Liberal Talk Radio

By Monday, I get to read the other sections of the Sunday NY Times. Reading the biz section, I came across this article on Costco. Washington-based Costco is the nation’s fifth-largest retailer, according to the article. Prices are cheap, and employees are well-paid and get great benefits, which is CEO Jim Sinegal’s philosophy. Naturally, this has bothered Wall Street, which worries that shareholders are being denied the profits that are being passed on to the employees:

Costco’s average pay, for example, is $17 an hour, 42 percent higher than its fiercest rival, Sam’s Club. And Costco’s health plan makes those at many other retailers look Scroogish. One analyst, Bill Dreher of Deutsche Bank, complained last year that at Costco “it’s better to be an employee or a customer than a shareholder.”

Grr. That makes me mad. But I understand that Deutsche Bank has its constituents, the shareholders. I don’t begrudge them for defending their interests, even if I do feel like it’s rather shortsighted of them to think this way. But Sinegal’s response irks me even more:

Good wages and benefits are why Costco has extremely low rates of turnover and theft by employees, he said. And Costco’s customers, who are more affluent than other warehouse store shoppers, stay loyal because they like that low prices do not come at the workers’ expense. “This is not altruistic,” he said. “This is good business.”

Grr, again. On the first point, I agree. Sure, I’ll believe that high wages and benefits reduce turnover and theft. But the second point sounds like a spoonful of liberal B.S. Do people really go to Costco because “low prices do not come at the workers’ expense?” Do they really drive out to friggin’ Issaquah because of liberal guilt?? I don’t buy it. As Kaus might say, it’s convenient NYT liberal cocooning.

The reason it irks me is that there’s a better, more realistic answer. Affluent customers come back to Costco because well-paid employees are more experienced and give better customer service. I recently had to stop going to Noah’s Bagels in my neighborhood because I could no longer stand the awful service. They screwed up my order literally every time. Now I have to get in the car and drive on a Saturday morning to get a Bagel. For a native New Yorker, this is outrageous. But Noah’s service gave me little choice. And I’m sure it had everything to do with how little they pay their employees.

These days, a good customer service experience is so rare and precious that it’s easily worth the little extra you might pay for good employees. THAT is the argument Sinegal should be making. Save us the faux liberal altruism, thanks.