Костко – один из самых любимых супермаркетов США. Парковка забита в любой день и время суток. Видео с закупками собирают сотни тысяч просмотров.
*https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xJhe0e_3lQ8
**https://300.ya.ru/v_GRc06ZrV
таймкоды
00:00:00 Введение в Costco
- Costco — противоположность идеального супермаркета: маленький выбор, забитая парковка, высокие цены.
- Несмотря на это, Costco — третий по величине ритейл в мире с преданными покупателями.
- В магазине можно найти товары на любое событие: от памперсов до урн для праха.
00:00:58 Вход и клубная карта
- Вход в Costco возможен только по клубной карте с фейс-контролем.
- На входе представлены дорогие товары, чтобы сделать остальное кажется дешёвым.
- Клубная карта стоит 65 долларов в год, за 130 долларов можно получить кэшбэк и ранний доступ.
00:01:57 Принципы работы Costco
- Товары продаются в больших количествах, чтобы оправдать высокие цены.
- Склады обновляются часто, товары не залеживаются.
- Магазин не тратит деньги на рекламу, relying on customer loyalty.
00:03:51 Ограниченный выбор
- В Costco меньше позиций, чем в других супермаркетах: около 4000 против 60 000 в Auchan и 140 000 в Walmart.
- Закупщики выбирают товары за покупателей, исключая разнообразие.
- Пример: маслины представлены одной банкой, нет выбора между разными видами.
00:04:57 Цены и наценка
- Максимальная наценка в Costco — 14%, что значительно меньше, чем у конкурентов.
- Средний чек в Costco — 150 долларов, что в три раза больше, чем в Walmart.
- Формула успеха: фиксированная маржа, выгодное расстояние до магазина.
00:06:54 Собственные бренды
- Costco предлагает собственные бренды Kirkland Signature, которые дешевле оригинальных.
- С собственных брендов Costco берёт до 15% прибыли вместо 14%.
- Покупатели ценят честность и качество товаров. 00:08:10 Доверие и маркетинг
- 93% покупателей продлевают карту каждый год, создавая эффект «траст премиум».
- Costco не тратит деньги на рекламу, полагаясь на энтузиазм покупателей.
- Выручка стабильно растёт на 10% в год благодаря доверию и рекомендациям.
00:10:00 Клиенты и средний доход
- Клиенты Costco — самые богатые, средний доход семьи — 125 000 долларов в год.
- В последнее время даже богатые люди начинают экономить, что указывает на экономические трудности.
00:10:40 Сравнение Walmart и Costco
- Walmart — сеть гипермаркетов-дискаунтеров с низкими ценами и огромным ассортиментом.
- В Costco покупают люди с нормальным достатком, а в Walmart можно встретить людей с разным уровнем дохода.
- Открытие нового магазина Walmart может привести к закрытию мелких бизнесов вокруг.
00:11:33 Эффект Walmart
- Открытие Walmart снижает трафик местных бизнесов и приводит к упадку района.
- Люди, работавшие рядом, переходят на работу в Walmart за минимальную зарплату.
- Теория Чарльза Фишмана о влиянии Walmart на экономику подвергается критике.
00:12:32 Влияние Costco на экономику
- Открытие Costco в Японии оживляет экономику региона, увеличивая зарплаты и создавая новые рабочие места.
- Люди с достатком могут покупать годовой запас продуктов, что способствует экономии.
00:13:29 Целевая аудитория Costco
- Costco ориентирован на обеспеченных людей, включая бэби-бумеров.
- Магазин имеет сдержанный и олдскульный дизайн, без украшений.
- Молодёжь покупает товары в складчину для погашения студенческих долгов.
00:15:22 Доступные бренды в Costco
- Costco предлагает брендовые товары по доступным ценам, например, джинсы Calvin Klein за 30 долларов.
- Байеры Costco находят способы сделать товары на 20 долларов дешевле, чем у других ритейлеров.
00:16:43 Органические продукты в Costco
- В Costco почти у всех товаров есть органический вариант.
- Ягоды, такие как ежевика и малина, стоят недорого.
- Ананасы и арбузы без косточек, что удобно для покупателей.
00:18:37 Трежер-хантинг в Costco
- Costco предлагает редкие и необычные товары, например, автоматический кошачий туалет или аркаду «Звёздные войны».
- Товары меняются, создавая ощущение поиска сокровищ.
- Рассылка с сокровищами недели привлекает внимание к необычным предложениям.
00:20:33 Дегустации в Costco
- В Costco проводят дегустации продуктов, предлагая пробники.
- Примеры продуктов: мороженое, блины, индийский хлеб с хумусом, мармеладные мишки, дубайский шоколад.
- Пробники часто не вызывают желания купить полноразмерные продукты.
00:21:32 Пожар на швейной фабрике в Нью-Йорке
- В 1911 году на швейной фабрике «Три Ингл» в Манхэтоне, Нью-Йорк, произошёл пожар, в результате которого погибло 146 человек.
- Фабрика была типичным свитшопом с ужасными условиями труда, где работали в основном мигранты.
- Среди рабочих были еврейские эмигранты из Белоруссии Самуил и Белла Прайс, у которых через пять лет после пожара родился сын Сол.
00:22:27 Влияние на общество и начало бизнеса Сола Прайса
- Отвратительное положение рабочих и революция в России привели к созданию движения за права рабочих и росту популярности профсоюзов, социализма и коммунизма.
- Сол Прайс, отец американского ритейла, уехал из Нью-Йорка в Калифорнию и, заметив магазин «Фэтко», где всё было дешевле, создал свой клон — «Фэдмарт».
- «Фэдмарт» предлагал членство за два доллара пожизненно, что позволяло продавать продукты по низким ценам, нарушая закон о минимальной розничной цене.
00:23:26 Модель складских продаж и условия труда
- Сол Прайс нашёл лазейку в законе, чтобы продавать продукты по низким ценам, используя формат клуба по интересам.
- В «Фэдмарте» сотрудники получали высокие зарплаты, медицинскую страховку и доступ к пенсионному счёту.
- Текучка кадров была низкой, а воровство — минимальным.
00:25:16 Влияние на конкурентов и развитие компании
- Сэм Уолтон, основатель «Волмарта», признал, что заимствовал многие идеи у Сола Прайса.
- Джим Сингл, подопечный Прайса, переехал в Сиэтл и открыл «Ориджинал Костко», который позже объединился с бизнесом Прайса.
- Влияние модели «Костко» распространилось на другие компании, включая «Амазон», который адаптировал её для своей системы подписки «Амазон Прайм».
00:28:27 Курица гриль как драйвер трафика
- Курица гриль в «Костко» продаётся ниже себестоимости и является главным драйвером трафика в магазин.
