Despite the original author's claim, Costco and Walmart aren't really competitors. They have much different product mixes and customer demographics, i.e. they serve different markets.
> In other words, Trader Joe’s and Costco are the specialty grocer and warehouse club for an affluent, educated college demographic. They woo this crowd with a stripped-down array of high quality stock-keeping units, and high-quality customer service. The high wages produce the high levels of customer service, and the small number of products are what allow them to pay the high wages. Fewer products to handle (and restock) lowers the labor intensity of your operation. In the case of Trader Joe’s, it also dramatically decreases the amount of space you need for your supermarket ... which in turn is why their revenue per square foot is so high. (Costco solves this problem by leaving the stuff on pallets, so that you can be your own stockboy).
And Walmart is the exact opposite of those things: It thrives on selling poor people everything they need and can afford, and they need lots of cheap labor to do everything a Walmart store needs to do on a daily basis.
