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Costco, Sam’s Club and the great Polish hot dog controversy
When news that Costco was revamping its snack bar menu to add more items designed to appeal to health-conscious club members, the action appeared to be on-trend. The changes did not affect most of Costco’s popular items, including its $1.50 all-beef hot dog and soda combo. So, what could be wrong? Apparently, the chain did decide to dump its Polish hot dogs, a move deemed just too radical for some Costco club members.
People unhappy that the Polish dog is no longer on Costco’s menu have taken to petition sites such as Care2 (more than 10.7K signatures) and Change.org (more than 21K signatures in two petitions) to voice their displeasure. While Costco is still selling the Polish dogs in bulk inside its clubs, that does not appear to be good enough to appease those riled up by the snack bar delisting.
The News Tribune reports that Costco has replaced the Polish dogs with the al pastor salad. Apparently, the $4.99 dish, a mashup of Southwestern and Vietnamese flavors that includes black beans, black olives, romaine lettuce, soy protein and other ingredients, isn’t going over all that well, even with vegetarians who, let’s face it, were probably pleased to see Costco kick a meat dish off the menu.
Perhaps seeing an opportunity it can exploit, Sam’s Club has announced that it is adding Polish dogs to the cafe menus at its locations around the U.S. beginning on July 23. The dog, which will sell for 99 cents, can be purchased without a Sam’s membership since the club does not require membership to eat in its cafes.
- Costco changes up food court menu, but the $1.50 hot dog deal remains – The Seattle Times
- Here’s what Costco’s newest food court item tastes like. Spoiler: It’s nothing like a Polish dog – The News Tribune
- Costco angers members by dropping Polish hot dog for healthier choices. Minnesotans say, ‘What Polish hot dog?’ – Minneapolis Star Tribune
- Costco, Don’t Get Rid of the Polish Dog! – Care2
- Costco: Bring Back the Polish Dog! – Change.org
- Keep the Polish Dog on the Costco Menu – Change.org
- Sam’s Club cafes to offer Polish dog that Costco abandoned – Takeout
- Sam’s Club – Twitter
- Sam’s Club takes on Costco and Amazon with a new strategy – RetailWire
Discussion Questions
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS: Does Costco have an actual customer experience issue on its hands now that it is not selling Polish hot dogs at its snack bars? How would you respond if you were Costco’s management? What do you think about the reaction by Sam’s?
Poll
BrainTrust
David Naumann
Marketing Strategy Lead - Retail, Travel & Distribution, Verizon
Art Suriano
Chief Executive Officer, The TSi Company
I think Sam’s club jumped in nicely in the age of social media to get a little screen time over a Polish dog. The fact is the number of people who are going to switch membership from Costco to Sam’s because of the food court menu is probably negligible. By the way, I thought Costco is replacing the dog with the Acai bowl? Anyway, I think the majority of the shoppers do not care about it, and Costco can always have fun with it down the road if the new product doesn’t sell and “bring back the Polish” for social media fun.
If there is genuine customer demand for it, I’d put it back on. Frankly, the new salad sounds unappealing, no matter how healthy it might be! Polish hot dogs all the way!
I am proud to say I signed the petition at change.org — the Polish dog is my second favorite menu item after the regular hot dog. Seriously, have they not looked at who eats at Costco? Although as I type that, maybe they have and that’s why they’re changing the menu.
I would not call this a “customer experience” issue. This is more of a potential public relations issue. If the Costco customer demographics show that the retailer has had a significant demand for this particular menu item in the past, or that it has a significant ethnic customer base in certain stores, Costco should consider re-instating the Polish hot dog in those stores. The subject of healthful eating is not straight forward in my opinion. Menus should be balanced, but if people are not caring enough to watch how they eat it shouldn’t be the retailer’s problem.
Sam’s is having great fun with this “gotcha,” but it is little more than that and media noise.
For Costco management, most simply, they let it go too far. The solution is easy and could have been implemented quickly.
