Sam’s West Inc., operates as Sam’s Club. It is owned by Walmart and it is a “membership-only retail warehouse club” an American chain of warehouse clubs set up in the year 1983. It gets its name from Sam Walton, the founder of Walmart.
Sam’s warehouse club
Costco Wholesale and BJ’s Wholesale Club are the two main competitors of Sam’s Club. Sam’s club owned by Walmart has as many as 599 membership warehouse clubs spread across 44 states in the United States. Those states where you will not find the chain operating include Alaska, Massachusetts, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington, and also the District of Columbia. In Mexico, you will find the outlet in as many as 164 locations. It has 31 outlets in China.
In 2018, it declared that it will be closing down select stores permanently. On several instances, workers reached their stores only to find that there was a notice that said the stores would be liquidated, and as such many were also liquidated across the country, as in Texas, New York, Ohio, Illinois, California, Alaska, and Arizona.
At Sam’s club
As an entrepreneur, your expenses might skyrocket when you have to shell out money for accounting services, working out inventory, however, with Sam’s Club Membership, you can heave a sigh of relief.
At Sam’s warehouse, you get products of high quality at reasonable rates. At this store, you will find just about anything that you would require for your daily use at the office. Not just that, kitchen supplies, groceries, electronic goods, furniture, and more.
There are times when you can get Sam’s Club Membership at a reduced rate when there are freebies and discounts on offer.
Sam’s Wholesale Club Design
Just like any other warehouse club, Sam’s Club sells bulk merchandise. You will find that these clubs are arranged in a series as warehouses and there are steel bins where stuff is stored. The private labels that are sold at Sam’s Club include the likes of Richelieu Foods (this is a private manufacturer of condiments, marinades, sauces, salad dressing, deli salads, and frozen pizza), Daily Chef, Bakers & Chefs, Simply Right, and Member’s mark, and Sam’s Club.
Products sold at the warehouse include-
- Sunglasses
- Designer goods
- Jewelry
- Electronics
- Crystal
- Collectibles
- Floral
- Food
- Meats
- Apparel
- Tire
- Battery
- Pharmacy
- Café
- Floral departments
Sam’s Business center
It was in August 2008 that Sam’s Club opened its first Business Center in Houston, Texas. There is a lot of similarity in Sam’s Business Center with that of Costco’s Business Center.
However, in the year 2010, Sam’s announced that it would be shutting down the Business Center and also 9 clubs across several locations in the United States.
There is constant competition between bulk retailers, and the noticeable among them being Costco Wholesale and Sam’s Club.
Costco versus Sam’s Club
There is so much competition among the retailers that each one strives hard to offer the best to its customers so that it can draw the maximum crowd.
Both offer reduced prices for every item even if it toilet paper. You get to enjoy the benefit if it is sold in bulk.
Over the years, the bulk retailers have added more products to their product portfolio. Eventually, stuff like electronics and vacation plans, and vehicles were also added.
The two bulk retailers earn profits and generate revenues mainly from the sale of merchandise and sale of products, and not to forget the membership fees that customers shell out.
Similarities between Sam’s Club and Costco Wholesale
Let us find out the similarities and differences between the two-
- Both have the same business models along which lines they operate
- Costco is publicly traded but Sam’s Club is Walmart’s subsidiary
- Under the Costco banner, there are more stores across the globe. But Sam’s Club has stores in the United States
- Membership fees of Costco are higher although the price of the products are less
- As far as the size of the stores is concerned, in terms of square foot, Costco’s stores are 10% times bigger on average square footage as compared to Sam’s Club.
Sam’s Club and Covid-19
With the pandemic supreme, more and more customers are turning to online shopping.
According to Lance de la Rosa, the Chief Operating Officer and Executive VP, Sam’s Club: “It has been inspiring to see what they’re doing to take care of each other and the stores they work in, and how they just go in and do every day on behalf of their members and others in the community”.
The CEO also stated that due to the pandemic, it was observed that most of the customers have changed their preferences for shopping, not just in terms of preferring online shopping but also the type of products that they are ordering and looking for.
If Sam’s Club can identify the new essence of shopping from customers during the pandemic, it will enable them to equip themselves better to offer the best and also customize the requirements of the clients.
Conclusion
Consumers have stayed indoors for months at a stretch. So, when they emerge again, they would require assurance that they will be safe in the store premises. So, Sam’s Club is taking every step and making all efforts to fulfill the same and live up to the expectations of the consumers during these trying times.
