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How Costco hacked the American shopping psyche
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Nearly one-third of US customers shop at Costco. It is the third-largest retailer in the world, behind only Amazon and Walmart.
PHOTO: AFP
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ANCHORAGE, Alaska – When it opened in 1984, the Costco in West Dimond Boulevard in Anchorage, Alaska, did not seem like the future of food.
A glorified shed the colour of stale coffee, the warehouse offered the sort of products and deals Alaskans go crazy for: mammoth quantities of staples such as peanut butter and tomato sauce, along with local favourites such as caribou sausage. The state’s extreme environment and the need to travel hours or even days for groceries made it a hit right off the bat.
