Food, Self, and Society

So because of the recent snow storms, my family has been relying on the local Gristedes for food. We don’t usually shop at Gristedes because they overprice and we like to buy in bulk. There is a Costco right off of Vernon in Astoria that we go to for our food needs. Let me tell you, Costco is like god’s gift to mankind. They have everything you could possibly need in there. Food, clothing, household appliances, liquor store, electronics, etc. The list goes on. It is the third largest retailer in the United States, and ninth in the world. Fun fact that i did have to look up: Costco is the largest retailer of fine wine in the world, now that’s pretty amazing. My mom and I took a trip this weekend to stock up on food. My favorite activity when I am there is to sample food. On most corners and turns in that store, they have people giving out samples of anything, be it yogurt, burritos, cheese, the list goes on once again. Here’s the most amazing part of this store: they carry their own brand. Kirkland Signature is Costco’s store brand, and most of their products are by that brand. Of course, they have major brands, but they also have the Kirkland brand more most items which costs less. What I noticed last time is that customers prefer the store brand rather than the popular brand, and I asked one shopper why, and he said “because its the same quality, but cheaper, I feel like i’m robbing this place every time I leave!” Of course i was also thinking about the reading that we had for this week. Would Costco be able to survive in a low income neighborhood? I would imagine so, because not only do they sell bulk for discount prices, but as of 2009, they also started accepting food stamps. This is a store that you go to with the intention of buying a large amount of food, so that you don’t have to go back for I would say weeks, or maybe once a week. I find myself indulged in everything the store has to offer. Once you’re done shopping, you can stop by their pizza shop and grab a slice. I think to myself, this is ridiculous, how many people do you need to run a store this massive? And that made me think about how many jobs it could give residents in low income neighborhoods. There is a high demand in jobs and money, and food. not to mention workers get discounts in the store. The problem with Costco is that it would never survive in an urban setting, it needs to be somewhere in the open. Warehouse stores can’t be build on level because of their size. This is the first time I have thought about Costco in this way, because usually i’m there eating away at the samples. After leaving Costco it made me realize how lucky I am to have a car to be able to drive to Costco and buy large amounts of food.