He co-founded Costco in 1983. He set the hot dog price at $1.50. 41 years later, it's still $1.50. His secret? He simply refused to let anyone change it.
Jim Sinegal co-founded Costco in 1983 and built it into one of the largest retailers in the world. But the thing most people remember about him has nothing to do with revenue or market share. It's the hot dog. Since 1985, the Costco hot dog and soda combo has cost $1.50. It has never been raised. Not once in over 40 years.
When current CEO Craig Jelinek once suggested it might be time to raise the price, Sinegal reportedly told him: "If you raise the effing hot dog, I will kill you." Costco sells over 200 million hot dogs per year at a loss. They don't care. The hot dog isn't a product. It's a promise.
While everything else in the world got more expensive, one man decided his hot dog wouldn't. And it still hasn't.
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