SamsClub is a membership-only warehouse club owned and operated by Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.
Contents
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* 1 History
* 2 Design
* 3 Payment Options
* 4 See also
* 5 References
* 6 External links
[edit] History
The first SamsClub opened in April 1983 in Midwest City, Oklahoma in the United States.[1]
SamsClub is named after the founder of Wal-Mart, Sam Walton. To purchase items from SamsClub, one must purchase a membership. Many SamsClub 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 SamsClubs.
Membership is required to purchase at SamsClub; however, a one time day pass may be obtained from SamsClub.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 SamsClub store; its largest is located in Utica, Michigan, with over 145,000 sq. ft. of retail space.
SamsClub 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, SamsClub 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
A SamsClub store in Maplewood, MO, a suburb of St. Louis.
A SamsClub store in Maplewood, MO, a suburb of St. Louis.
Like other warehouse clubs, most merchandise sold at SamsClub 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 SamsClubs in the United States. Each club averages 128,000 square feet (3 acres) (12,000 m²) (1.2 ha). The SamsClub 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. SamsClub markets items under the private labels Member's Mark, Bakers & Chefs, and SamsClub.
[edit] Payment Options
Until recently, SamsClub only accepted cash, PIN-based debit cards, the Wal-Mart Credit Card, SamsClub Credit Card, or Discover Card (SamsClub and Wal-Mart both also offer a Discover Card). Despite several tests over the years, SamsClub 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, SamsClub began accepting MasterCard credit and signature debit cards. SamsClub also allows members to pay by using Visa signature debit cards (no PIN necessary); however, SamsClub has accepted these cards for quite some time. It is not known if rival Costco will follow suit.
