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- Costco CFO Richard Galanti once said the company's $1.50 hot dog and soda combo was "forever."
- Now, he's leaving.
- With the 30-year veteran out, who will protect Costco's affordable dogs?
Richard Galanti, Costco's CFO of nearly 40 years, is stepping down next month, the company announced Tuesday.
By many, he'll be remembered for his fierce dedication to the $1.50 price tag on a hot dog and soda combo at the warehouse club's food court — an unreal value that has been the same since 1985.
During a 2022 earnings call, Galanti told analysts that the price of the combo will remain steady "forever."
"Lightning just struck me," he said in response to a question about the dogs during the call.
"Some businesses that are doing well with margin ... those things help us be more aggressive in other areas, or, as you mentioned, hold the price on the hot dog and the soda a little longer — forever," he said, per CNBC.
His response offered more clarity on an oft-repeated promise from the company's leaders.
In July 2022, Costco's then-CEO Craig Jelinek was asked on "Squawk on the Street" whether the price of the hot dogs would be changing.
"No," said Jelinek, who'd been at the retail giant since 1984.
"We have no plans to take that hot dog above a buck fifty. End of story," Jelinek also told shareholders in January 2020.
Costco cofounder and former CEO Jim Sinegal once famously told Jelinek: "'If you raise the [price of the] effing hot dog, I will kill you. Figure it out,'" Jelinek told local Seattle publication 425 Business in 2018.
Jelinek's gone now, too — he stepped down last year — and Sinegal's retired.
This all raises the question: Who's left to protect the price of a hot dog? And soda? At a time when it can feel nearly impossible to leave the wholesaler without dropping $300?
Costco didn't immediately respond to a request for comment from Business Insider on the future of the combo price.
Galanti will be replaced by former Kroeger Co. CFO Gary Millerchip — who we just hope knows what's important in this economy.