Costco on the East side

[csgray]

In 1970 Hawaii County had right around 50,000 people, now it is right around 200,000 and still climbing. Just using the voting districts as a guide, Puna, Hilo and Hamakua have about 4 tenths of that, or 80,000+ people. That is a pretty good population base to start from, so the demographics aren't all that bad. Big families tend to love Costco, and we have plenty of those here, one big family with growing kids could easily spend as much as 5 pairs of retirees who drive to Kona now. I teach in a school with some pretty low incomes, and I've heard families say how much they wish they could shop at Costco for things like socks, toilet paper, laundry soap, and tires, but they are usually working an average of 1.75 jobs per adult to make ends meet, and can't afford to tie up their vehicle all day on a Costco run.

Costco has a history of doing very well in low income working communities, that describes the East side to a T.

Carol