Costco stops carrying Coke drinks in price dispute

The Associated Press ^ | 7:50 a.m. Tuesday, November 17, 2009 | The AP

[Dacula]

PORTLAND, Ore. — Costco is no longer carrying Coca-Cola products in its stores nationwide because of a pricing dispute with the beverage maker.

A Costco executive confirmed the move Monday. The Issaquah, Wash.-based wholesale club operator would not discuss the matter further.

Atlanta-based Coca-Cola Co. said it won't comment on ongoing negotiations but said Costco is an important customer that it is committed to working with "in a spirit of fairness."

Coca-Cola products include its namesake soft drinks as well as Sprite, Squirt, Dasani water and Full Throttle energy drinks, among others.

Costco Wholesale Corp. operates about 560 warehouses in the U.S. and abroad.

Coca-Cola shares rose 2 cents to $56.76 in premarket trading Tuesday. Costco shares were unchanged from Monday's close of $61.12

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[edcoil]

This won’t last long, Coke needs the distribution. Pepsi must have come in with a large discount and coke was asked to match it.

[Jedidah]

Or Sam’s Clubs/Walmart struck a deal with Coke and Costco asked for the same pricing.

[Core_Conservative]

And I care about this WHY? I haven’t renewed my Costco Membership since they supported ALGORE et al. IT would serve both companies better had they just stayed out of politics and stuck to business.

[edcoil]

If they agreed to the same volume I am sure Coke would have done that.

[rwfromkansas]

won’t impact many people.

Costco ignores flyover country. Sam’s Club is everywhere, but you have to go to a huge city to see a Costco.

[elcid1970]

Either way, the result is the same.

“ERRRRPP!!”

[wardaddy]

I’d support Coke over superlib Costco.

don’t set foot in it

[television is just wrong]

who cares, I don’t drink coke except for once or twice in 5 year period, or if there is nothing else there to have.

[Last Dakotan]

Coke? - you mean that brown mixer you use with rum?

[Cyclone59]

Costco ignores flyover country. Sam’s Club is everywhere, but you have to go to a huge city to see a Costco.

No they don’t, there are 3 in St. Louis MO (Manchester, St. Louis and St. Peters) and 2 on the Kansas side of the state. Of course you will NEVER see one in Columbia MO for obvious reasons.

[Adder]

While I realize Costco is leftist they do a fair job of promoting right books like Glenn Beck’s latest. Our store had big well selling piles of them and they do of Coulter et al.

Its not like say a Barnes and Noble where you have to find it in a corner and take them out in a brown wrapper.[/s]

Guess i am weak...but I Like Costco.

[Pharmer]

What again??? They did this a couple of years ago and people walked out!!! BTW I did some price comparisons and with certain exceptions Costco “bargain” are no bargain. They sell most of their goods in large bulk as a means of hiding that you can get the same price per pound at Walmart. There are some deals on meats and baked goods but for the most part the membership price doesn't get you much...I let my membership laps after I bought Mark Levin's “Liberty and Tyranny”

[Larry Lucido]

Big K is still 79 cents for a 2 liter every day at Kroger. That’s all I’ve been buying lately.

[Freddd]

Well Pepsi is pushing the gay agenda.....no, no, that wouldn’t have a thing to do with it, eh?

[Skenderbej]

Oh please, Costco, switch to Pepsi!

[sbMKE]

I’m outside Grafton, WI - pop. 12,000 - and we have a Costco. so much for coastal big city bias.

[napscoordinator]

No more Costco for me. I must have Diet Coke to survive the day.

[Quality_Not_Quantity]

Big K is still 79 cents for a 2 liter every day at Kroger. That’s all I’ve been buying lately.

My son is handles intermodal traffic for a large railroad and reports 2 things.

1. They're shipping much more house brand soft drinks and much less name-brand ones since the economy went into the crapper, and
2. Sames of beer/wine are remarkably recession-proof. As the saying goes, "When the economy's good, people drink more. When the economy's bad, people drink more."

[sportutegrl]

Sames of beer/wine are remarkably recession-proof.

One advantage of being in a recession is that you don't need a corkscrew to open your wine.