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'I will kill you.' The wild story behind Costco's inflation-proof $1.50 hot dog combo

The price hasn't changed for nearly 40 years, under threat of death from Costco's 88-year-old co-founder.

costco hot dog and pepsi
Photo credit: Food Court of Costco Wholesale

A hot dog with condiments and a large soda costs just $1.50 at Costco.

Costco is beloved by its customers for many reasons, from quality items at wholesale prices to the way the company cares for its employees. But one Costco staple in particular has earned the loyalty of customers like no other—the $1.50 hot dog meal.

At a time when you can easily drop $10 to 15 on a single fast food meal, spending $1.50 on a delicious, jumbo, all-beef hot dog plus toppings plus a large soda almost feels like highway robbery. And we have one man—and his direct death threat—to thank for it.

The Costco hot dog debuted in 1985 at $1.50 and the price has remained unchanged in the nearly 40 years since. Former Costco CEO Craig Jelinek once tried to broach the subject of increasing the price in response to inflation with one of the store's co-founders, Jim Sinegal. It didn't go so well.

The infamous Costco hot dog death threat

As Jelinek recalled in a 2018 interview, “I came to [Jim Sinegal] once and I said, ‘Jim, we can’t sell this hot dog for a buck fifty. We are losing our rear ends.’ And he said, ‘If you raise the effing hot dog, I will kill you. Figure it out.’"

Okay then.

costco hot dog mealCostco food court hot dogs are 100% beef.Photo credit: bob walker from London, UK

Sinegal, now 88, told the Seattle Times in 2009 that if the price on the hot dog combo ever goes up, it means he's dead. He told the paper:

"It’s amazing how creative we have been to figure out ways to keep the price down. It was a Sinai hot dog, and now it’s a Kirkland Signature hot dog. It’s actually 4.4 ounces, so it’s slightly bigger than a quarter pound now. It’s a drink and a free refill on the drink for a buck fifty. We used to sell the soda in a can, and we put in soda machines, which took the price down. We improved the cost of the condiments, we’ve purchased better on buns and things like that.

It’s the same quality hot dog, all beef, the best ingredients that you can imagine. I know it sounds crazy making a big deal about a hot dog, but we spend a lot of time on it…When you get customers who are that delighted with something, it’s worth your time and energy to make it work…We’re known for that hot dog. That’s something you don’t mess with.”

front of a costco warehouseCostco sells its hot dog combo for a song at locations around the world.Photo by Grant Beirute on Unsplash

When, if ever, will Costco raise its hot dog meal price?

Surely, there has to be a breaking point, though, right? Loss leaders are common in the retail business, but no one would bat an eye if the hot dog went up, say, 50 cents. Even at double its current price point, it would still be a ridiculously cheap meal. You can't even get the soda for $1.50 anywhere else. Can Costco really keep selling this combo without even breaking even?

It's a legitimate question, especially with Costco's four-decade Chief Financial Officer Richard Galanti stepping down in the spring of 2024. As the longest-serving CFO of a major U.S. public company, Galanti has overseen pretty much the entirety of Costco's meteoric rise as a money-saving warehouse giant. It's been ultimately up to him to "figure it out," and he has. But with a new CFO coming in, people have wondered if the infamous hot dog deal would continue to stick.

"To clear up some recent media speculation, I also want to confirm the $1.50 hot dog price is safe,” new Costco CFO Gary Millerchip told analysts on an earnings call in May 2024, according to CNN.

Safe. Phew.

As Sinegal has said, the hot dog is an integral part of Costco's brand at this point in addition to being a fan favorite.

"I was standing in line behind some people in San Francisco one time, a young man and a woman just getting a hot dog, and he says, 'No, you need your cup to get the drink,' and she said, 'We didn’t pay for the cup,' and he said, 'No, you get the drink, too. Don’t you get it? That’s the great thing about this place!'" he told the Seattle Times. "We have people who have parties at our hot-dog stands. Guys in Florida get together and have T-shirts that have the Costco hot dog on them. We have people who after their wedding party came over and got a hot dog at one of our warehouses."

