Warren Buffett has become very rich in part because he appreciates the value of goodwill to a business while others ignore it. Here's a summary of what he's written on the topic:

To a business, goodwill is an asset just as real as cash or vehicles. In fact it is often more valuable than fixed assets because it appreciates over time while the latter depreciates. Despite this, it doesn't appear on the traditional Profit and Loss statement so is overlooked by managers whose compensation is based on such an inadequate measure of profit.

Costco thinks that way. Used to be USAA. That’s about it as far as I can think.

Retailers earn 2% to 3% profit margins. How much goodwill can they afford?

I've not had experience of anything like the scale of Costco before or in food, but what I know of retail is that margins are typically double the cost price. Where would such a low figure come from?

Not sure where the double the cost price coming from. Different Segment of Retail have different price structure. Double would be the norm for Electronics or anything that are not commodity.

Margin tends to be around 30-40% depending on products. Once you deduct everything else they quickly come down to net >10% margin.

Edit: phrased poorly. The profit margin is typically the same as the cost price at the till - this doesn't take into account deducting the cost of running the business, etc.

> I'm begging to shop there.

Yes.... exactly....

Amica (mutual insurance company)