- Состав курицы держится в секрете, а «Костко» строит собственные птицефермы для производства.
- Несмотря на потери, «Костко» не повышает цены на курицу уже 16 лет.
00:30:57 Особенности оплаты в «Костко»
- В «Костко» можно платить только картой Visa, наличными или чеком.
- Компания предлагает лучшие условия для Visa, платя только 0,6% комиссии за транзакцию.
- Низкая маржа и отсутствие выбора — коммерчески продуманные ходы для увеличения объёма продаж.
00:32:03 Хот-дог как символ стабильности
- Хот-дог в «Костко» стоит полтора доллара и не менялся в цене с 1985 года.
- Несмотря на потери, качество хот-дога остаётся неизменным.
- Преемники Прайса сохраняют культ «Костко», поддерживая низкие цены и стабильность.
00:33:48 История хот-догов
- В 2009 году Синегол ответил, что изменение цены на хот-доги будет означать его смерть.
- В 2013 году новый СЕО предложил поднять цену, но Синегол пригрозил убийством.
- Новый СЕО открыл фабрики для производства хот-догов.
00:34:48 Коллаборация с Arizona Tea
- Arizona Tea предлагает холодный чай по цене 99 центов с 1992 года.
- Из-за тарифов на алюминиевые банки возможно повышение цены.
00:35:13 Теория тележки
- Средняя закупка в Costco длится 37 минут.
- Теория тележки: отвозить тележку на место — признак моральных качеств.
- Сотрудники Costco собирают брошенные тележки.
00:36:13 Заправка Kirkland
- На заправке Kirkland действует правило «быстро всё сделал и уехал».
- Цена бензина на заправке Costco ниже, чем на соседних.
- Бесплатная установка шин при покупке.
00:37:15 Шинный сервис
- В Costco можно купить шины по низким ценам и получить бесплатную установку.
- Это удобно для путешественников, которые часто меняют штаты.
00:38:12 Проект Kirkland Apartments
- К 2027 году в Лос-Анджелесе построят первый проект с апартаментами над Costco.
- Проект смешанный: бизнес-центр и апартаменты для людей с низкими и средними доходами.
00:38:23 Негативные стороны Costco
- Система доступа по карте воспринимается как барьер для людей с низким доходом.
- Отказ от сворачивания программы Diversity, Equity and Inclusion вызвал бойкот.
- Лояльная система возвратов приводит к злоупотреблению, например, покупке больших телевизоров для возврата.
- Гиперпотребление и генерация отходов — ещё одна претензия.
00:39:38 Влияние больших упаковок на потребление
- Большие упаковки заставляют людей покупать больше продуктов.
- Исследование показало, что посетители складских магазинов тратят больше и делают больше спонтанных покупок.
- За два года автор посетил Costco 63 раза, средний чек составил 151 доллар.
00:40:32 Расходы на продукты в Costco
- За два года автор потратил 417 долларов на продукты в Costco.
- Продукты в Costco не помогают экономить, но расходы на рестораны сократились.
- Свежие фрукты и овощи покупаются каждые полторы недели.
00:41:27 Сравнение цен в Costco и Walmart
- В пересчёте на единицу продукта продукты в Costco стоят дешевле, чем в Walmart.
- Пример: набор продуктов в Walmart обошёлся бы на 30% дороже.
00:42:25 Обзор блюд в фудкорте Costco
- Пицца в Costco содержит 4000 калорий и 60% суточной нормы жира.
- Кольцо с пепперони содержит 109% суточной нормы соли.
- Сэндвич с индейкой и сыром насыщенно солёный.
- Чикен бейк удобен для употребления за рулём, содержит 840 калорий.
00:44:21 Лёгкий салат и печенье
- Лёгкий салат в Costco содержит 840 калорий и стоит 8 долларов.
- Печенька в Costco содержит 750 калорий и 65 грамм сахара.
00:46:17 Впечатления от еды в фудкорте
- Еда в фудкорте жирная, насыщенная и солёная.
- После еды автор чувствует себя уставшим.
00:46:39 Преимущества и вызовы для Costco
- Costco популярен благодаря честным ценам и отсутствию скрытых условий.
- Основная аудитория стареет, нужно переключаться на более молодую аудиторию.
- Демографические тренды не обещают роста, но Costco может открывать новые магазины в новых районах.
In this video
0:00
It’s the opposite of a perfect supermarket: it’s located in the middle of nowhere, the parking lot is always packed, the selection is 50 times smaller than at Walmart, everything is sold in giant stacks,
0:09
right in the warehouse with pallets, like those 30 rolls of toilet paper, and there’s an entrance fee. Yet
0:16
Costco is the number three retailer in the world. Its customers are the most devoted fanatics. Without spending money on advertising or
0:23
PR, Costco purchases garner millions of views even on Russian YouTube. Here you can buy goods
0:29
for any occasion in life, from diapers and wedding flowers to urns for ashes. You can book
0:36
a cruise, change your tires, eat pizza for $2, or buy a ring for $135,000.
0:42
Today we’ll find out why criticizing a Costco grilled chicken feels worse than insulting your mother,
0:47
how the price of a $1.50 hot dog hasn’t changed in 40 years, and why
0:53
the richest Americans shop here at the lowest prices. Let’s grab a cart and off we go—I doubt I’ll
1:01
make it by myself today. You can only get in here with a membership card, and at the entrance there’s face control
1:07
that checks your photo against my face—it has to match. Immediately after the employee
1:13
looks for five differences, I’m greeted by shockingly expensive merchandise. I’ve barely walked in, and I’ve already
1:18
missed out on a $2,000 TV and a $480 PlayStation. Consider that I’ve saved a month’s salary.
1:24
It’s a theory why the largest and most expensive items are displayed at the entrance so that everything else seems
1:31
cheap—but it’s just a theory. Anyone can get one of these cards; for just $65 a year, it’s yours. You can buy a card for $130, which will earn you cashback and potentially allow you to enter
1:41
the store two hours earlier than other NPCs.
1:46
75% of American families have this exclusive access to a private club. We call them families because everyone can use the same card.
1:57
Nothing at Costco is random, even that $6.79 barbecue sauce. See, it’s not alone, it’s with a friend.
