he also is the guy who ran the division that inspired the whole thing.

He really is the perfect guy. And so listeners, you might be realizing now when we were saying at the top of the episode, this really is kind of all one company story. It really is. There is a straight line through from Fedco to FedMart, or let's even just start it at FedMart since it's all the same people through to Costco today.

So Jim moves up to Seattle. He and the Brautmans raise 7 and a half million dollars to get going.

Yep. They sell 50% of the company to do that. They recruit eight people immediately, mostly from FedMart, some from Price Club, and they're all sort of forties and fifties. This is like a gang of ten, twelve people who have all worked together before.