Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ: COST) and Target (NYSE: TGT) are two large, successful retailers. While both have remained open during the coronavirus pandemic, the two operate very different businesses.
Costco runs membership-only warehouses, providing low prices on a wide range of merchandise, but with a limited selection of brand-name and private-label products. You have to buy items in bulk, but it offers competitive prices by keeping costs down through large-scale purchases and its no-frills, self-service warehouses.
On the other hand, Target sells everyday products and fashionable, differentiated goods. The company generated approximately two-thirds of its sales from brand-name merchandise and the rest from its own brands or those with which Target has an exclusive relationship.
Source Fool.com