2:04
That’s because you can hardly find anything cheaper than a fiver. If something costs less than a fiver
2:10
but is popular, they add a friend and sell them together, because every
2:16
single «rush» at the checkout has to be worth it. Because of this, even ordinary cheap junk like potato chips
2:22
will always, without exception, be sold in huge boxes. Look around – pallets, blocks,
2:29
trays, bags everywhere. That’s all because we’re in a warehouse, and there’s no other real warehouse
2:35
from which to stock. They meticulously determine which products are in demand,
2:40
order a gigantic batch directly from the manufacturer, deliver it, put it on a pallet
2:45
, and by day 27, at the latest, it’s all sold out—they can start all over again. It sounds like it
2:51
costs a lot of money, but the store doesn’t pay a cent of its own cash. For example, Coke delivered
2:56
24 cases of Nectar of the Gods. I’ll pay for this order, but only on the 30th day after receiving it, by
3:02
which time I’ve already sold everything and ordered a new batch. Costco’s warehouses are updated more than 12 times a year.
3:09
Its closest competitor, Walmart, has only eight. Nothing sits idle. Yes,
3:15
no one arranges the fruit in neat rows or puts anything in a pretty bag, but that’s why they have fewer employees.
3:22
Lower labor costs mean lower prices. Plus, customers get the feeling I came
3:29
to the wholesale market with my wife on payday to shop at the sale. Why can’t everyone else do the same?
3:36
The curse of choice. I’ve had moments where I needed to buy olives, and I’d show up and find 28 different varieties, with
3:42
a wide range of prices and sizes to suit every taste. That’ll never happen here, because the olives
3:49
are available in a single jar. Even though we’re in a warehouse, we have 50 times fewer items here
3:54
than other supermarkets, less than 4,000 in total. For comparison, Auchan has 60,000, and Walmart has
4:01
140,000. That’s why you can find artifacts from the time of Ivan the Terrible at Walmart. There’s a compilation of
4:07
Alabama hits, the top 20 songs. Or even better, a compilation of Avril Lavigne’s hits. And that’s not even mentioning Amazon,
4:16
which has hundreds of millions of items, and if you want to buy a toaster,
4:22
you’ll be spoiled for choice among a sea of sellers and brands. At Kost, the buyers chose everything for us,
4:27
and it turns out I wanted to add olives to the salad, the apple tini, and the cheese plate. Well,
4:34
what else could I do with such a horse for only 7.59? In a regular store, the same pack costs 19.28.
4:43
Now that’s the difference I understand. But, of course, a lack of choice isn’t always a good thing. For example, I’m not young anymore. I come in, and what do I see? I need tea. They have green,
4:50
macha, and black. But what if I don’t need caffeine? I can’t find herbal tea here, for example.
4:57
At Walmart, creamer costs exactly the same, 3.57, but here it’s 2.09. And creamer is a rare example
5:04
of an item you can get in a small pack for under 5 dollars. With prices like these, does Costco
5:09
even make money? It does, and we even know how much. 14% is the maximum markup
5:16
the store takes. And it has never changed since it opened. That’s very little—
5:21
other retailers have no upper limit at all, and the average markup target is 50%. In cities
5:31
where Costco has a store, the average drive to the nearest store is 20 minutes. I’m not stupid enough to drive across
5:37
town to buy nut butter for 20 cents cheaper and then head straight out the door. To make
5:42
a profit, I need to save at least $20. So I keep filling my cart. This formula
5:48
with distance, a fixed margin, and a profit of at least $20 was invented by the store’s CEO,
5:53
Jim Sinegal. The result: everyone leaves the store with a big cart. The average check is $150. That’s
6:00
three times more than Walmart. The result of these two jars’ friendship is my Guilty Pleasure, which makes
6:06
my ass grow. Initially, I made the mistake of eating peanut butter without fruit or jam. But
6:13
as soon as you add a lubricant in the form of jam like this, oh my, it’s food for the gods. But today I
6:20
won’t buy that, precisely because my ass growth needs to be controlled. In my opinion, the Kosko buyers do a good job. Of course, like in any supermarket, you can find
6:29
ultra-processed food, pure sugar, bagged cookies, and other nasty things. For example, I’m holding
6:36
jam in my hands; it has no added sugar and super ingredients. But just in
6:41
case, I always check the product’s quality using the Yuka app. Let’s check this one.
6:47
84 points. That’s very good. Let’s take a small box of oatmeal for breakfast. Would we buy
6:55
a tub of coffee like that? A no-name brand, and over a kilogram at that. What about diapers, batteries,
7:01
Brie cheese, or Parmesan cheese? Almost every shelf offers a choice of two brands. Something everyone knows, and a second one.
7:08
Kirkland Signature is a home-grown brand, like the kind you’d find every day at Ataka or Auchan. The
7:14
only difference is that now we’ve looked at Starbucks coffee, Huggies diapers, Duracell batteries,
7:21
genuine Brie from Normandy, and Parmigiano Rigiano from Italy. Kirkland Signature is
7:27
the store’s own brand. Through their super-connections, Kosko was able to negotiate making branded items much cheaper than
7:34
the original and slap their own label on them. As a reward for their ingenuity, they’ve allowed themselves
7:39
to take up to 15% of the profit on these items instead of the usual 14%. People simply adore Cosco for this honesty.
7:47
Americans can make a cult out of anything. I’ve already talked about national parks. And
7:52
they’ll also visit Cosco with a festive spirit and enviable regularity. And they can create a community, a private club, on any basis, and ultimately turn it into part of their culture.
8:10
I mentioned that you can be a member of two different levels: Gold and Executive. And the more expensive
8:16
Executive level offers 2% cashback on purchases. So, to recoup the upgrade, you need to spend at least
8:21
3,000 rubles a year. But even if you don’t spend that much, you’ll get your money back at the end of the year, no questions asked
8:26
. It still makes sense for the store. They get operating income upfront at 0%. Little things like these inspire incredible trust. 93% renew their cards every
8:39
year. And they add 10 million new members every year. In marketing, this effect
8:45
is called the «TAUST Premium» effect. If a person believes a store is honest, they’ll be willing
8:51
to spend more, either in terms of average bill or number of visits. What’s $65 a year per family
8:58
for a store? 2% of revenue is a drop in the bucket. But it’s two-thirds of the net profit that underpins the entire store’s business model
9:07
. Everything is as cheap as possible, without compromising on quality, in the hope
9:13
that customers will fall in love with the brand and start telling their friends and acquaintances stories,
9:19
literally forcing them to sign up for a card. And thanks to this, revenue has been growing steadily by
9:25
10% per year for the past 30 years. YouTube is flooded with content, with purchases at
9:33
the cost of every language, and people are building entire channels around it. And the especially gifted ones are even more so.
9:39
They record a whole 40-minute YouTube video where they lick the store in every possible way. Kostka doesn’t
9:46
spend a cent on advertising and relies solely on the sectarian love and enthusiasm of its followers.
