Do Black People Avoid COSTCO?

This past Sunday in the late afternoon I went shopping at a packed working-class Costco in Richmond, CA. I was surprised by the scarcity of African-American shoppers. While I waited in line, I counted 100 similar waiting shoppers, but fewer than 10 Blacks. As background, Richmond has a ton of Black residents (36%), as does nearby West Berkeley and North and West Oakland. Black employees looked to be more than 50%. I checked my perception with a friend I ran into, and he confirmed it.

So, why so few Black shoppers? From an economic standpoint, the deep-discount and bulk savings available would seem a natural draw to economically-constrained Blacks, similar to working-class Latinos, Asians, Whites, and everybody else, but t’is not the case. I could be off by a bit, but I peg my savings, over standard grocery retail, at 25-40%, and well worth the long lines and the $60 annual member fee, regardless of income level.

Maybe Black folks are in church all day on Sunday, making me just another heathen who picked the wrong day to notice, but I have another theory. It has to do with time-horizons - that degree to which someone looks ahead, relative to their peers. In order to shop effectively for grocery items at Costco, one must plan at least a month into the future, and have the desire to stick to the economic and dietary script they have created. My own mother did this very well thirty years ago, with a big freezer and pantry in the basement.

I was told, by more than one Black person I have since asked, that most (not all) Blacks cook, eat, and grocery shop, on a much shorter time-horizon by comparison to other groups, which does not lend itself to taking advantage of the significant discounts and savings of longer-term shopping at places like Costco. This thinking is consistent with studies on wealth and inequality (here).

If my observation is correct, Black folks need to go to school on the benefits of stretching a dollar by stretching their dietary time-horizons. This is the opposite of the current saturation of Black and low-income neighborhoods with fast-food establishments, with the host of obesity health issues in tow (here). Nevertheless, I remain skeptical about what I saw at Costco. I wonder if I am just missing something. Perhaps one of this blog’s astute readers can help?

James C. Collier

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