I don’t agree with Costco removing the Polish dogs unless they were not big sellers, but apparently they have been. However, I commend Costco for adding the al pastor salad. Today it’s all about choice, but we have no right to control what a customer wants. I prefer to eat healthily, and a hot dog would not be my choice, but I have no right to tell anyone what they should or should not eat and neither does Costco. Instead, Costco has and will continue to upset customers and sadly, they will lose business. In the end, Costco will have accomplished nothing positive because customers that are seeking hot dogs will easily find them elsewhere whether it be at Sam’s or the snack bar down the street. Costco needs to listen to their customers and not the internal “do-gooders” fighting for an unnecessary cause.
Life can be harsh for consumers. There are only a few reasons that the sausage/soda deal at the Costco counter would be pulled. It is either a money loser or it erodes total possible check value of counter patrons. Sure, it could slow down service or be a health hazard in some way, but it is likely more about revenue per square foot. Enjoy the good ‘ole days and the memories they offer.
While Costco thought it was doing its customers a favor by offering more healthy options, they need to respect what customers want vs. what Costco thinks they should have. Changing products without input from customers is a risky endeavor, especially for products customer are passionate about. Remember New Coke? Coca-Cola had a revolt on its hands and had to tuck its tail and bring back the original Coke.
I guess Costco customers are more passionate about Polish dogs than Costco thought. I bet we will see the Polish dog return, as it is the right decision. The morals of the story are “listen to your customers” and “the customer is always right!”
Costco should have remembered that it is not what you want to sell but what your customer wants to buy. In this case adding the salad to the existing menu including the popular Polish dog would have been a safer course of action. I agree with Neil, the salad doesn’t sound appealing.
What! Half the people I know go to Costco for the hot dog special on a regular basis. Did Costco do their research before dumping it? Yes, I would say they have a very real experience issue. People are creating petitions. Costco really needs to take some action here. Now, can Sam’s benefit by selling Polish hot dogs? Not likely. It’s not just about the Polish hot dog. It is about Costco and the Polish hot dog. I don’t know about you but I go to Costco and not to Sam’s. And that’s my 2 cents.
With all the real problems in the world, it is amazing that removing the Polish at Costco has this many people worked up. I wish for a day when more people would care about things bigger than this, but that’s my personal problem. Sam’s scored a minor PR advantage, but I can’t imagine more than 0.00001% of Costco members would actually cancel their memberships over this and/or switch to Sam’s. Meanwhile, it sure shows the power of social media to make much ado about “nothing”.
Those Polish sausages were very salty. But my opinion really doesn’t matter! I’d ask the folks who cue up for lunch/snack to tell me what should be on the menu. They had a Usinger’s brat with kraut that was tasty. That’s gone too — might be a local thing.
Costco switched out Johnsonville Brats for their private label brand. That’s on the store side of the business, not the snack bar. We expect turnover in their assortment. I think the same goes for the snack counter.
Sam’s is grasping at anything. Having a tube steak on the way out doesn’t net out with the assortment in the store. My experience is Costco has Sam’s by a long shot.
Presumably this item was removed because it didn’t sell well (enough), but lacking any specific info, it’s hard to comment further. If the decision was borderline, then this controversy is probably enough that they should reconsider, but I’m always reluctant to “give in” as it were solely because of a vocal minority.
The decision to simultaneously add what quite frankly sounds like pig slop was ill-considered, as it complicates the issue by implying some hidden motive(s).
Costco’s hot dog special is a minor vice that I indulge in now and then without regret. I can recall retired CEO Jim Sinegal admitting the same in a talk he gave at a conference a few years ago.
I like the kosher-style tubesteak. Apparently others are passionate about the Polish-style sausage. Both are great deals, but nobody ever suggested it should be a part of one’s daily diet.
The Costco snack bar has a very limited menu by design. Perhaps discipline required that it delete its least profitable item to make room for the new salad option? Regardless, the outcry was a learning moment.
Sam’s has a right to jump into the sausage-fest but I don’t think it will make much of a dent in its market share.
Food is a personal choice. If I want a salad I’ll go to a place that serves a good salad. If I want a quick and inexpensive lunch, I go to Costco — you can’t beat a foot long hot dog, or a Polish sausage, and large soda for $1.59. Take away a fan favorite and there’s going to be trouble.
If 30,000+ people take time to complain via petition it’s clear they like Costco’s Polish sausage. Dropping it is akin to McDonald’s dumping the Big Mac. It makes no sense.
What does make sense is putting it back on the menu. Know what else makes sense? Listening to your customers because they’re smarter than you.