10:00
We’d be high if we could film it with a proper camera, but Kostka won’t give us official permission, so we have to sneakily film it on our phones. In places
10:10
that smell of bargains and have the lowest prices, you expect to meet a typical
10:15
two-for-one stock investor. Not the richest person, to put it mildly, but Kostka’s clients are the richest.
10:22
The average income per family is $125,000 per year. That’s more than other grocery stores. Recently,
10:28
increasingly wealthy people have started shopping at Walmart, which doesn’t do
10:33
Walmart any credit. Rather, it shows that the economy as a whole is not doing well,
10:38
since even the rich are trying to save. I mention poor Walmart so often because these two stores are comparable and yet poles apart. In short,
10:48
Walmart is a chain of discount hypermarkets with low prices, but unlike Kostok,
10:54
it has a huge variety of products. The selection is dozens of times greater. It’s the number one retailer in the world by a long
11:01
shot. And while Kostok is frequented by people of normal incomes who look like ordinary people,
11:07
you can meet anyone at Walmart. Of course, it’s not just crazy people who go to Walmart;
11:12
we all go there, but the very existence of the Walmart People phenomenon online speaks volumes. Besides
11:18
the Walmart People phenomenon, there’s also the so-called Walmart effect. When a new Walmart store opens, it usually opens where there are already small businesses. And then, after a while,
11:28
one by one, they, like little fish, begin to die out. It’s hard for a typical bakery
11:34
to compete with the nearby Worth when it offers that fresh, snow-white, soft,
11:42
delicious American bread in packages. And so it closes. Traffic dwindles
11:48
, and the domino effect causes everything around it to close. People who worked nearby move to Walmart for minimum wage. The neighborhood’s income declines, and everything gradually declines.
12:01
But this is just the theory of Charles Fishman, who wrote the book «The Walmart Effect» of the same name
12:06
. Like any Fishman, he’s been criticized. And people say that, for example, Amazon has a much greater impact on the local economy. Be that as it may, this
12:15
life-sucking effect on everything around Walmart does exist. When Kostka opens a location
12:22
somewhere remote, it actually attracts businesses to open in the new location, because they know that
12:28
people with wallets on legs will come there to shop. An hour and a half drive from Tokyo,
12:33
in Gunma Prefecture, there used to be rice fields. Yes, Japan has a rice paddy, too. The economy was stagnant.
12:39
The only businesses there were warehouses and small farms. Then a rice paddy opens, and suddenly everything comes alive.
12:45
Local salaries immediately rise by 40%, and not just for the rice paddy employees. People travel from Tokyo,
12:52
visiting local cafes and restaurants. Real estate prices rise. New jobs appear. Yes,
12:58
there are warehouses, which are also stores, in the suburbs. And wealthier people live here. They have a car,
13:04
and not just some tiny fart, but one big enough to fit pallets of cola
13:09
, 100,000 million pots in the countryside, and a pear tree. The bigger the car, the richer the people. I
13:16
explained why here . The most critical thing is that only wealthy people can afford
13:22
to buy a year’s supply of twelve cans of peas today and essentially freeze their money in groceries
13:27
to save for the long term. And only they will have a separate pantry to store all this stuff.
13:33
People with less money have it all. It’s important to grab a pound of chicken right now and cook it for this dinner. And
13:39
even if it’s at a premium, it’s not worth it. They don’t have the money or freezer space for a six-pack.
13:44
Overall, Kostka has a specific target audience. They sell diamonds,
13:50
gold bars, cruises, and medications to them. Any idea who that might be? One last
13:56
hint. Kostka is the top seller of hearing aids in the US. Does the term «baby boomer»
14:02
ring a bell? An elderly person in America is synonymous with wealth. Grandmas and grandpas are spending
14:08
their 1K retirement accounts like crazy, and Kostka is trying to keep up with them.
14:14
Everything here is very understated and old-school. There are intentionally no chandeliers or fancy trim, no
14:21
Christmas decorations other than the merchandise itself. If a busy granny saw the ceilings festooned with lights,
14:27
she’d immediately say, «Ah, now I understand why my card costs $65 instead of $
14:33
60.» The floors are sanded every night, and all the pallets are leveled. And it’s always very clean,
14:39
because the atmosphere here is that of a wholesale store for business sausages, not a construction market.
14:45
Naturally, the boomer population is declining, and the millennial zoomers are growing. But their motivation
14:51
is different. Young people pool their money and buy everything in bulk to save up for
14:56
their student debt and a down payment on a mortgage. Incidentally, the opticians and pharmacies
15:02
here are highly regarded for their low prices. But I can’t confirm that yet, because there
15:07
was no need. By the way, for the young people here, they have these great jeans for the disco. They’re 100%
15:13
cotton and only $30. They’re Levis. And all the clothes here are super affordable. It all looks like
15:19
I’m about to be asked to dress up on a cardboard box and try on clothes. But in fact, everything here is branded and very affordable. For example, they once sold Swin Kin jeans here for $30,
15:31
while everyone else was selling them for $50. Somehow, the Kostka dealers managed to find
15:36
a way to make these jeans $20 cheaper than everyone else. Jim Sinegle, the SEO at the time,
15:42
admitted, «Imagine you have 100,000 pairs of jeans, and you can make
15:49
an extra $7 a pair out of thin air and still be cheaper than everyone else.» Can you even imagine how
15:55
it burns sometimes to do that? Once I do that, it’ll be pure heroin, and I won’t stop. And
16:01
then I’ll have to redesign the entire business model. That’s why you can buy them here for
16:07
22.99. The insoles of things made from bone are called Dead Core, from the word «dad.» That’s how they describe it
16:15
online. Imagine a guy who buys all his clothes in bone. He’ll probably
16:21
have a Hawaiian shirt, a polo shirt, cargo pants that turn into shorts, and sandals with socks. Damn,
16:28
I don’t have sandals. I’ll have Crocs. Let’s do it this way. If you don’t like my videos, don’t subscribe to the channel, don’t like them, and don’t leave comments. But if you did, please like them,
16:37
subscribe to the channel, and leave comments. It will be better that way. Thank you. Next, we move on to
16:44
the fruit and vegetable section. Almost everything has an organic option. For example, there are organic
16:49
blueberries and just blueberries. I’m getting crocs for myself now that they’re in season. When I watched videos about America
16:56
before moving, I was always amazed at how people bought berries so casually and casually.
17:01
But berries really aren’t that expensive. Blackberries are 2.59. I think that’s not expensive at all. Yeah,
17:07
I’ll probably get some blackberries. Now I’ll just have to find some unbruised ones. I found the exact same bruised ones. Raspberries are 4.99. And we’ve already had our fill of raspberries. I won’t. Okay, let’s buy the queen of the fields.
