Sam's Club is a membership-only warehouse club owned and operated by Wal-Mart Stores,
Inc.
At January 31, 2008, Sam's Club operated 713 membership warehouse
clubs in 48 U.S. states (Oregon and Vermont are the only states without
a Sam’s Club presence), as well as Puerto Rico and four other territories. Locations
typically range in size from 70,000 – 190,000 square feet, with an average
club size of approximately 132,000 square feet. The first Sam's Club opened
in April 1983 in Midwest City, Oklahoma in the United States.
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 from Kmart
and converted many (but not all) PACE locations into Sam's Clubs. Sam’s Club serves
more than 47 million U.S. members.
Membership is required to purchase
at Sam's Club (except for prescription drugs where federal law prohibits
sales to members only, and liquor and gasoline in some states); 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, except for optical, pharmacy, cafe,
or alcohol items where available. |
