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1. CostcoFreeSamples: PromotionalGambit
or Good-Hearted Elderly Program?
By Tony Polk
Is the Costco Free Sample Program a successful promotional gambit or a kindly Feed-
the-Elderly Program?
“A little of both,” chuckled one Costco Team Member.
“I know,” said a senior lady who overheard my question. “I always grab the
samples; you don’t have to eat dinner.”
As a Medicare Card Carrying veteran grazer myself, I know full well that the Costco
program brings in the seniors, and that is no small feat for people who are typically
living alone or with an aging spouse -- watching their pennies.. Would I pay the $55

2. annual membership fee to be able to buy slightly cheaper 12-filet packs of Tilapia? Or
48 rolls of toilet paper? Maybe, maybe not.
But with free samples, huge pizza slices at $1.99, and cheaper than anywhere gas, I
am all in. The samples program is actually run by a company out of San Diego. The
Costco employee I chatted with said it certainly sells more products.
“Yesterday, I used six of these boxes (of some sort of pre-made pasta-and-veggie
concoction) and I sold 64,” said one sample chef. “Not bad.”
Just how out of hand free samples can get was shown when a 78-year-old shopper
said he was punched in the face after confronting a 24-year-old man about taking too
many Nutella samples at a Burbank Costco, the Los Angeles Times reporterd.
Follow an old person meandering through Costco -- I need only watch myself -- and
you will see how successful the Costco feed-the-elderly free sample program is.
Pushing a giant grocery basket with a scant few products, they often stop at each
station, savoring the quarter section of cheese burger or unbelievably fat samples of
Foster Farms Tequila Lime Chicken Wings -- $11.95 for three pounds.
Most of the sample chefs appear to be Medicare Card Carriers themselves, and the
senior shopper often engage them in conversation about the ingredients of their
offering.
What does All Natural mean on the wings packaging? How does All Natural square
with wings as fat as a baby’s leg? But I see the seniors at checkout. The Foster Farms
Tequila Wings, they do buy.

3. One need only take in the dozens of senior couples at the modest food court, dining
on kite-sized pizza slices or giant hot dogs, to understand the genius of Costco’s
senior strategy.
The retail phenomenon has created the perfect environment to induce the elderly buy
in bulk but eat cheap -- or even free -- in a store they might otherwise not visit
without this clever strategy. My hat is off to you, Costco. You hooked me on the
chicken wings.
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Network Newsletter.
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