17:20
5 dollars for eight. Pineapple. No matter how many pineapples we eat in America, they never eat you
17:30
back. Del Monte has developed its own variety called MD2. It never pinches
17:36
and is super sweet. And now, 20 years after it was developed, almost all pineapples in America are like this. Watermelon. It’s the end of November, and by the way, this berry is asking 7.89. All the watermelons I’ve eaten here
17:49
have been seedless. They’re a sterile hybrid. The experience of eating something with seeds is so rare
17:55
that it’s shared on social media. By the way, could you please tell me if your watermelons are also seedless or
18:00
just the old-fashioned kind? Almost all fruits and vegetables are sold seedless and seedless, like lemons,
18:06
tangerines, and grapes. Convenient, comfortable, and very American. Technically, they’re clones of the same
18:13
variety, so if some kind of tangerine plague hits, it would wipe out the entire population. And
18:19
this has already happened with the Grossmichel bananas, which are now extinct. Some of the products are constantly changing,
18:26
which creates a feeling that you have to hurry to buy them before they’re gone. Kostka calls it
18:33
treasure hunting. Here are a couple of examples I’ve seen. An automatic cat
18:39
litter box for $700. An arcade game, Star Wars for 4800, or a simpler machine for 600.
18:51
Right now, this pork leg is on sale. Honн for $100 with delivery and even a knife inside.
18:58
But here’s what’s not thrilling about this. For those who don’t like gingerbread houses, there’s a house with
19:06
a sausage roof and a Christmas tree with olives and cheeses. Awesome. To make it harder to find the treasure,
19:13
there’s no navigation, so you have to constantly walk around and keep your eyes peeled. Or
19:18
here’s an advent calendar the size of me. Each window holds not some tiny little candy, but a full-size chocolate bar, a pack of candies. It costs $150. And the hunt
19:30
for such deals is moving online. For example, here’s a newsletter with the week’s treasures.
19:36
Meat, apples, office furniture, coffee, a rug, Azampik, a MacBook, black caviar for $1,500,
19:45
dog liver. Basically, whatever you like. Anyone who says Americans don’t have their own
19:52
culture—is that a joke? It’s the weekend before Thanksgiving, and Kostka will sell about 4 million of these pumpkin pies for it. There’s some kind of craze for Dubai chocolate in American supermarkets
20:04
. They sell Dubai chocolate on its own. Cookies,
20:09
candies, cakes, pastries—whatever you want. And not just in pits. They also sell
20:15
$100 gift cards for $80. What’s the point?
20:20
You give someone a card, and they might never spend it, or, on the contrary, spend much more than the face value. And anyway, it’s cash upfront. Those businesses wouldn’t like that.
20:29
That’s precisely why it’s profitable for them to sell it for less than face value. While you’re wandering the aisles,
20:35
kind people are preparing samples and handing them out to everyone.
20:43
So, that’s what we have on the tasting table today. We’ll start with ice cream. We spent 15 minutes walking around
20:48
collecting samples. The chocolate ice cream is regular. The guy standing behind us fried the pancakes with syrup . Excellent. The pretzel is dry and salty.
21:01
Oh, it’s so salty. I’m gagging. Naan bread with Indian hummus. It’s okay,
21:09
but not my thing. So I’ll eat it all. For dessert, we have Hariba gummy bears
21:15
and Dubai white chocolate. Milk chocolate with pistachios and something else. I’m not a big foodie.
21:22
It’s cool that it was all free, but honestly, they rarely give you samples of something that makes you want to buy a full-size one later.
21:33
Manhattan, New York. The Trianlel clothing factory is in operation in front of Washington Square.
21:39
It’s a typical sweatshop. Shifts are nine hours long, six days a week. Doors leading in and out of the floors are locked. The workers are mostly migrants. On March 25th, a fire starts here. All three
21:52
floors of the factory catch fire. The firefighters arrive quickly, but they can’t reach the eighth, ninth, and tenth floors
21:57
. 146 people die. It’s New York City’s worst industrial disaster. This factory
22:04
is one of many in New York City with appalling working conditions. Jewish
22:10
migrants from Belarus, Samuel and Bella Price, work in a similar place. They speak no English and are penniless. The only
22:16
work they can find is similar to sweet. Five years after the fire, their son,
22:23
Sol, is born. New York. The early 20th century is a special place. The terrible plight of workers. And a revolution
22:30
in a brand-new red country on the other side of the world leads to the creation of a workers’ rights movement . And also to an explosion in the popularity of trade unions, socialism, and communism. In this atmosphere of dreams
22:42
of equality and socialism, Sol Price grows up, the father of American retail. He doesn’t deny his paternity
22:49
, but sometimes says offensive things like, «I wish I’d worn a condom.» Still a
22:55
child, Sol leaves New York for California and studies to be a lawyer. One day, he spots a strange
23:01
Fetco store. Everything was cheaper there, and only government employees could get in. It was a sort of
23:07
social shopping club, more of a nonprofit than a business. Sol realizes it could be a successful business.
23:14
He creates a complete clone and calls it Fedmart. He adds only two innovations. Now
23:20
anyone can become a member. And second, it’s a real business. And the goal is to make money. And this is
23:27
the beginning of the entire warehouse sales model. $2. That’s how much a Fedmart membership cost, not just for a year,
23:34
but for life. Solzhe was a lawyer and found a loophole in the law to sell products at criminally
23:40
low prices, literally. Back in the 1950s, there was a concept called minimum
23:45
retail price from the manufacturer. If you sell below that, you’re breaking the law. But if it’s not
23:52
a store, but a club of common interests, you can set any price. The first Fedmart is an immediate success.
23:58
Because of his unique upbringing in New York, Sol values his employees and teaches others to value them.
24:05
Average salaries now start at $19.50 per hour, with an average of $31 per
24:12
hour. By comparison, Walmart starts at $14, with an average of $18. Even part-time workers get
24:19
decent health insurance and access to a 1K retirement account. Insult an employee and you lose your
24:25
Kostka membership for life, which is valid for all stores. Yes, for them, the customer isn’t always right. The result is that
24:33
the American dream lives on for all Kostka, Fedrt, and all those in between.
24:39
Managerial positions are promoted from within. For example, Jim Siningle. He started
24:44
as a packer in 1955 and stayed with the company for 22 years, eventually becoming
24:50
a warehouse manager and then a SEO. The current SEO started working in the 1980s, operating a forklift
24:56
. Currently, there are 300,000 employees worldwide, 220,000 of whom are in the US.
25:03
Thanks to good working conditions, turnover is only 7% per year, compared to the average retail rate of around 60.
