<story><title>A lawsuit over Costco golf balls</title><url>https://qz.com/942785/lawsuit-over-popular-lower-priced-costco-golf-balls-shows-why-americans-cant-have-nice-things-cheap/</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>aluminussoma</author><text>Costco sued J&amp;amp;J Vision Care a few years ago over anti-consumer behavior in the contact lenses industry (I characterize it as anti-consumer. The Vision Care industry characterizes it as pro-consumer). They dropped the lawsuit in 2016, probably because Johnson and Johnson discontinued the practice: &lt;a href=&quot;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;www.law360.com&amp;#x2F;articles&amp;#x2F;800034&amp;#x2F;costco-drops-antitrust-suit-against-j-j-over-contact-lenses&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;www.law360.com&amp;#x2F;articles&amp;#x2F;800034&amp;#x2F;costco-drops-antitrus...&lt;/a&gt;&lt;p&gt;Costco did support a different lawsuit by state of Utah against Contact Lens Manufacturers. The Manufacturers lost their first appeal in December 2016: &lt;a href=&quot;http:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;www.sltrib.com&amp;#x2F;news&amp;#x2F;4731439-155&amp;#x2F;contact-lens-makers-lose-one-in&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;http:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;www.sltrib.com&amp;#x2F;news&amp;#x2F;4731439-155&amp;#x2F;contact-lens-makers-l...&lt;/a&gt;&lt;p&gt;Hopefully this will begin reducing the prices of contact lenses. Kudos to Costco for sticking up for its customers.&lt;p&gt;Here is one manufacturer&amp;#x27;s opinion on this matter: &lt;a href=&quot;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;www.alcon.com&amp;#x2F;content&amp;#x2F;unilateral-pricing-policy&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;www.alcon.com&amp;#x2F;content&amp;#x2F;unilateral-pricing-policy&lt;/a&gt;</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>deadowl</author><text>Vermont gas distributors have the highest profit margins in the nation. The gasoline oligopoly here is committed to creating high barriers to entry. This includes buying their competitors just to remove the tanks on premise.&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;www.sevendaysvt.com&amp;#x2F;OffMessage&amp;#x2F;archives&amp;#x2F;2015&amp;#x2F;06&amp;#x2F;22&amp;#x2F;lawsuit-alleges-price-fixing-by-vermont-gasoline-companies&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;http:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;www.sevendaysvt.com&amp;#x2F;OffMessage&amp;#x2F;archives&amp;#x2F;2015&amp;#x2F;06&amp;#x2F;22&amp;#x2F;la...&lt;/a&gt;&lt;p&gt;Costco decided they were going to distribute gasoline at its Colchester, VT location. They spent years in court battles with Skip Vallee, owner of R.L. Vallee, Inc., eventually went up to the Vermont Supreme Court, which handed out a decision last year that Costco is permitted to build a gas station.&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;www.sevendaysvt.com&amp;#x2F;OffMessage&amp;#x2F;archives&amp;#x2F;2016&amp;#x2F;08&amp;#x2F;05&amp;#x2F;vermont-supreme-court-approves-costco-gas-pumps-rejects-vallee-appeal&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;http:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;www.sevendaysvt.com&amp;#x2F;OffMessage&amp;#x2F;archives&amp;#x2F;2016&amp;#x2F;08&amp;#x2F;05&amp;#x2F;ve...&lt;/a&gt;</text></comment>
<story><title>A lawsuit over Costco golf balls</title><url>https://qz.com/942785/lawsuit-over-popular-lower-priced-costco-golf-balls-shows-why-americans-cant-have-nice-things-cheap/</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>aluminussoma</author><text>Costco sued J&amp;amp;J Vision Care a few years ago over anti-consumer behavior in the contact lenses industry (I characterize it as anti-consumer. The Vision Care industry characterizes it as pro-consumer). They dropped the lawsuit in 2016, probably because Johnson and Johnson discontinued the practice: &lt;a href=&quot;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;www.law360.com&amp;#x2F;articles&amp;#x2F;800034&amp;#x2F;costco-drops-antitrust-suit-against-j-j-over-contact-lenses&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;www.law360.com&amp;#x2F;articles&amp;#x2F;800034&amp;#x2F;costco-drops-antitrus...&lt;/a&gt;&lt;p&gt;Costco did support a different lawsuit by state of Utah against Contact Lens Manufacturers. The Manufacturers lost their first appeal in December 2016: &lt;a href=&quot;http:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;www.sltrib.com&amp;#x2F;news&amp;#x2F;4731439-155&amp;#x2F;contact-lens-makers-lose-one-in&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;http:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;www.sltrib.com&amp;#x2F;news&amp;#x2F;4731439-155&amp;#x2F;contact-lens-makers-l...&lt;/a&gt;&lt;p&gt;Hopefully this will begin reducing the prices of contact lenses. Kudos to Costco for sticking up for its customers.&lt;p&gt;Here is one manufacturer&amp;#x27;s opinion on this matter: &lt;a href=&quot;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;www.alcon.com&amp;#x2F;content&amp;#x2F;unilateral-pricing-policy&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;www.alcon.com&amp;#x2F;content&amp;#x2F;unilateral-pricing-policy&lt;/a&gt;</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>eddieroger</author><text>I always hear stories about Costco being great to their employees, but now seeing that they&amp;#x27;re so pro-consumer as well makes me feel even better about shopping there pretty regularly. I&amp;#x27;m not even their target market, but it&amp;#x27;s one of my favorite stores.</text></comment>