Tips for saving even more money at Costco

The hot dog is not the only almost-too-good-to-be-true deals Costco offers its members. Their $4.99 rotisserie chickens are twice the size and half the price of many grocery store chickens, and whatever they flavor them with is divine. Need a cake that feeds a huge crowd for an event? The Costco bakery's legendary cake system may seem antiquated and terrifying if you've never ordered one, but trust the system and enjoy the delicious layered half-sheet cake that feeds 48 people for $25. Not everything is super cheap at Costco, but frozen fruits and veggies, butter, eggs (regular and organic), cheese, toilet paper, laundry detergent,—all of those are generally a far better deal at Costco than any grocery store.

costco meat aisleCostco meat can be a great deal or just an okay one, depending on what you're buying.Photo by Tyler Menezes on Unsplash

Want to save even more money at Costco? Look for prices ending in $.97. Those items have been marked down at that specific store, often to clear them out. There are some huge bargains to be had in those massive aisles, especially when you know what to watch for.

People often ask if it's worth the annual membership fee. Of course, it depends on your needs and how you shop, but members generally agree that the membership more than pays for itself. Even single people and couples share that they save more than they spend on the membership, as long as they actually use it.

Think of it this way. The lowest membership fee is $65 a year. The hot dog combo has a value of $4.50 if the price had kept up with inflation. If you took your family of four to Costco for a cheap hot dog dinner once a month—for a whopping $6 a time—you'd essentially be "saving" $144 just in the value of the that combo meal. And that's before you even step foot on the warehouse floor.

Here's hoping that the hot dog combo deal stays "safe" for the foreseeable future.

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Parenting

When a Patagonia employee breastfed her baby in a meeting her male VP's response was a masterclass in workplace values

Talk about a "family-friendly workplace."

Holly Morissette/LinkedIn

Years after it happened, Patagonia's approach to the "family-friendly workplace" is a whole new level that still deserves our attention - and praise.

The outdoor clothing and gear company has made a name for itself by putting its money where its mouth is. From creating backpacks out of 100% recycled materials to donating their $10 million tax cut to fight climate change to refusing to sell to clients who harm the environment, Patagonia leads by example.

That dedication to principle is clear in its policies for parents who work for them, as evidenced by a 2019 viral post from Holly Morisette, a recruiter at Patagonia.

Morisette wrote on LinkedIn:

"While nursing my baby during a morning meeting the other day after a recent return from maternity leave, our VP (Dean Carter) turned to me and said...'There is no way to measure the ROI on that. But I know it's huge.'

It got me thinking...with the immense gratitude that I have for on-site childcare at Patagonia comes a responsibility to share a 'call to action'. A PSA to tout the extraordinary benefits that come along with not asking employees to make the gut wrenching decision to either leave their jobs or leave their babies. TO HAVE TO LEAVE THEIR JOBS OR LEAVE THEIR BABIES. That perhaps just one person will brave the subject with their employer (big or small) in the hopes that it gets the wheels turning to think differently about how to truly support working families.

That with a bit of creativity, and a whole lot of guts, companies can create a workplace where mothers aren't hiding in broom closets pumping milk, but rather visiting their babies for large doses of love and serotonin before returning to their work and kicking ass.

