Number of the Day
Costco’s Inflation-Resistant Hot Dog, by the Numbers
How the big-box giant has kept a price constant since the 1980s
$1.50: That’s the cost of a hot dog and a soda at Costco’s food courts — a price that hasn’t changed since the 1980s.
Numbers that stand perfectly still don’t usually attract attention, but Costco’s $1.50 deal has attracted a flurry of interest lately precisely because the big-box giant has stuck with it. According to Mental Floss, the combo (a quarter-pound all-beef dog paired with a 20-ounce soda) dates to 1984. Over time, inflation made it unprofitable. But Costco co-founder Jim Sinegal felt the deal was still worth offering because it served as an attraction and a goodwill-builder. He had a blunt message for an executive who wanted to charge more: “If you raise [the price of] the effing hot dog, I will kill you. Figure it out.” (This line, recently quoted in a very viral tweet, is evidently what caused the fresh round of awe about this time-capsule meal bargain.)
Clearly, Costco could charge more; according to this inflation calculator, $1.50 in 1984 is equal to $3.75 today. And in fact, the company has taken steps to reduce the associated costs over the years — dumping Coke products when Pepsi offered a sweeter deal and producing its own…
