Jim Sinegal Costco
because who knew a big-box chain could have a generous soul?
Costco’s warehouse stores offer neither shopping bags nor brand loyalty — the Gladware for sale one week might be replaced by Tupperware the next, depending on which vendor offered the best deal. Yet Jim Sinegal, 69, who started Costco in 1983, is anything but frugal in dealing with employees. Wages start at $10 an hour, and more than half of his U.S. employees earn the top pay of $18.32 an hour. Costco also covers 94% of health care costs for both full- and part-timers, and donates an amount equal to 3% to 9% of employees’ pay to their 401(k)s. As a result, the company has little turnover — an astoundingly low 5.5% for workers who have been with Costco for a year or more.
“These guys have bucked Wall Street as far as taking care of their employees, yet their return last year was pretty darn good,” says Patricia Edwards, managing director of Wentworth Hauser and Violich, a San Francisco investment firm that owns 785,000 shares. Darn good indeed. Costco’s 450 stores had sales of $47.15 billion for fiscal 2004. In 2003, Costco’s sales topped sales at Wal-Mart’s Sam’s Club by 21%, even though Sam’s had 28% more stores. Costco stock was up 34% for calendar 2004; Wal-Mart’s stayed about even.
Even in years when Costco wasn’t posting stellar profits, Sinegal has refused to cut labor costs significantly. When you see how well Costco balances the interests of employees and investors, you wonder why more executives haven’t followed his lead.
Stephanie Clifford
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Martha Stewart, Martha Stewart Omnimedia
because she took one for the team
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Richard Branson, Virgin Group
because he’s game for anything. In fact, everything.
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Michael Dell, Dell Computer
for being brilliantly straightforward
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Jim Sinegal, Costco
because who knew a big-box chain could have a generous soul?
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Diane von Furstenberg, Diane von Furstenberg Studio
for staging an elegant comeback
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Julie Azuma, Different Roads to Learning
for offering hope and help to the parents of autistic children
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Fritz Maytag, Anchor Brewing
for setting limits
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Ray Kurzweil, Kurzweil Technologies and other companies
because he is Edison’s rightful heir
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Craig Newmark, Craigslist
for putting the free in free markets
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Jack Mitchell, Mitchells/Richards
because his family business makes an art of customer service
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Frank Robinson, Robinson Helicopter
for whipping an entire industry into shape
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Mark Melton, Melton Franchise Systems
for giving immigrants their shot at the American Dream
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Michelle Cardinal & Tim O’Leary, Cmedia and Respond2
for rewriting the rules for husband-and-wife teams
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Mike Lazaridis, Research in Motion
because someone had to stand up for all those frustrated engineers
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Trip Hawkins, Electronics Arts and Digital Chocolate
for still scrapping
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Warren Brown, Cake Love and Love Cafe
because only in America will someone quit a secure job as a lawyer to start a bakery
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Muriel Siebert, Muriel Siebert & Co.
for being a notable first with a worthy second act
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Chuck Porter, Crispin, Porter + Bogusky
for verging on reckless
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Katrina Markoff, Vosges Haut
for setting a completely unreasonable goal for her business
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Barry Steinberg & Craig Sumerel, Direct Tire and Auto Service
for showing the power of the peer group
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Victoria Parham, Virtual Support Services
for serving as a mentor to military spouses
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Tom LaTour, Kimpton Hotels and Restaurants
for staying at fleabag hotels so that we don’t have to
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Mitchell Gold & Bob Williams, Mitchell Gold
for creating a true comfort zone
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Izzy & Coco Tihanyi, Surf Diva
for kicking sand in the face of conventional wisdom
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Tony Lee, Ring Masters
for saving 16 jobs, including his own
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Rueben Martinez, Libreria Martinez Books and Art Galleries
for simultaneously building a business and nurturing Latino culture