It's no wonder that Patagonia has 100% retention of moms. Keeping them close to their babies keeps them engaged. And engaged mothers (and fathers!) get stuff done. Thank you, Patagonia, for leading the way. "


Holly Morissette on LinkedIn: "While nursing my baby during a morning meeting the other day after a recent return from maternity leave, our VP (Dean Carter) turned to me and said..."There is no way to measure the ROI on that. But I know it's huge." It got me thinking...with the immense gratitude that I have for on-site childcare at Patagonia comes a responsibility to share a “call to action". A PSA to tout the extraordinary benefits that come along with not asking employees to make the gut wrenching decision to either leave their jobs or leave their babies. TO HAVE TO LEAVE THEIR JOBS OR LEAVE THEIR BABIES. That perhaps just one person will brave the subject with their employer (big or small) in the hopes that it gets the wheels turning to think differently about how to truly support working families. That with a bit of creativity, and a whole lot of guts, companies can create a workplace where mothers aren't hiding in broom closets pumping milk, but rather visiting their babies for large doses of love and serotonin before returning to their work and kicking ass. It's no wonder that Patagonia has 100% retention of moms. Keeping them close to their babies keeps them engaged. And engaged mothers (and fathers!) get stuff done. Thank you, Patagonia, for leading the way. " www.linkedin.com


Just the first eight words of Morisette's post are extraordinary. "While nursing my baby during a morning meeting..."

As if that's totally normal. As if everyone understands that working moms can be much more engaged and efficient in their jobs if they can feed their baby while they go over sales figures. As if the long-held belief that life and work must be completely separate is a construct that deserves to be challenged.

And then the comment from her male colleague about the ROI (Return on Investment) of breastfeeding—witty, considering the time and place, and yet so supportive.

On-site childcare so that parents don't have to choose between leaving their jobs or leaving their babies. Letting life integrate with work so that working families don't have to constantly feel torn in two different directions. Flexibility in meetings and schedules. Allowing for the natural rhythms and needs of breastfeeders. Making childcare as easy and accessible as possible so that employees can be more effective in their jobs.

All of this seems so profoundly logical, it's a wonder that more companies have not figured this out sooner. Clearly, it works. I mean, who has ever heard of a 100% retention rate for mothers?

Patagonia's got it goin' on. Let's hope more companies take their lead.


This article originally appeared on 8.16.19

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There's an underreported health crisis among veterinarians. 4 reasons why they need help.

Abuse from customers is just the beginning.

via Tima Miroshnichenko/Pexels

A veterinarian examines a sick dog.

Imagine this.

You grow up loving animals – you're the rare type of human who loves cats and dogs equally. You're also fond of birds, lizards — pretty much anything that was worth of securing a spot on the Ark.

So you decide to become a veterinarian when you grow up so you can help as many of them as possible.

As a vet, you do get to help a lot of animals! But here are some other things you deal with on a daily basis.

Abandoned, mistreated, and abused pets. You know that horrible Sarah McLaughlin commercial with all the sad animals that haunts all of our dreams? Imagine waking up and clocking into work and seeing that, or worse, every single day.

long-coated black and white dog during daytimeMuch needed photo of a cute dog. Photo by Baptist Standaert on Unsplash

Owners that can't or won't get proper care for their pets. Pet care, including essential medications and surgeries, is really expensive. Someone might adopt a puppy because they have the means to feed it and get it vaccines, but that doesn't mean they have $10,000 to shell out for hip surgery a few years later, and as a vet you may have to watch that animal go without.

(Though that's probably preferable to when owners come in wanting to euthanize perfectly healthy pets due to inconvenience.)

And then there's the fact that most veterinarians must perform euthanasia on a daily basis — a heartbreaking reality of the job.

All of that while often saddled with medical debt and making less than stellar wages.

As tough as these things are, many vets report that they're somehow the least stressful parts of their day-to-day.

The worst thing that vets actually deal with, though, is all the humans.

It's unfortunately very common for pet owners to get angry about the cost of care and take it out on veterinarians and their staff, hurling abuse and accusations of greed at them.

Cyber-bullying is a big problem, too, with angry customers leaving bad reviews and social media posts that vets aren't allowed to respond to due to privacy concerns.

From there, it's not unheard of for angry clients to make threats or even resort to violence against veterinarians.

