Costco car buying program sees jump in 2020 sales
The pandemic didn’t just send Costco members flocking to stores for toilet paper, canned goods, and disinfecting wipes in 2020, but rather vehicles through the big-box chain’s car-buying program. Even as car sales as a whole took a dive, Costco members bought more than 689,000 new and used vehicles through the its auto program last year, a 12% increase over 2019 sales according to Business Insider. Costco attributes that bump to an increase in the amount of “limited-time” member-exclusive deals with brands like Audi, Chevrolet, and Volvo. All you have to do is go to the Costco auto program webpage and you can browse the available vehicles, calculate monthly payments, and read reviews. Once you provide your contact info and Costco membership number, you can go to participating dealership and you can buy or lease the vehicle with the Costco discount.
Georgia Senate race an example of how campaign spending is skyrocketing in US
According to AdImpact, Georgia Senate candidates and outside groups have spent $480 million dollars on advertising. Business Insider reports campaign spending in the United States has skyrocketed during the last decade and it continued to break records in 2020, with nine of the 10 most expensive Senate races of all time, according to OpenSecrets. The $480 million dollars spent on ad placement since election day doesn’t even factor in the other costs that go into a political campaign. For reference, political parties in Canada were capped at spending $29 million last year, according to CBC. In Georgia, only about half of the spending on ads is coming from the candidates themselves.
Research shows millennials are leaving cities and buying homes in suburbs
The study from investment management firm Cowen and Company shows among the 2,700 people Cowen surveyed, 48% of Millennials reported living in the suburbs compared with 44% in 2019. Those who reported living in cities fell to 35%, down from 38% last year. Cowen saw a similar trend among Generation Z respondents, or those aged 18-24: 49% reported living in the suburbs, up from 41% in 2019. In fact, home ownership is rising among both Gen Z and Millennials, Cowen found: 30% of 18- to 24-year-olds say they own their homes, up from 19% last year and 48% of Millennials say they’re home-owners, a 1% increase since 2019. Even more evidence of this comes from a Pew Research study from July found that showed one in five Americans moved during the pandemic or knows someone who did.