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The retailer Costco has famously sold its hot dog and soda combo for $1.50 for nearly 40 years. In fact, the big box store's founder, Jim Sinegal, reportedly once told the company’s current CEO Craig Jelinek, “If you raise the (price of the) effing hot dog, I will kill you.”

Now, Costco's competitor Sam's Club is offering the same deal for $1.38 in an effort to ease the burden on consumers. As inflation causes the prices of other commodities to rise, does the cheap hot dog combo really make an impact on consumers' bottom line?

Chris Thornberg, the founder of Beacon Economics, joins Mike Rogers to get to the root cause of inflation, discuss retail strategy, and yes... hot dogs.

The retailer <a href="https://www.costco.com/">Costco</a> has famously sold <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2022/09/26/costco-cfo-says-hot-dog-and-soda-combo-price-is-forever.html#:~:text=Travel%20and%20Tech-,'Lightning%20just%20struck%20me'%3A%20Why%20Costco's%20CFO%20says%20the,and%20soda%20combo%20is%20'forever'&amp;text=Costco's%20chief%20financial%20officer%20has,combo%20at%20%241.50%20%E2%80%9Cforever.%E2%80%9D">its hot dog and soda combo for $1.50 for nearly 40 years</a>. In fact, the big box store's founder, Jim Sinegal, <a href="https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/costco-founder-kill-hotdogs/">reportedly once told the company’s current CEO</a> Craig Jelinek, “If you raise the (price of the) effing hot dog, I will kill you.”
Now, Costco's competitor <a href="https://www.samsclub.com/">Sam's Club</a> is offering <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2022/11/15/business/sams-club-hot-dog-soda-combo-costco">the same deal for $1.38</a> in an effort to ease the burden on consumers. As inflation causes the prices of other commodities to rise, does the cheap hot dog combo really make an impact on consumers' bottom line?
<a href="https://beaconecon.com/about-us/our-people/staff-bios/#christhornberg">Chris Thornberg</a>, the founder of <a href="https://beaconecon.com/">Beacon Economics</a>, joins Mike Rogers to get to the root cause of inflation, discuss retail strategy, and yes... hot dogs.

What’s the deeper story behind that weird headline you forwarded to your friends or shared at the watercooler? We ask questions to gain grounded insight into the stranger news of the week.

What&rsquo;s the deeper story behind that weird headline you forwarded to your friends or shared at the watercooler? We ask questions to gain grounded insight into the stranger news of the week.

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