{
  "id": "sams-club",
  "title": "Sam's Club",
  "lang": "en",
  "source_lang": "en",
  "summary": "Walmart-owned American membership-only warehouse club chain, founded in 1983, with operations in Mexico, China and Brazil.",
  "category": "economics",
  "subcategory": "business",
  "type": "organization",
  "aliases": [
    "Sam's Wholesale Club",
    "Sam's West, Inc.",
    "山姆会员商店"
  ],
  "generated_at": "2026-10-16",
  "model": "pro/claude-haiku-5-5",
  "url": "https://aiwiki.page/en/sams-club/",
  "translations": {
    "zh-Hans": {
      "url": "https://aiwiki.page/zh/sams-club/",
      "json": "https://aiwiki.page/zh/sams-club.json"
    }
  },
  "sections": [
    {
      "heading": "",
      "text": "Sam's Club is a chain of membership-only warehouse clubs owned by Walmart and run through Sam's West, Inc., based in Bentonville, Arkansas. Shoppers pay an annual fee to buy in its stores, which sell groceries, household goods, electronics and other merchandise in bulk at low margins. In the United States it is one of the largest players in the warehouse club format, competing mainly with Costco and BJ's Wholesale Club."
    },
    {
      "heading": "History",
      "text": "The company was founded in 1983 as Sam's Wholesale Club and was named after Sam Walton, the founder of Walmart. Its first store opened in April 1983 in Midwest City, Oklahoma. The chain was renamed Sam's Club in 1990. In 1987 it bought the SuperSaver Wholesale Warehouse Club chain, which added 24 locations, and in 1989 it entered New Jersey, its first expansion into the Northeast.\n\nThe format was partly a complement to Walmart's small-town discount-store strategy. Its warehouse stores were designed for urban markets, giving Walmart access to customers it did not otherwise reach. Walton is generally reported to have modeled the clubs on the chain founded by Sol Price, whose Price Club he visited in the early 1980s. Sam's Club entered the warehouse market in the mid-1980s, and by the 2000s it had become one of three dominant warehouse operators in the United States alongside Costco and BJ's."
    },
    {
      "heading": "Business model",
      "text": "Sam's Club follows the warehouse-club model. Stores are large, typically located in low-cost leased buildings, and carry a limited range of stock-keeping units in bulk sizes. Prices are kept close to wholesale cost, so much of the profit depends on membership fees rather than on mark-ups. Members can buy as individuals or through business accounts, and small businesses such as restaurants and offices are an important customer group.\n\nThe chain also sells its own private-label products, including the Member's Mark brand, and offers services such as fuel, pharmacy, optical care and travel. Its online business has grown alongside the stores, with e-commerce orders and curbside pickup and delivery now a substantial share of sales in several markets."
    },
    {
      "heading": "Membership tiers and fees",
      "text": "Sam's Club has two standard tiers, Club and Plus. Plus carries extra benefits such as cash rewards, early shopping hours and shipping perks. In April 2026 the company announced an increase in annual fees, effective May 1, 2026, raising the standard Club fee from 50 to 60 dollars and the Plus fee from 110 to 120 dollars. It was the first increase since October 2022. Costco's basic and higher-tier fees remain higher than Sam's Club's new rates, while BJ's fees match them. Existing members pay the new fee at renewal, so the change reaches different members at different times."
    },
    {
      "heading": "Market position",
      "text": "By sales volume, Sam's Club ranked second among American warehouse clubs in the fiscal year ending January 2025, with about 90.2 billion dollars, behind Costco. The U.S. network comprises roughly 600 locations, including stores in Puerto Rico. Sam's Club is one of the largest private employers within the Walmart group, with more than 100,000 employees.\n\nCompetition in the sector concerns market power and the economics of bulk retailing. The model relies on economies of scale, which allow low prices but also require high sales volumes and stable membership renewal to cover fixed costs."
    },
    {
      "heading": "International operations",
      "text": "Sam's Club operates in Mexico, where it has the largest number of international locations, and in China. In Brazil, the Carrefour-linked Grupo Big operates Sam's Club stores under licence after Walmart deconsolidated its Brazilian business in 2018.\n\nIn China, the chain entered in 1996 with a store in Shenzhen. Its expansion was slow for about two decades, then accelerated after 2016. As of mid-2026 Walmart reported 67 Sam's Club units in China, and about 69 by August 2026 according to some reports. China's paid membership reportedly exceeded 10.7 million, and its 2025 sales exceeded 140 billion yuan, with online channels accounting for more than half. Stores are concentrated in first-tier cities such as Shanghai, Beijing and Guangzhou, and the company has been opening stores in smaller cities and using \"cloud warehouses\" for delivery in areas without physical stores. Sam's Club China is widely seen as a case of the warehouse format adapting to urban online retail, with the chain's membership system and product selection differing from those of its U.S. parent."
    },
    {
      "heading": "Limitations and criticism",
      "text": "The warehouse model has several structural limits. Limited product assortment and large pack sizes may not suit small households. Membership fees make profits sensitive to renewal rates, and customers who do not renew lose both fee income and the frequent shopping that supports sales. Expansion into dense urban areas also requires large sites, which are costly and difficult to secure. Some observers argue that the chain's growth depends on the strength of the Walmart brand and its logistics network, which are hard for smaller competitors to match."
    }
  ],
  "links": [
    "e-commerce",
    "market-power",
    "economies-of-scale",
    "shenzhen",
    "shanghai",
    "beijing"
  ],
  "sources": [
    {
      "title": "Sam's Club",
      "url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sam's_Club"
    },
    {
      "title": "History of Sam's Club",
      "url": "https://www.fundinguniverse.com/company-histories/sam-s-club-history/"
    },
    {
      "title": "Sam's Club — Company History",
      "url": "https://www.company-histories.com/Sams-Club-Company-History.html"
    },
    {
      "title": "Walmart-owned Sam's Club raises its annual membership fee to $60",
      "url": "https://www.cnbc.com/2026/04/01/sam.html"
    },
    {
      "title": "Sam's Club Membership Costs: Club vs. Plus Pricing for 2026",
      "url": "https://membershipcosts.com/sams-club/"
    },
    {
      "title": "Walmart in China",
      "url": "https://corporate.walmart.com/about/international/markets/china"
    },
    {
      "title": "Sam's Club China（the China division of Sam's Club）_Baiduwiki",
      "url": "https://baike.baidu.com/en/item/Sam's%20Club%20China/2698318"
    },
    {
      "title": "Sam's Club Accelerates Downward Expansion in China After Surpassing 10 Million Members: Cloud Warehouses First, Community Stores Fill Gaps — Walmart China Advances on Three Fronts — BigGo Finance",
      "url": "https://finance.biggo.com/news/b41cf4e3-1fb5-4315-b95d-d817391da50b"
    },
    {
      "title": "The Major Grocery Chain That Actually Owns Sam's Club - Tasting Table",
      "url": "https://www.tastingtable.com/1988937/who-owns-sams-club-walmart/"
    }
  ],
  "license": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"
}