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Sam's Club
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Sam's Club | |
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| Type | Subsidiary of Wal-Mart |
| 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 |
| Slogan | Enjoy The Possibilities(2007 Holiday Slogan) |
| 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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The first Sam's Club opened in April 1983 in Midwest City, Oklahoma in the United States.[1]
Sam's Club is named after 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 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. However the surcharge can be applied to a membership (which is currently $35 for Business members, $40 for Advantage members, and $100 for the Plus membership). All memberships are 100% refundable at any time for any reason, even on the date that it is to be renewed.
Renewal of memberships can be done via online, through the mail, in-club at the Membership Services desk, any cash register, and also at the new ATM/Membership kiosks (the latter only available in select locations).
The latest flagship store opening as of September 13, 2007 was in Fayetteville, 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 Wholesale, despite the fact that Sam's has more retail locations.[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, similar in concept to Sam's Club, although with a smaller footprint.
In September 24, 2006, Sam's Club received a new logo. The new logo has a nice font and features a green and blue diamond inside the big blue diamond, found above the word 'Sam's'.[neutrality disputed]
Sam's Club's previous slogan was "We Are In Business For Small Business" until 2006, Sam's Club now has no slogan after the redesign of the new logo. The decision to remove the slogan comes as Sam's Club attempts to remove itself from serving just small businesses and open up to more individual customers. It is possible that the new slogan is "Enjoy the Possibilities" but it's probably used for Christmas.
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 over 580 Sam's Clubs in the United States. Products sold include jewelry, designer goods, sunglasses, crystal and collectibles, electronics, floral, apparel, food and meats. Most locations have Pharmacy, Tire and Battery, Photo, Bakery, Optical, Café and Floral departments. Sam's Club markets items under the private labels Member's Mark, Bakers & Chefs, and Sam's Club. It does not sell the Sam's Choice or Great Value brands, which are available in Wal-Mart stores.
Today, Sam’s Club has more than 47 million U.S. Members and operates more than 580 Clubs nationwide, as well as more than 100 international locations in Brazil, Canada, China, Mexico and Puerto Rico.
A typical Sam’s Club stands between 110,000 and 130,000 square feet. The Sam's Club division of Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. had total sales revenue of US$37.1 billion for fiscal year ending 31 January 2005. Sam's primary competitor is Costco Wholesale, and many Sam's warehouses closely emulate the design and product selection found at Costco.
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, some Sam's Clubs 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 9 November 2006, Sam's Club began accepting MasterCard credit and signature debit cards. Some Sam's Clubs 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 whether rival Costco will follow suit.
There has been much recent talk about a possible sale or spinoff of Sam's Club from parent company Wal-Mart. If this were to happen, Sam's Club would either be owned by another company, or be an independent standalone retailer. Two recent Motley Fool articles explore the implications for both divisions. [3] [4] At Wal-Mart's 2007 annual shareholder's meeting, management said that Sam's Club is not for sale, although they didn't say they are not considering a spinoff. [5]
 The original Sam's Club logo used until 2001. |
 The second Sam's Club logo used from 2001-2006. |
The current Sam's Club logo used from 2006-present. |
- Costco - Competitor
- BJ's Wholesale Club - Competitor
- ^ http://www.walmartstores.com/GlobalWMStoresWeb/navigate.do?catg=306
- ^ http://www.hoovers.com/costco-wholesale/--ID__17060--/free-co-factsheet.xhtml
- ^ http://www.fool.com/investing/value/2007/05/07/spinoff-in-bentonville-revisited.aspx
- ^ http://www.fool.com/investing/value/2007/04/17/a-spinoff-in-bentonville.aspx?vstest=search_042607_linkdefault
- ^ http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/bus/stories/060207dnbuswalmart.36d6e74.html
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| Key People: | Sam Walton · David Glass · Lee Scott · Jim C. Walton · Bud Walton · S. Robson Walton · Douglas Daft |
| Assets: | Amigo Supermarkets · ASDA · Sam's Club · Wal-Mart Discount Stores · Wal-Mart Neighborhood Market · Wal-Mart Supercenter · Walmex |
| See Also: | Criticism of Wal-Mart · History of Wal-Mart · List of assets owned by Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. · List of Wal-Mart articles · List of Wal-Mart brands |
Annual Revenue: $288 billion USD ( 10% FY 2005) · Employees: 1.8 million · Stock Symbol: NYSE: WMT · Website: www.walmartstores.com |
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