America's Future: Walgreens Or Costco?

08-23-2024 • https://www.zerohedge.com, BY PORTFOLIO ARMOR

On X yesterday, America 2100 shared a thread contrasting two different versions of retail: membership-only stores, as represented by Costco Wholesale Corporation (COST) and Walmart Inc.'s (WMT) Sam's Club, versus open-to-all CVS Health Corporation (CVS) and Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc.'s (WBA) Walgreens. They made the point that only one of those models works well when there's low social trust.

Want to see America's future? Look at our retail chains.

Costco and Sam's Club are members-only. They have a loyal customer base—but they also keep people out.

CVS and Walgreens are open to everyone. They rely on high social trust.

Guess which model is winning? (1/15) pic.twitter.com/DquNyBCOVc
— America 2100 (@America_2100) August 21, 2024

This isn't just a surface-level difference. It's an entirely different kind of business: Non-membership-based retailers rely primarily on sales for profit.

But Costco's source of profit isn't sales; it's membership prices. (See thread below). (3/15)https://t.co/IJLfxto3Hc
— America 2100 (@America_2100) August 21, 2024