Costco moves very slowly, rarely making changes. And when it does change something, it's generally well after the rest of the industry has moved.
For example, the warehouse club was slow to adopt digital sales. That's because Costco (COST) -) has built its business around driving traffic to its warehouses. This strategy kept costs down and helped enable the chain to offer the lowest prices to members.
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Digital sales have never been a core reason why people pay $60 for a basic Costco Gold membership or $120 for an Executive membership (which comes with 2% cash back up to $1,000).
The chain didn't have to make digital a priority since members were not clamoring for it. So the company took its time, studied its rivals, and implemented an e-commerce strategy that protected its value proposition.
It's not just sales innovations that Costco has resisted. The company has also been fiercely protective of some of its famous price points. That has included literally buying a chicken farm in order to continue to be able to sell its famed rotisserie chickens for $4.99.
The chain's desire to protect prices extends to its popular food court, where it offers a hot-dog-and-soda combo for $1.50. Keeping that price point has been a major point of pride for the chain.
Costco, however, does make changes in its food court. One recent move, while probably necessary, has annoyed some customers.
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Costco makes a major food court change
Costco's food-court changes sometimes involve adding new items, but the most recent ones are entirely different.
"Costco seems to be trying out new food court seating arrangements in some warehouse locations — a decision that has a lot of shoppers up in arms," Parade reported.
The website noticed that a Reddit post said that one of the chain's locations had replaced the tables and chairs in the food court with standing tables.
"The disgruntled Costco member understandably had some valid concerns as they pointed out that the tables made it impossible for persons under 4 feet tall to use them, effectively eliminating the possibility for children and people with disabilities to eat comfortably in the food court," the website reported.
"It was even noted that some families had taken to 'sitting on the floor along the back wall' but were quickly told not to by a manager."
This change has not been limited to one store. Other social-media posts talked about the change being made at their local Costco with some reporting that the chain had added some standup tables while keeping some traditional ones.
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Here's why Costco made the food court change
Costco's food court is very popular and swapping seats for stand-up tables likely encourages customers to eat and then move along. Offering tables with seats makes it easier for people to linger, tying up seats, and leaving no place for other customers to eat.
Essentially, Costco is battling the same problem that Starbucks (SBUX) -) has struggled with. People like to visit the coffee bar chain, make a purchase, and then spend hours at their table working or socializing. So customers who come in later have no place to sit and the cafes become unwelcome places.
Starbucks has dealt with this issue subtly. In many cases, it simply has chairs that aren't all that comfortable. In other locations, it has added communal tables that enable more people to sit in the same amount of space.
Costco appears to be in the early days of solving this problem. Removing chairs altogether is sort of a blunt solution, but it's likely also an effective one that will encourage people to eat and then move along.
