Costco, WTF?

[yanpa]

So... many... non-Japanese staff... totally blew my mind. This was Costco Kawasaki, BTW.

[Mike Oxlong]

Finally getting one down south here in 2015!

[legion]

So... many... non-Japanese staff... totally blew my mind. This was Costco Kawasaki, BTW.

so you got your 6 month supply of Diet Pepsi for the summer?

[Coligny]

I nevur went a costco...

[Screwed-down Hairdo]

I nevur went a costco...

Well, if it makes you feel a little more at home, I took a shit in the aisle at Printemps in Ginza...When in Rome and all that stuff...

[Coligny]

I nevur went a costco...

Well, if it makes you feel a little more at home, I took a shit in the aisle at Printemps in Ginza...When in Rome and all that stuff...

Dood, I'm not Chinese...

[Doctor Stop]

So... many... non-Japanese staff... totally blew my mind. This was Costco Kawasaki, BTW.

Basically in the middle of nowhere.

[matsuki]

I nevur went a costco...

http://www.costco.co.jp/p/locations/chu ... rt?lang=en

...and every time they don't have something I want, I simply ask and next time they have it. Fucking awesome!

[Taro Toporific]

COSTCO JAPAN TO START WEBSITE SALES IN 2019
businessinsider.jp (日本語) | 2018-June-13
The reasoning according to Costco Japan's president Ken Terio is that, "Amazon is a huge monster."

Costco Japan's lazy/late entry into e-commerce has always been a mystery to me.

[Grumpy Gramps]

That will be the end of "the flying pig", then.

[matsuki]

That will be the end of "the flying pig", then.

That's probably what pushed them over the edge to do this.

[legion]

COSTCO JAPAN TO START WEBSITE SALES IN 2019
businessinsider.jp (日本語) | 2018-June-13
The reasoning according to Costco Japan's president Ken Terio is that, "Amazon is a huge monster."

Costco Japan's lazy/late entry into e-commerce has always been a mystery to me.

I guess enough people liked the Costco shopping experience as it was

[Grumpy Gramps]

There is still room for improvement. As the Japanese population ages, they could also introduce these nice electric Walmart carts.

whalemart.jpg

[Taro Toporific]

Costco Japan's lazy/late entry into e-commerce has always been a mystery to me.

I guess enough people liked the Costco shopping experience as it was

>"the Costco shopping experience "


Each Costco store here already has a small takubin/shipping department. Offering their top selling non-perishables---maybe the top 100---would seem a no-brainer.

[legion]

There is still room for improvement. As the Japanese population ages, they could also introduce these nice electric Walmart carts.

whalemart.jpg

[FG Lurker]

That will be the end of "the flying pig", then.

Yeah, I'm sure TFP is not happy about this.

A good chunk of their business is goods imported from overseas that are otherwise unavailable here but really the number of such products has to be decreasing every year..

[matsuki]

Soo....it's 2019 and the Costco staff are clueless about any progress on this. "Online? nani sore?"

I've had about 3 instances where they ran out of inventory on something and every time they try to give the same "we can't check other store inventory" and "no idea when the next shipment will be in" run around. Last time I got a manager to come out and make calls to other nearby stores to check inventory for me but tis not a fun experience.

[FG Lurker]

I wouldn't really expect the floor staff to have any clue about corporate's plans for an online store. They live in their own little one-store bubble.

[wuchan]

Soo....it's 2019 and the Costco staff are clueless about any progress on this. "Online? nani sore?"

I've had about 3 instances where they ran out of inventory on something and every time they try to give the same "we can't check other store inventory" and "no idea when the next shipment will be in" run around. Last time I got a manager to come out and make calls to other nearby stores to check inventory for me but tis not a fun experience.

From what I have been told, Costco has to deal with a lot of BS in order to keep operating in Japan. They undercut every wholesaler so they have to make it hard for people to use them as a wholesale supplier.

On the other side of the coin, Amazon has hundreds of shell companies in Japan to, in a very Japanese way, dodge liability.

[matsuki]

Soo....it's 2019 and the Costco staff are clueless about any progress on this. "Online? nani sore?"

I've had about 3 instances where they ran out of inventory on something and every time they try to give the same "we can't check other store inventory" and "no idea when the next shipment will be in" run around. Last time I got a manager to come out and make calls to other nearby stores to check inventory for me but tis not a fun experience.

