The implication that Walmart and Target executives have a worse idea about what's best for their business model than someone who reads an article about CostCo is hilariously disingenuous.

The implication is that Wal-Mart and Target executives have a worse idea about what's best for their business model than Costco executives, which is not necessarily correct, but neither is it obviously wrong.

Walmart employees are HEAVILY subsidized by welfare programs; to my knowledge, Costco employees are paid well and do not need these programs.

Are you talking about Costco? I like Costco, but they have so few people out on the warehouse floor, and those that are there dress like civilians so it's hard to find them. My takeaway is that there is zero customer service, aside from the cashier. Everywhere else I am on my own.

If only I could get back a fraction of the time I've spent searching for products that they moved from one aisle to another.

I'm not sure that formula works as well for retailers like Wal-Mart. The nature of wholesale operations is less labor intensive, and the value of wholesale labor can increase greatly with more experience and knowledge like you're talking about. Compare that to Wal-Mart - 10 years of experience isn't likely to make you a much better employee than 1 year.