The end of the world didn't arrive on Sept. 23 as foretold (by some), but if you're still hedging your bets on a rescheduled apocalypse or other disaster that may put you in a bunker, you may want to stop by Costco. The Detroit Free Press reports the warehouse superstore is offering a one-year emergency food kit for $1,000, which includes shipping charges (though the Costco website says the item is currently out of stock, at least online). For that cool grand, a survival-intent consumer would get close to 100 1-gallon cans of victuals said to be able to last for a quarter-century and provide 6,200 servings of everything from wheat, rice, and milk to beef, peaches, and potatoes. "The idea came about [to make] a great starter kit for a family who wanted to prepare for any kind of disaster," Costco tells the newspaper, calling this particular kit a "great value."
Costco offers other "emergency preparedness" in bulk, with kit prices ranging from $3,300 to $6,000 for a premium package that will feed a family of four for a year. A Costco rep tells Today the chain has sold such items for about a decade, but it's making headlines now because of the Free Press article. Walmart has similar offerings, as do Amazon and retailers specializing in long-term food storage. It's not clear how many people are stocking up on such kits (Costco, for one, isn't revealing sales numbers), but a consultant tells the Free Press that, with natural disasters, terrorism, and fears of nuclear war, there's likely a solid customer base who are at least thinking about it. Who are those consumers? "Working people who fear for their lives," he says. (If the world survives the dire forecasts, you can always do what this guy did with his stockpile.)
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