chapotraphouse

It's a capitalist solution to a capitalist problem - the problem of accessing the wholesale pipeline. It's obviously not this anymore anyway, but that's what the membership is for. You're buying at the "convenience store" level, but without the volume that's what the membership makes up for. Using Costco as your distributer is still a thing in rural areas, esp in Washington. Last time I was near Mt. Rainer there was a convenience store in the town that was clearly breaking up Costco packs, but they were like 1 of 3 places you could actually buy stuff.