From what I have been told, Costco has to deal with a lot of BS in order to keep operating in Japan. They undercut every wholesaler so they have to make it hard for people to use them as a wholesale supplier.

On the other side of the coin, Amazon has hundreds of shell companies in Japan to, in a very Japanese way, dodge liability.

The basic premise of the company is pass on bulk purchase at wholesale savings on to their members. (and make a profit doing so) I'm working on selling a few products to them here and abroad so we'll see how hard they really are to work with soon.

[Mike Oxlong]

They've been teasing us down here for years, looks like we still got a shot at one...

http://www.japanupdate.com/2019/01/nanj ... into-city/

[matsuki]

Gassing up at mine saves me a good 600~800 each time. That covers the membership fee quite quickly...

[dimwit]

We'd love to have Costco here but by the sound of it Matsuyama is slightly too small for them to make it work. Now, the closest Costco is in Hiroshima and trip up there throws any saving out the window.

[matsuki]

We'd love to have Costco here but by the sound of it Matsuyama is slightly too small for them to make it work. Now, the closest Costco is in Hiroshima and trip up there throws any saving out the window.

Which is why the online sales will make sense...if they ever materialize.

[FG Lurker]

We'd love to have Costco here but by the sound of it Matsuyama is slightly too small for them to make it work. Now, the closest Costco is in Hiroshima and trip up there throws any saving out the window.

Matsuyama has half a million people, it seems plenty big enough for a Costco. I know of at least one "city" with less than 100,000 people in Canada that has a Costco.

[Taro Toporific]

We'd love to have Costco here but by the sound of it Matsuyama is slightly too small...

Which is why the online sales will make sense...if they ever materialize.

Damn YES! That's what my Rice Ranch outside Matsuyama really needs!

Costco just needs to get their online site working, grrr.

Costco Japan's shacho, Ken Theriault, and his gai-monkeys* announced online ordering April last year. However, they can't seem to get up even a token trial website of a "Buy-Any-the-Top-100-Products" accomplished.†

coming-soon.jpg

(Link): No online orders yet but you can buy pure JAPANESE toilet paper, w0oT!

Sheesh, even Costco Mexico has had a bilingual website for online ordering for more than a decade, and Costco Japan could use that site as a free template. (Costco Mexico makes more profit for the parent company than Costco USA).

*The majority of Costco employees here in Kanto seem to be gaijin,
Filipino, Nepalese, N. American, and other 3rd World people.

† Also note that Costco Japan always has had a cheap takyubin
delivery service so delivery of online orders is not an issue.

[SovietSupreme]

Costco just needs to get their online site working, grrr.
...even Costco Mexico has had a bilingual website for online ordering

Oh Comrade, even Worst Korea has online ordering.

Worst-Korea-online.jpg

www.costco.co.kr/Grocery/c/ks_food

[SovietSupreme]

Oh Comrade, even Worst Korea has online ordering.

Worst Korea has online ordering but no engrish.
However, Worst China has had bilingual online ordering for years!

Taiwan_Online-Exclusive.jpg

Taiwan: http://www.costco.com.tw/c/OnlineExclusive...

[matsuki]

Oh Comrade, even Worst Korea has online ordering.

Worst Korea has online ordering but no engrish.

I'm sure Japan will safe face with claiming it's a "pioneer" a some meaningless service or hold on tight to the TP being made locally.

[Taro Toporific]

I'm sure Japan will ....hold on tight to the TP being made locally.

Those "Eco" and *made locally" claims are bullpucky PR of Costco Japan.

I am sure what happened is that Costco went to stinky* Kawanoe Zoki and said, "match the OEM price from Georgia Pacific and you can have all our Japanese and Asia business."

straightdope.com...Kirkland paper towels and toilet paper are made by Georgia Pacific, the paper towels are Brawny, the toilet paper is Angel Soft.

*I have to drive past the mega-polluted Kawanoe Zoki's paper plant in Kawanoecho, Ehime Prefecture, all the time in Shikoku. I swear the stink peels the clear-coat off my car's paint job.

Kawanoe Zoki’s tissue machines hold an impressive share of the market. More than 80% of the tissue paper and toilet paper manufactured in Japan.
http://japan-product.com/ads/kawanoe-zo ... -in-japan/