25:09
Therefore, new positions are few and far between, and there’s a waiting list of 70
25:15
people for every five new openings. The turnover rate is negligible, 1%. Employees don’t steal because their salaries are already good,
25:23
and customers don’t steal because, well, try carrying out such a huge deal without being caught. It’s
25:28
not like trying to sneak a Snickers bar from the checkout. If you somehow manage to swipe that pack of 240
25:33
red cones and get caught at the entrance, you’ll be banned from entering the store forever. I wouldn’t do that even
25:41
to steal the most expensive diamond. Throughout this story, one is tempted to say that this model
25:47
isn’t about a bone, but about any large store. But it’s important to understand that Sol Price and
25:55
his friends came up with all of this, and everyone else just copied it, brazenly. There was this Uncle Sam Walton, the founder
26:02
of Walmart. He also wrote a bestseller, «Made in America.» And in his book, he admits to stealing it,
26:07
although he prefers the word, borrowing more ideas from Price than anyone else. Including the name. He liked Price’s FedMart so much that he named his store Wmart.
26:18
And even though Mr. Sam was Sol Price’s competitor, he was also his friend. And one fine evening,
26:24
he thinks: «I’ll call Sol.» And he says to him: «Sol, my friend, you want to get together? I’ll take
26:31
my wife, you take yours. It’s been a while, let’s go to a restaurant.» He agrees, and while they’re having lunch or
26:38
dinner, he says to him, «I see things are going really well for you. Sol Price, tell me
26:44
your business secret.» Price says, «No problem at all.» So, that’s our model.
26:49
Money flows back and forth, you buy, you sell, in short, they just lay everything out. 12 months
26:56
after this conversation, Sams Club opens. A clone of Price KBA, right on this very spot in Oklahoma
27:05
City. By 1970, Price is burned out. He’s even kicked out of his own company. Meanwhile, that
27:12
same DM Siningl, Price’s protégé, moves to Seth and finally opens Original Kostka.
27:18
For a while, Price’s new enterprise exists in parallel with Siningl’s business, but eventually
27:24
they merge into one large chain and become the store we see today. The influence
27:31
on supermarkets wasn’t limited to that. There’s a small an indie company, Settle, maybe someone knows, Amazon. They were doing something on the internet in the nineties. In 2001, the dot-com bubble burst,
27:42
and Amazon loses 90% of its shares. Little Jeff Bezes clutches his head and runs where? It’s Settle,
27:50
so Starbucks runs to Blue Hill and asks for advice with trembling lips. A couple of days later, Bezes,
27:56
all cool, gathers shareholders and says: «We can reduce it from 30% to 10% and now we’re working
28:04
on order volume.» And by the end of 2001, Amazon was able to achieve its first profitable quarter,
28:10
and in 2005, Amazon Prime appears. A subscription system. A kind of club for members whose orders
28:17
are delivered faster and for free. And although this model is different from Kostka cards, Bezes took the idea from them.
28:27
You remember the kiosks with grilled chicken from the 2000s, and most importantly, the smell that wafted
28:33
from the tent. They were also on TV and Revelations that only rotten chickens are spinning on spits. They’re stuffed with who knows what. Basically, this happens. It’s absolutely forbidden. The purpose of a supermarket is
28:44
to get people in, and then it’s business as usual. You come for milk, you leave with…
28:50
A minimum check of $50. As we’ve already discussed, you can’t just stumble into Costco;
28:55
you have to drive there. And besides milk, which is half the price elsewhere,
29:01
everyone flocks for this. Kuragril is the main driver of traffic to the store. A perfect example of
29:09
what’s called Lslier—selling something below cost to lure
29:15
customers into the store. This bird costs only $5. At first, I thought this was
29:21
only possible if not a single broiler was harmed during production. It’s even cheaper than a raw carcass, so there’s no way to make it more cost-effectively yourself. Two raw carcasses are exactly
29:32
the same size as a grilled chicken. 1247. So, let’s evaluate the composition of this chicken. Ingredients: whole chicken, water,
29:39
salt, phosphates, modified starch, dextrin, sugar, and all sorts of spices. And,
29:46
as far as I know, the composition of these spices is a closely guarded secret. Just like Colonel
29:51
Sanders. Kostka hasn’t raised its prices for 16 years, but inflation never stops. So,
29:59
to keep prices down, they built their own poultry farms. Yes, just for one item,
30:05
to avoid overpaying middlemen. And it’s still not enough. And Kostka loses $30-40 million a year on chicken alone. The fan base is huge. 137 million grilled chickens
30:16
leave the shelves every year. In Hinduism, you can’t touch a cow, in Judaism and Islam,
30:23
a pig. And at Kostka, even thinking anything negative about chicken is forbidden. Just look at
30:28
what the Orthodox Kostka write. When someone online said this chicken sucks… I’ve been buying
30:34
grilled chicken for years and I love it. No one cares what this chef says. Everyone has their own opinion,
30:41
and his opinion means nothing. We’ll decide for ourselves. This isn’t an unpopular opinion,
30:46
it’s just stupid. Let him shove his overpriced buns up his ass.
30:57
I praise Kostka as if it’ll do me any good other than allow me to continue spending money here. By the way, yes, we’re heading to the checkout. Mastercard, American Express
31:06
, and Discoverover. You can’t pay with any of those here, only Visa. You can also pay with cash at the checkout. For
31:12
those who like retro, you can even write a check. The thing is, according to their agreement with Visa, they
31:19
only pay 0.6% of each transaction as a commission instead of the usual 2-3%
31:26
that everyone else pays. If you want to work with Kostka, offer better terms. Let’s face it. No matter how Kostka pretends to be an ethical angel
31:36
operating at a loss, it’s still a business. They have investors to please,
31:42
constantly showing them growing profits. Low prices and a lack of choice are just
31:47
calculated commercial moves. There’s no goal to sell less; on the contrary, we need to sell more, yes, cheaper, yes, more
31:53
ethically and with a smaller markup, but ultimately earn more due to volume. And on that note, we pay.
32:03
After the purchase, the fun begins. Here it is, a symbol of stability. The icon of Kostok Original.
32:11
A huge hot dog with endless refills for a dollar and a half. Together with tax, we pay a dollar. 61 cents.
32:21
Considering how much it should cost and how much it sells for, Kostok loses $3.20 on
32:27
each hot dog. My order was delivered in 30 seconds. Can I please add
32:34
a cap, mustard, and pickles to my sausage and bun? And I’ll add, of course, everything. Its price hasn’t changed since 1985. Housing, car, and gas prices are rising. Here
32:46
in America, we’ve already had seven presidents during this time. The price of a Big Mac has tripled in 40 years.
