use them at Costco if they could. I just don't see that it would be all that many dollars worth of business compared with the existing customer base, and therefore, it probably would not be the best business decision for the company.

this is ridiculous, isn't this a free country. If they want to take food stamps they will, if not, they won't. The program is to help people have enough to eat for a short time period. Hoping that this is temporary, they may not need food stamps in the future. It would be silly to spend your allocation on only one or two items.

They offer some of the best to their own employees and should be praised for that. They can't be everything to everyone. No one company can please all the people all the time.

Costco does not market itself as having the absolute cheapest prices or a place to shop if you are having hard times.

Wow back, Kerosena. I'm genuinely sorry if you feel insulted, but I also really do think you've completely misunderstood the comments. I know that I wasn't saying, nor do I feel that anybody is *unqualified* to shop at Costco with me. And as far as I can tell, nobody else was suggesting that people with less money shouldn't shop there.

The fact is, food stamps are, for the most part, incompatible with the Costco business model. And, the fact is that no business is obligated to accept food stamps. And yes, food stamps will go MUCH further at WalMart than Costco. Those were the only points being made as far as I can tell.

I think many people are missing the point of my original post. It doesn't cost retailers a penny to take food stamps, according to Jennifer 8. Lee's story in the Times. So whether Costco takes food stamps or not has nothing to do with their business model or their sales. The point I was trying to make is that all retail food establishments which are able to should accept food stamps, especially in these times of extreme financial uncertainty. This is not a class issue. People who use food stamps to feed their families should be able to shop at the same places as everyone else.

Naif that I am, at my great age, I thought food was about love. Turns out to be about survival of the fittest. Things happen, dearies. That bell could be tolling for you - tomorrow. Will others feel for you and yours? If you don't have empathy, compassion, and tolerance, I wouldn't want to be at your table or in your store.

@foodinmouth, some NYC greenmarkets do take food stamps. Fort Green greenmarket, for example. Maybe not Union Square, but it does happen.

Ed I would never suggest that and I know we love a good debate. I also know we agree to dsiagree. Everyone has their opinion and is able to give it. On that note The husband tells me many of the local churches belong to one wholesale club or another so they can get things in bulk for their pancake breakfasts. Dozens of eggs, orange juice, paper plates and napkins, maple syrup, eating utensils and chafing dishes and I admit I did not know that.
Now not ever Costco is the same. I have been to many a Costco. The ones I go to have some of the same things and sometimes not very much the same. The one in Delaware that I go to often, it's loaded with luxury items. Why? Delaware is a tax free state. So if you go buy that TV you walk in and buy it tax free. However the other 2 local Costcos have less luxury items and more clothes and household goods.
We also belong to BJs. I don't buy a lot of grocery items there.
I found this on their FAQ "BJ's does not accept food stamps in all locations".
Sam's however takes Food stamps and wic.

The dead horse is pretty much beaten as far as the point I want to make: bulk buying at Costco or Sam's or wherever would be difficult for someone with a fixed grocery budget who is living "food stamp to food stamp," as it were. To me, it doesn't come down to the notion that Sam's should take food stamps because they're part of Wal Mart and therefore somehow considered "low end" (I don't agree with that premise but it's obviously out there) while Costco should shun food stamps. The reality is that an average person with $100 probably would go to a conventional retail grocery to buy smaller portions of a wider variety of products on sale rather than go to a warehouse store where they can only get a few items in bulk with that same $100. It's true that it's not as cost effective in the long run to make food purchases this way (buying a variety at a conventional grocery), but buying in bulk generally takes an initial investment over and above the allotted grocery budget before eventual savings pan out. Maybe I'm wrong and there are a lot of people at the poverty level who are turned away from Costco because they use food stamps, but I don't think this is necessarily the niche market for any wholesale club, even those that do take food stamps.

While I think it would be ideal for food stamp recipients to have the option of shopping at a wholesale club if they can afford the membership and handle a reduced variety of foodstuffs in their cupboard because they're buying a lot of a few items rather than opting for a smaller size of a lot of items, I see this as a business issue rather than a social/class exclusion issue.

Hi, I joined this website just so I could give some sorely needed information to the entirely classist individuals commenting on this.

Perhaps, before saying: "People on food stamps can't spend 50% of their allocated dollars to "stock up" on something that will last them several months... ", "Would it really be economically feasible for people on food stamps to afford Costco?" "If you would even say that you thought food stamp incomes could shop at a Costco I think you have not been to one." "If you go and apply for assistance it is your responsibility to use it responsibly." You could actually talk to someone on food stamps, and find out if it WOULD be feasible for them.

'Cause I AM on food stamps, and YES I've been to a costco before, and yes it would be economically FEASIBLE to me to be able to use my foodstamps to get the staples costco sells. Interestingly, I feel a little more qualified to answer the question of feasibility than you all put together.

Oh also, I think I'm more qualified to answer whether I'm being "responsible" with my money than you. Thanks for the condescension. (And for implying that I'm a low class hick who doesn't deserve to have quality or "higher grade" items)

Oh. And I don't shop at Walmart for the good reason that a) it treats their workers as disposable, and I have a class consciousness, b) it treats their WOMEN workers as even more disposable and I have a feminist consciousness, and c) after driving out all the competition in an area it jacks it's prices up, and is therefore NOT cheaper than other places, it is just more ubiquitous. So thanks to all the commenters who believe that I should abandon all of my feminist, anti-classist ideals and shop at walmart since you don't want to have to stand behind me buying something that you think is too EXPENSIVE for a poor person like me to have.

Giving to "those less fortunate" is great, but how about educating yourself about how to not be a classist jerk? 'K folks?

just a point...have any of you ever done any grocery shopping at a bodega, korean deli, food emporium,grisetede, red apple or whatever cockamamie store that call itself a supermarket in nyc? telling people what to buy and how and where to buy it isn't the point of the food stamp program. Saying that cash strapped or poor people should not be able to shop at costco because they wouldn't be able to save money anyway is ridiculious at best; demeaning and rascist at worst.