If Walmart paid their staff like Costco their prices would be high like Costco’s and there would be little reason for them to exist anymore.

For people on a budget, Costco’s prices are terrible on many basic items. The “bulk prices” in many categories (e.g. dairy) are at best the same price per unit as Walmart with the huge purchase requirement.

Costco is for middle to upper middle class incomes and Walmart is for middle to lower class incomes. If you don’t recognize the price difference between the stores, you are privileged enough to be in the former category.

I would believe that if the Waltons weren’t one of (the?) richest families in the world. They can afford to pay more but don’t as the US taxpayer is making up the difference in welfare.

Privatize the profit, socialize the cost.

Estimated Walton family wealth is $250 bill. Walmart employs 2.2 million people. Pay them all $10k more per year and the Walton wealth would be gone after a decade (ignoring the fact that losing money for years in a row would eliminate the Walton wealth much faster due to stock declines).

Walmart’s model is just not sustainable at Costco level pay.

> They can afford to pay more but don’t as the US taxpayer is making up the difference in welfare.

If you don’t like that people can get welfare on minimum wage, either eliminate welfare at that wage level or raise the minimum wage until people who make minimum wage don’t qualify.

> Privatize the profit, socialize the cost.

It is the government who decides to pay welfare at these levels. If you want to ban people from making money at those hourly rates, go ahead. But this is not a case of “socialize the cost” because being a Walmart employee making $25k + welfare is still better than being unemployed and just getting welfare.

I got that at Safeway on Market/Church in SF. But in other places I've seen Walmart and other stores' staff have been much happier and nicer. Even though these chains try to have consistent experiences across locations, there is a pretty large variability from city to city.

There’s still the whole, all very poor people shop there dynamic that isn’t going away unless someone can undercut Walmart significantly.

I almost never find an old employee at Costco, while at Walmart most of them are old or middle aged.

Though it might also be that nearly every piece of stock at a Costco will be significantly heavier than that at Walmart, making it difficult for older people who might have more in the way of back problems etc to work there.

I think it has to do with lot of older people shopping at Walmart so they feel comfortable around others. Don't know.