Pace Membership Warehouse
| File:Sams Club Logo 2020.svg Logo used since 2020 | |
| Company type | Subsidiary |
|---|---|
| Industry | Retail (warehouse club) |
| Founded | April 7, 1983 in Midwest City, Oklahoma, United States |
| Founder | Sam Walton |
| Headquarters | Bentonville, Arkansas , United States |
Area served | United States, Mexico, China, Brazil (licensed) |
Key people | Christopher Nicholas (CEO) |
| Products | Bulk groceries, electronics, clothing, jewelry, pharmacy, tire and battery services, bakery, optical centers, cafés, floral |
| Owner | Walmart Inc. |
Number of employees | Not specified |
| Website | www |
Sam's West, Inc. operates under the trade name Sam's Club as a subsidiary of Walmart, managing a network of membership-exclusive warehouse club retail outlets. Established in 1983 originally as Sam's Wholesale Club and named in honor of Walmart’s founder Sam Walton, it holds the position of the second-largest warehouse club by sales, generating $90.2 billion in 2025. This places it ahead of BJ's Wholesale Club but behind Costco.
By May 2025, Sam's Club maintained 600 locations throughout 44 U.S. states and Puerto Rico, with the exceptions of Alaska, Massachusetts, Oregon, Rhode Island, Washington State, and Vermont. Additionally, 41 clubs offer car wash facilities at their fuel stations.
Globally, Sam’s Club operates 173 branches in Mexico and 48 in China. In Brazil, the Sam’s Club brand is licensed to Grupo Big (previously Walmart Brazil and now part of Carrefour) for operation of 58 stores. Store sizes range from 32,000 to 168,000 square feet, with an average footprint around 134,000 square feet. The company formerly ran six Canadian stores from 2003 until their closure in 2009.
History
Sam Walton inaugurated the first Sam's Wholesale Club on April 7, 1983, located in Midwest City, Oklahoma, two decades after he founded Walmart.
In 1987, Walmart expanded its warehouse club presence by acquiring SuperSaver Wholesale Warehouse Club based in West Monroe, Louisiana, adding 24 locations previously managed by Alton Hardy Howard and his son John.
The chain’s initial entry into the Northeast occurred in 1989 with a new store in Delran Township, New Jersey, marking Walmart’s regional expansion. The following year, the brand was simplified to Sam’s Club and extended into Pennsylvania.
Walmart further grew its warehouse club division in 1993 by purchasing PACE Membership Warehouse from Kmart, converting most PACE outlets into Sam’s Club stores.
Sam’s Club ventured into the Canadian market in 2003 with locations mainly concentrated in the Greater Toronto Area. However, by 2009 Walmart Canada closed all six Canadian Sam’s Club stores to concentrate on its supercentre format amid strong competition from Costco and established local retailers.
The largest Sam’s Club facility is situated in Pineville, North Carolina, offering expansive retail space. The newest flagship location debuted in Fayetteville, Arkansas, in 2007. In 2006, Sam’s Club introduced a refreshed logo featuring a serif typeface.
Starting in April 2007, discussions surfaced regarding potential divestiture or separation of Sam’s Club from Walmart.
January 2010 saw the closure of ten stores—including four in California—while six new clubs opened across the U.S. On January 24 that year, approximately 11,200 employees were laid off primarily due to outsourcing product sampling tasks and eliminating New Business Membership Representative positions.
Rosalind Brewer took over as CEO on February 1, 2012, becoming the first woman to lead the company. In January 2014, Walmart eliminated around 2,300 jobs at underperforming Sam’s Club sites.
In 2016, Sam’s Club introduced a mobile application that allowed customers to scan items and pay directly during shopping visits to bypass checkout lines. This app was rolled out nationwide by December and later merged into the primary Sam’s Club app by 2019.
John Furner succeeded Brewer as CEO on February 1, 2017. On January 11, 2018, Walmart announced plans to shutter 63 Sam’s Club stores across various locations affecting over 11,000 workers; ten of these were repurposed as e-commerce fulfillment centers. Concurrently, Walmart declared wage increases and bonuses following the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017.
Kathryn McLay became CEO on November 15, 2019. In 2023 she revealed intentions to establish approximately thirty new clubs within five years before transitioning to lead Walmart International; Christopher Nicholas then assumed leadership as Sam’s Club CEO.
By January 2024, Sam’s Club had implemented AI-driven receipt verification technology at ten stores requiring customers to pass through a checkpoint for purchase validation. The company aims for full deployment across all U.S. locations by the end of that year.
In April 2025, Sam’s Club confirmed it would extend its AI-powered receipt verification system to all its 600 U.S. outlets nationwide.
Design
Similar to other warehouse-style retailers, Sam's Club primarily offers products in bulk quantities, often displayed directly on pallets. The stores resemble warehouse environments, with merchandise stored in metal bins. The product range includes items such as jewelry, high-end brands, electronics, clothing, food products, meats, and collectibles. Many locations also house departments like Pharmacy, Tire and Battery services, Bakery, Optical centers, Cafés, and Floral sections; however, Photo services were mostly phased out by the end of 2019.
Beginning in 2017, Sam's Club unified its private label products under the Member's Mark brand to distinguish itself from Walmart's Sam's Choice and Great Value labels.
Other retail formats
In August 2009, Sam's Club launched Más Club in Houston aimed at the Hispanic demographic with a distinct membership model; this initiative was discontinued by February 2014 following liquidation.
October 2018 saw the debut of Sam's Club Now in Dallas—a "mobile-first" retail concept where shoppers use a dedicated app to scan and pay for goods and have the option to order in advance for same-day curbside pickup. This innovation was designed to improve shopping convenience and compete with cashier-free store models.
Controversy / Incidents
In March 2020, a stabbing incident occurred at a Sam's Club in Midland, Texas, injuring three members of an Asian family, including two children. The 19-year-old assailant reportedly attributed blame to the Chinese community for the COVID-19 pandemic.
In December 2021, Sam's Club removed several products originating from Xinjiang, citing supply chain issues. This action was condemned by China's Central Commission for Discipline Inspection as "malicious," accompanied by warnings of repercussions. The decision provoked public criticism and resulted in membership cancellations among Chinese customers.
See also
External links
- Articles with short description
- Pages with broken file links
- 1983 establishments in Oklahoma
- American companies established in 1983
- American corporate subsidiaries
- Bentonville, Arkansas
- Companies based in Arkansas
- Defunct retail companies of Canada
- Defunct supermarkets of Canada
- Discount stores of the United States
- Multinational companies headquartered in the United States
- Online retailers of the United States
- Retail companies established in 1983
- Supermarkets of Mexico
- Supermarkets of the United States
- Walmart
- Warehouse clubs
- American companies disestablished in 1993