Why not a Costco?

It wasn’t that long ago the rumors were running hot and heavy that Cabelas was going to put a store at the airport, but those rumors have quieted now that Bass Pro Shop has completed the purchase of the other big box outdoor store.

                    Bruce Wallace

But….what about Costco?

Besides the City of Ashland getting an enormous windfall of sales tax and jobs, I can think of plenty of good reasons Mid-Missouri needs a Costco at the Cartwright Technology Park, a.k.a. just inside the City Limits of Ashland. Here’s a sampling

• Buy your own casket – Yep. You can purchase a casket at Costco. I have no idea if the price is better, if it looks as nice or it keeps your dearly departed more comfortable (would they know the difference?) than purchasing a casket from a funeral home, but just the idea that you can purchase a your final resting “home” at a big box store sorta blows my mind.

• The Kirkland brand – Costco’s store brand – is solid, from kid’s boots to snack food to baby wipes, the Kirkland brand is top-notch, shoppers say.

• Free sample – as in, enough for a light lunch on your standard shopping day.

• The book and DVD selection rivals any major book store – and usually for a lower price.

• Lower prices – Costco is known for never marking up products by more than 15%. Locally, WalMart will price an item at three different levels depending upon which Supercenter you are shopping in Columbia.

• Toilet paper – There has to be something right about Costco’s toilet paper, it’s their best-selling item.

• Wine – Last year Costco had $1.46 billion in wine sales. They are the largest seller of Dom Perignon Champagne in the country – now that’s something to celebrate.

Costco passes the “Amazon” test – people still flock to this big box store when they could buy everything there online – and it also passes my sister’s “Leslie test” in that ever since they opened stores in the Denver metro area, my sister – who has earned a reputation as being a finicky buyer, continues to shop there.

Bring on Costco.

Boy Scouts to Accept Girls – This past week came the news that the Boy Scouts will accept girls into their troops.

I’m not sure who came up with this one, but it totally missed the mark.

Boy Scout leadership said the historic shift will help “shape the next generation of leaders.”

Or, maybe it has something to do with scouting’s dwindling numbers for the past 15 years.

But if only Boy Scouts leaders had taken a look at the example set in Ashland – yep, right here…and likely a few thousand other small towns just like us – they would have seen that girls absolutely flourish as Girl Scouts. I can think of my own daughter’s group when she was in middle school, which would have had a completely different dynamic if there were boys involved. Coed does not have to be the answer 100% of the time for teens.

I suspect this goofy decision will not go over well and the market will do its thing. If Boy Scouts is having a hard time attracting young men, they need to look at how they are attempting to get boys involved.