The reality of the career is a far cry from just playing with puppies all day — it's frequently dealing with difficult, entitled, or emotional owners.

It should be no surprise, then, that veterinarians are facing a mental health crisis — but somehow it still is.

short-coated brown puppy on white floorThis dog would never scream at a vet and make them cry Photo by Jairo Alzate on Unsplash

When I learned that this is one of the industries with the highest rates of depression and suicide, I was completely shocked.

Of course, thinking through the challenges of the job, it makes total sense.

But the issue clearly hasn't been getting enough attention.

A recent report from Australian dog food brand Royal Canin and the charity Love Your Pet, Love Your Vet spelled out some sobering data:

Vets were four-times more likely than the general population to commit suicide, with a heart-breaking 68% of veterinarians surveyed having lost a colleague to suicide.

Even at the less extreme ends of the spectrum, the stress, anxiety, burnout, and depression in the industry are catastrophic.

On top, the general public has no idea how bad the problem is — almost 80% of Australians surveyed were not aware of veterinary mental health issues at all.

The problem is just as bad in the USA and other parts of the World. But...

A report from the AVMA shows that things are getting (a little) better. Making more people aware will help.

a brown cat lying on the groundAnother cute pet break Photo by Simone Dalmeri on Unsplash

Despite being an underreported crisis, there are tons of groups fighting to make an impact here — dog food brands, non profits, professional trade organizations — and the good news it might just be making a difference.

The 2024 shows that the number of vets receiving counseling has nearly doubled in the last several years, in part thanks to an increase in veterinary practices offering mental health coverage and other assistance programs.

There's been a huge emphasis on preventive care, which early returns show has been working.

These changes taking place inside animal hospitals and vet practices are huge.

But there are a lot of things we can do as pet owners to make things better, too.

We can show our gratitude and say Thank You. We can not be jerks when a service costs more than we think it should. We can grieve or be upset or angry and not take it out on the veterinarian who's just trying to help.

Our pets are our family members, and many of us would do anything for them.

Now we have to take better care — MUCH better care — of the people who care for our pets.

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Woman's rare antique turned away from 'Antique Roadshow' for beautiful heart-wrenching reason

"I just love you for bringing it in and thank you so much for making me so sad."

Photos by Murat Rahim Caglak and Antoni Shkraba via Canva

Woman's antique turned away from 'Antique Roadshow'

People come by things in all sorts of ways. Sometimes you find something while at a garage sale and sometimes it's because a family member passed away and it was left to them. After coming into possession of the item, the owner may be tempted to see how much it's worth so it can be documented for insurance purposes or sold.

On a recent episode of BBC One's Antique Roadshow, a woman brought an ivory bracelet to be appraised. Interestingly enough, the expert didn't meet this rare find with excitement, but appeared somber. The antique expert, Ronnie Archer-Morgan carefully explains the purpose of the bracelet in what appears to be a tense emotional exchange.

There would be no appraisal of this antique ivory bracelet adorned with beautiful script around the circumference. Archer-Morgan gives a brief disclaimer that he and the Antique Roadshow disapprove of the trade of ivory, though that was not his reason for refusing the ivory bangle.

"This ivory bangle here is not about trading in ivory, it’s about trading in human life, and it’s probably one of the most difficult things that I’ve ever had to talk about. But talk about it we must," Archer-Morgan says.

Turns out the woman had no idea what she had in her possession as she purchased it from an estate sale over 30 years before. One of the elderly residents she cared for passed away and the woman found the ivory bracelet among the things being sold. Finding the bangle particularly intriguing with the fancy inscription around it, she decided to purchase the unique piece of jewelry.

After explaining that his great-grandmother was once enslaved in Nova Scotia, Canada before being returned to Sierra Leone, Archer-Morgan concluded he could not price the item.

"I just don’t want to value it. I do not want to put a price on something that signifies such an awful business. But the value is in the lessons that this can tell people," he tells the woman.