32:53
It’s like living in a world where people once lived in a more harmonious and better way. And sausage was made according to GOST standards,
32:58
ice cream could be bought for 48 kopecks. Well, only ice cream can actually be bought for 48 kopecks. If
33:04
I were an American, I’d definitely say this is the best hot dog I’ve ever had, if you know what I mean. Considering all the losses, you might expect worse quality or a smaller size,
33:13
but according to those who’ve been there, it hasn’t changed at all in 40 years. Often, before a trip to Kostka, you wonder
33:19
whether you should eat before going out or not. Then you remember that, of course, you can eat like a king on a hot dog for $1.50, and you don’t, which is the biggest mistake,
33:27
because you wander around the store for about an hour super hungry, buy
33:32
$400 worth of junk, and in the end, you still get a well-deserved hot dog for $1.50. Honestly, I don’t care.
33:38
Which I don’t regret. Siningle and his successors are very, very committed to maintaining the price, because otherwise, I think the whole cult will fall apart, and that will break the hearts of numerous fan bases. In 2009, someone
33:49
asked Siningle: «Mr. Boss, tell me, if the price of hot dogs does change, what will it mean?» Siningle replied: «It will mean that I’m dead.» In 2013, a new SEO
33:59
came running to Siningle and said: «Well, this just can’t happen anymore. We’re losing a fortune on these hot dogs. We can’t sell them for a dollar and a half. Let’s raise the price.» Jim Siningle said firmly
34:09
and clearly: «If you raise the price of a fucking hot dog, I’ll kill you.» Sort
34:15
this out, please. And this new SEO sorted it out and opened an entire factory. First in LA, then in Chicago,
34:22
just for hot dogs. I’ve actually gone through an evolution with hot dogs. The first time I tried one, I
34:28
didn’t really understand the appeal. But the more you eat it, the more you appreciate it. Because, oh my god, $1.50 fills you up, you walk around for half a day, and somewhere around the thirtieth time I think, «Damn,
34:39
the taste is amazing, and everything is so balanced. You can even ask for onions, so there’s variety, and you can make different flavors depending on your mood.» Mm, do you know who I could
34:49
do a collaboration with? Srizona. They have iced tea. And the price hasn’t changed since 1992,
34:56
it costs 99 cents. Although, recently they introduced a tariff on aluminum cans, and they’ll have a really
35:02
hard time. Most likely, they’ll raise the price. Actually, let’s test the entire food court menu.
35:14
The average purchase takes 37 minutes. There’s hardly a day or time of day when
35:20
the parking lot at the grocery store is free and not crowded. Of course, there are more people on weekends than on, say, a Tuesday morning, but it’s always surprising. There’s a meme-worthy, butt-burning theory called the cart theory. Basically,
35:30
the theory goes: whether you take your cart back to its designated spot or not is a litmus test
35:36
of your moral character. After all, no one is forcing you to do it. There’s no carrot or stick. So it’s purely your own choice and self-control. But I’ll take it back. Maybe
35:45
not because of my moral character, but simply because this cart is the size of a small European car. And it takes up a lot of parking space. It’ll just be inconvenient for others. Here, the grocery store
35:54
isn’t without its tricks either. If you look around, you’ll see very few carts here. But not because
36:00
all the customers are good. That could be true, of course, but because the employees are constantly going around collecting them. After all, an abandoned cart is an obstacle that slows you down, and being slow
36:10
means losing money. Okay, let’s get going. Or we’ll hang around at the gas station. Yes, Kirklin’s gas
36:16
is here too. Same rule applies. No sloppiness. Just do it quickly and leave until next time.
36:22
You’re only allowed into the gas station if you have a card, but unlike hot dogs, they don’t sell Benzes at a loss, and the markup is minimal. What’s the point of filling up here? Well,
36:33
besides the fact that it’s just on the way. Since opening in 1995, the strategy has been to
36:39
keep the price per gallon lower than all the other gas stations around. On average, 20 cents per gallon.
36:46
Access is only from one side, so you can quickly service multiple cars. And it doesn’t matter which side your tank is on, because each hose has an extension so you can fill up without having
36:57
to waste time at the pump. But you have to be careful, too. The hose isn’t endless. People like the quality of gasoline,
37:04
but I have no idea how they rate its performance. There’s also a tire shop here where you buy tires, some of the cheapest on the market, and then they
37:13
install them right there for free. No other major retailer offers this.
37:19
On average, installation costs $20-30 per tire. I travel a lot and change states every
37:24
few months. And you can only imagine the hassle of finding a tire shop in each new place. And it’s such a thrill to know that in any city, absolutely any city I go to,
37:34
I can find a place that will balance, rotate, and fix my tires, all for free. I know
37:41
it all sounds like an ad, but it’s not. There’s no ad in this video at all. It’s $0. I shopped, ate, and filled up. It’s just beautiful. I don’t even want to leave. And in Los Angeles
37:53
Soon you won’t have to. You’ll live in Kirkland Apartments right above Kostka. By 2027,
38:01
they’ll build the first such project in America, where business will be the main tenant, and above it will be
38:06
800 apartments. It’s difficult to get permits for commercial buildings in California.
38:12
To get around this, the project was made a mix of apartments for low- and middle-income people.
38:17
We’ll be staying in regular apartments for now and sampling the entire food court menu. But before
38:23
that, I almost forgot to mention the downsides. Kostka shares first place
38:29
with TraderJob in terms of reputation in the supermarket category. But there are several major complaints. The first is
38:35
the card access system. Some see this as a barrier and a filter out for those who simply don’t have
38:42
$65 to pay for entry. Plus, as we discussed, you need a car, which
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low-income people don’t always have. Moving on. In 2025, they refused to discontinue the DE program. It’s
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diversity, equality, and inclusivity. And the stores were very angry and boycotted this wolf
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propaganda. Despite this, Costco, unlike Target and Walmart, which immediately rolled back all
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inclusivity, didn’t lose traffic, while Target Walmart did. Furthermore, they have a very lenient return system,
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and people abuse it. There are stories of people buying huge TVs for the Super Bowl, and then returning them en masse. In America, returns are generally very liberal,
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but Costco even accepts used goods due to its policy, no questions asked. The last
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and biggest complaint, among the more mundane ones, is overconsumption and waste generation. Larger
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packaging forces people to buy and consume more. And we can be as conscious as we want
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and say, «Oh, why do they buy so much? It’s just the way people are, nothing can be done.» There was a study that looked at two groups: those who shop at warehouse stores and
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regular ones. And that’s the root of the warehouse model: visit less often, buy in bulk, and save.
