Sam's Club
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Sam's Club | |
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| Type | Subsidiary of Wal-Mart |
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| Founded | 1983 (Midwest City, Oklahoma) |
| Headquarters | Bentonville, Arkansas |
| Industry | Retail (Warehouse Club) |
| Products | Produce, meat, seafood, fresh baked goods, flowers, clothing, books, software, home electronics, clothing jewelry, art, optical and furniture |
| Website | http://www.samsclub.com |
Sam's Club is a membership-only warehouse club owned and operated by Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.
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[edit] History
The first Sam's Club opened in April 1983 in Midwest City, Oklahoma in the United States.[1]
Sam's Club is named after the founder of Wal-Mart, Sam Walton. To purchase items from Sam's Club, one must purchase a membership. Many Sam's Club customers are small businesses that wish to offer customers a limited selection of food without the expense of having it delivered.
In 1993, Wal-Mart acquired PACE Membership Warehouse and converted many (but not all) PACE locations into Sam's Clubs.
Membership is required to purchase at Sam's Club; however, a one time day pass may be obtained from Sam's Club.com or many Wal-Mart newspaper ads. A 10% surcharge is added to the prices for non-members. No membership (with no surcharge) is required for Optical, Pharmacy, or Cafe (as available per club), or to purchase alcohol.
The latest flagship store opening as of September 28, 2006 was in Bentonville, Arkansas. It is the second largest Sam's Club store; its largest is located in Utica, Michigan, with over 145,000 sq. ft. of retail space.
Sam's Club ranks second in sales volume among warehouse clubs, behind Costco.[2]
After Costco's announcement on its change of return policy for consumer electronics (now within 90 days) beginning on February 26, 2007, Sam's Club finds itself now to be tied with Nordstrom for having best, most liberal return/refund policy in the retail business.[citation needed]
In 2006, Wal-Mart acquired The Central American Retail Holding Company (CARHO), which operates "ClubCo" stores in Latin America. These stores are very similar to Sam's.
[edit] Design
Like other warehouse clubs, most merchandise sold at Sam's Club is sold in bulk and directly off pallets. Clubs are arranged much like a warehouse, with merchandise stocked in warehouse-style steel bins. There are currently 551 Sam's Clubs in the United States. Each club averages 128,000 square feet (3 acres) (12,000 m²) (1.2 ha). The Sam's Club division of Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. had total sales revenue of USD$37.1 billion for fiscal year ending January 31, 2005. There are also clubs operated internationally under the International Division of Wal-Mart Stores in Brazil, Canada, China, Mexico, and Puerto Rico. Their current primary competitor is Costco. Sam's Club markets items under the private labels Member's Mark, Bakers & Chefs, and Sam's Club.
[edit] Payment Options
Until recently, Sam's Club only accepted cash, PIN-based debit cards, the Wal-Mart Credit Card, Sam's Club Credit Card, or Discover Card (Sam's Club and Wal-Mart both also offer a Discover Card). Despite several tests over the years, Sam's Club did not accept Visa or MasterCard because of high processing fees. Likewise, Sam's does not accept American Express, likely due to the fact that rival Costco has an exclusive acceptance agreement with American Express. However, on November 9th, 2006, Sam's Club began accepting MasterCard credit and signature debit cards. Sam's Club also allows members to pay by using Visa signature debit cards (no PIN necessary); however, Sam's Club has accepted these cards for quite some time. It is not known if rival Costco will follow suit.
[edit] See also
- Costco - Competitor
- BJ's Wholesale Club - Competitor
[edit] References
[edit] External links
| Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. |
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Key People: Sam Walton | David Glass | Lee Scott | Jim C. Walton | Bud Walton | S. Robson Walton | Douglas Daft |
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Assets: Amigo Supermarkets | ASDA | Sam's Club | Wal-Mart Discount Stores | Wal-Mart Neighborhood Market | Wal-Mart Supercenter | Walmex |
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Annual Revenue: $288 billion USD ( |