In the end the woman leaves without knowing the monetary value of the item but with a wealth of knowledge she didn't have before visiting. Now she can continue to share the significance of the antique with others. Watch the full explanation below.

This article originally appeared on 4.3.24

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Health

Bill Maher says smartphones are deadlier for kids than school shooters. Where's the logic?

He supports taking phones away from kids at school.

via Warner Brothers PR and Pixabay/Pexels

Kids staring at their phones and HBO's Bill Maher.

The September 4th school shooting at Apalachee High School in Georgia that killed 2 students and 2 teachers prompted an interesting discussion about how to protect school children on the September 6th episode of HBO’s “Real Time with Bill Maher.”

In the wake of the tragedy, Maher was encouraged that the shooter’s father has been charged with murder for buying his 14-year-old son an AR-15 that may have been used in the shooting.

“It's America. So we had a school shooting. When schools go back into session and we're gonna have to talk about this 'cause it happens a few times every year. I think it's happened 45 times already this year, by the way. Here's the new wrinkle in this one. Now they're blaming the parents as I think they should,” Maher said on a segment featuring John Avlon, a Democrat running for Congress in New York’s First District and Rich Lowry, Editor-in-Chief of the conservative National Review.

Maher says that the shooter’s parents were “derelict” in their duty and extended that critique to those who let their kids bring smartphones to school. “And we can't also talk about taking phones away from kids in school. It's funny. I think the problem here is that parents just don't have the ability to say no to kids for anything,” Maher said to a big round of applause.



In a country where liberals and conservatives are at odds over gun control laws, Maher sees charging parents as a sensible, bipartisan way to improve the situation. He equated this to the recent rise in bipartisan laws nationwide that ban students from bringing their smartphones to class.

“This is an issue of bipartisan support,” Avlon said. “There shouldn't be smartphones in schools because nobody likes 'em. Not good for the kids, not good for the teachers, not good for learning. So that's an area where there is bipartisan agreement. Let's act on that. Let's keep advancing it.”

Studies show that since 2010, when smartphones became widely used by young people, the U.S., and other developed nations saw an astronomical spike in mental health problems, including self-harm, suicide, psychological distress, anxiety, and depression.



Smartphones and social media are also associated with bullying, decreased attention span, diminished social development and trouble with sleep. Collectively, these issues have resulted in an unprecedented mental health crisis.

A study by the Centers for Disease Control found that the suicide rate among young people rose 62% between 2007 and 2021. The problem has been especially bad for teenage girls, who are at higher risk of suicidal ideation and behaviors than their male counterparts. In 2021, 3 in 10 female high school students said they had seriously considered attempting suicide.

While there’s yet to be a study that confirms a direct, causal link between smartphone use and the dramatic rise in suicide among young people, studies show that when smartphone use is reduced, their mental health improves.

Maher made a bold point during the discussion that’s worth examining. He says the mental health problems caused by smartphones may pose a greater danger to America’s youth than school shootings.

“But a point to [Avalon’s] point about the guns being obviously more dangerous in the immediate than the phones. Yeah, true. But if you did a really long-term study, I mean over decades. I'm not sure that would come out that way because suicides alone caused by the phone. We know this happens; lots of other bad things happened because of that godd**n phone. And now, 9 states are on board with taking away the phone for the day.”



“I'm a Neanderthal on this,” Lowry added. “All screens are the enemy. They are distraction machines. Even if you're just sitting and watching TV all day, is that a happy person? No. And we've conducted this mass social psychological experiment on teens with social media. And it's been a disaster.”

It’s not fair to the victims of teen suicide or school shootings to say that one problem is greater than the other because the loss of every young life is an unquestionable tragedy. But when it comes to the space these issues occupy in the public consciousness, all 3 panelists agreed that we should treat mental health issues caused by smartphones as seriously as school shootings.