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But it turns out that those who go to large stores spend more, make more impulse
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purchases, and eat more, but not better. Phew, I finally got everything out of the car, and I can say
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that we bought a Kostka card two years ago when we needed to go see how
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the Ameshi shop in Pennsylvania. By the way, they even have special stands for horses there. So,
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these are our statistics for just these two years. We’ve been to Kostka—it’s a mind-boggling 63
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times. And our average bill matches the statistical average almost to the dollar: $151. According to
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rough estimates, over these two years, 10% of my body was built from Kostka food. This time we
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spent $417. And it’s hard to say how long that will last. For example, this
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wonderful rice. It will last for about four months, just like the oatmeal. Some meat that we
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froze for a month, and we buy fresh fruits and vegetables every week and a half. It turns out,
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just like the research I mentioned in the car, that Kostka doesn’t help you save money.
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Our supermarket spending has increased since then. It seems scary, until you
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add restaurants into the calculation. Our spending on them has decreased significantly. Conscience won’t allow it.
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Eating out a lot, when there’s always a poor head of lettuce waiting in the fridge, bought for pennies,
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but always a little more than you need. You can save money by buying foods
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that don’t spoil quickly. Throwing them away is certainly not an option. And
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there’s no point in buying them anyway. By the way, let’s check the claim that the products at Kostka are cheaper per
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unit. And let’s assume I bought the exact same set, but at Walmart. After tinkering with
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the table, we get this result. If I bought everything at Walmart, it would be $542,
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that’s 30% more expensive. Let’s try the whole food court. For $45, I bought 8,000 calories. Let’s start with the pizza,
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which is iconic, costs $10. It has 4,000 calories. One slice looks like this.
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One slice has 60% of the daily fat requirement. This is a pizza that I’ve probably eaten 40 times already,
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so I don’t know what to say about it. Other than the fact that it’s made with dough, sauce, cheese, and pepperoni. And the same cheese pizza. It’s the most caloric piece of food you can find.
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in the bone. Super ordinary pizza with three ingredients. People who ride in trucks simply adore this
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pizza. And hot dogs too, because for $10 they can buy a meal and live on it all day. What happens to those who constantly eat food like this? One can only guess. Next
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I try the koltso. 1080 calories, $7. It has 109% of the daily value of salt. Really
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salty, fatty. Pieces of pepperoni, mushrooms, onions, the dough in which it all is wrapped, and the sauce.
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A little spicy. A bit expensive, frankly, for a bone, but if you look at any other stores, food courts, any sources of food in general, it is very cheap. Turkey and cheese sandwich. 820 calories,
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$7. It is grilled on both sides. But it is just a sandwich that has been grilled. It is seized
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by the cheese. There are lots of layers of turkey inside. Garlic, sauce, provolone cheese. Everything that Americans need.
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Very rich, very salty. A daily, exactly daily dose of salt. Chicken bake.
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That’s what sausage is. It’s a bun completely covered on all sides, fried with cheese.
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It looks very dry, but in fact, all the ingredients inside are somehow mixed together so well that we often got this healthy chickenbake. It’s very convenient to eat if you’re driving.
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Good old chickenbake. Inside it has chicken, bacon, sauce, cheese. And you don’t need anything else to be happy.
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4 dollars, all this pleasure. 840 calories, 353 g of food for 4 dollars. A light salad for those
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who don’t want junk food. Yeah, right. 840 calories. It costs 8 dollars. I got it mixed up.
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This is the most expensive item, not counting the large pizza. What’s in it? Croutons, chicken,
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the same chicken, grilled meat, cheese, tomato, salads. And, I think, that’s it. Oh, and of course, the sauce, which
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adds all the calories. And then there are the eggs. Salad is actually considered a healthy option
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if someone comes to the food court after stocking up. In general, you can eat any junk food in general, as long as you fit into your calorie and daily nutrient intake. If you want to
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eat this, go ahead. It’s like a Caesar salad. A little spicier, a little milder because there are eggs,
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there are croutons, and, of course, bacon is crunchy. Anything is better with bacon. Folk wisdom. So, this
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was all a warm-up for the final boss. Here’s a cookie. It costs 2.49. It has 750 calories. If
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this chocolate chip cookie dough seemed delicious, it’s 65 grams of sugar, five tablespoons of sugar,
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and another teaspoon. Well, let’s go test it. Damn, it’s delicious. What can I do? It’s got chocolate inside,
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and it’s like, «Hey, bite me, it’s soft.» It’s crunchy on the outside, soft inside.
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By the way, it has more sugar than a Crumble Cooke. You need American blood to handle this kind of cookie. I don’t even know how to explain it. It’s so soft and a little like plasticine. There
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‘s a ton of chocolate inside. And this chocolate melts a little, like it melts in brownies. Let’s polish it off
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for the final touches. Smoothie, banana and strawberry. Price: 2.99, 320 calories. We’re drinking a normal smoothie, made from puree.
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I don’t feel like these are fresh berries. I’m really grateful it wasn’t just ice cream with syrup, because Kostka has no competitors in this price range. The cheapest place there is Dunkin
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‘ Don’ts, which has a kilogram of sugar in just one item—that’s food on a whole other level. It’s completely
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ultra-processed, but it’s also very fatty. But damn, it’s really cheap, quite tasty,
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and salty, just the way Americans like it. We ate everything in half an hour, and I take back what I said. Oh
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my God, I feel like I’m hungover—it’s all so fatty, rich,
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salty, and super-caloric. And now I just want to go to sleep for about 15 hours. After 1,500 hours of sleep, I’ll say
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the food court is, of course, optional. But Kostka itself, as you might have guessed, I really love. It’s America’s favorite supermarket, and I 100% understand
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why Americans love it. For honesty, for integrity, for low prices,
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for the fact that when Kostka provides a service, there will be no hidden pitfalls or that fine
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print under the asterisk. For the fact that you won’t have to spend half an hour choosing from ten types of milk,
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because there will be only one, and it’s good. For the fact that in a world where capitalism seems to have triumphed,
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there is a company that doesn’t try to make money off you, it makes money with you.
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What are the challenges? Even though Kostka is in its prime now, that will soon change. Firstly,
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Only a quarter of the population doesn’t have cards, and the market for expansion is shrinking. Their core audience
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is aging, and they need to switch to a younger audience. This will be much more difficult
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because they are quite conservative and don’t go online, and they want to force people
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to come to their stores in person. Demographic trends also don’t promise growth.
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More and more people are living alone, and for them, such giant purchases are not feasible. But
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for now, the number of Surbiya in America is growing, and Kostka can open brand new stores in new
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areas. That’s all. I’m off to lay everything out. You write whatever you want. See you soon. Bye.