Every year, an average of 6,500 young Americans between the ages of 10 to 24 years old die by suicide. Over the past 10 years, an average of 38.5 Americans were murdered at the hands of school shooters every year.

The school shooting epidemic has inspired millions of Americans to take political action by backing gun control legislation and red flag laws. It has also deputized countless citizens to create school preparedness plans so that educators, students and law enforcement agencies have all the resources necessary to combat an active shooter situation. The problem persists, but concerted efforts are being made nationwide to make schools safer.

Smartphones don’t appear to be as dangerous as AR-15s, but their abuse can lead to the same devastating results. What if we take the same energy to help reduce suicide rates and improve mental health among young people by creating phone-free schools and childhoods that are more about sunshine than screen time?

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Mom gives back son's perfect attendance award to prove a simple point

"What on earth are we teaching our kids about value and worth?"

CDC/Unsplash and JE Theriot/Flickr

You remember what it was like as a kid.

At the end of every school year, there was a ceremony, or at least an announcement of some kind, where a handful of students would receive an award for "Perfect Attendance."

There was much applause and admiration for these heroic kids.

Maybe you got one of these awards yourself. Maybe you simply sat there feeling strangely bad about the one time you had a cold and had to stay home.

If only you had gutted through it, you could have had some of that applause, too.

Well, one mom has had enough of perfect attendance awards. In fact, when her son's school offered him one, they turned it down.

school bus on pathway Photo by Denisse Leon on Unsplash

In a post on her blog, U.K. mom and author Rachel Wright wrote about the experience and her reasoning behind the decision.

It might sound strange at first, but she makes a lot of great points. Her biggest gripe? Kids can't control who gets sick and when:

"In this family you are not shamed for ill health, vulnerability or weakness. In this house you are not encouraged to spread germs when you are not well. In this house we look after ourselves and the weakest amongst us," she writes.

"Can you imagine a work place that at the end of each week marked out all the people who hadn't been sick? Where all the departments with the least number of people off were rewarded — in front of everyone else?

"It happens in schools all the time.

"Can you imagine what kind of atmosphere that would create with people who had days off because of bereavement, mental health problem or chronic conditions? What on earth are we teaching our kids about value and worth? What are we teaching them about looking out for each other and looking after the sick or disabled in our community?"

Wright goes on: Most school-aged kids have very little control over whether they get to school.

female teacher standing in front of children Photo by National Cancer Institute on Unsplash

Policies that reward kids for zero absences unfairly favor those of more privileged households.

After all, it's a heck of a lot easier to get to school amid rain and snow in Mommy's 4-wheel-drive SUV versus the public bus.

And kids with health problems or chronic illnesses? They don't stand a chance.

"He had no control over his attendance," Wright wrote. "I took him to school and it would have been my decision to keep him off. I should get the reward (or not) for his attendance."

The blog post has gone viral, with comments pouring in from parents around the world who share Wright's frustration for this arbitrary form of celebration.

"The worst time was in primary school when [my daughter] repeatedly 'lost' her class the class award, and was bullied because of it," wrote one mom.

"In a work place, this would never be acceptable, but we allow this to ... happen for our children," added another commenter.

While it's not a bad thing to celebrate kids for commitment and hard work at school, we ought to give some more thought to how we do it and whether we want our kids growing up believing that never taking a day off is something to aspire to.

The debate on the pros and cons of perfect attendance awards rages on, even in 2024.

Though anecdotally it feels like they're beginning to go out of style. After all, data shows that awards and certificates don't have a positive effect on absenteeism — and in fact can have the opposite effect!

In a world that lived through the 2020 COVID pandemic and lockdowns, it seems much smarter to let kids know: It's OK to take care of yourself when you're sick, it's important to stay home to stop the spread of germs, and yes, the occasional day off for your mental health isn't going to hurt anyone.

Kudos to Rachel Wright for kicking off a conversation that's finally beginning to make a difference.


This article originally appeared on 7.17.17

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