Sam's Club is an American chain of membership-only retail
warehouse clubs owned and operated by Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., founded in 1983
and named after Wal-Mart founder Sam Walton. As of 2008, the Sam's Club chain
serves more than 47 million U.S. members.] Sam's Club ranks second in sales
volume among warehouse clubs behind Costco, despite the fact that Sam's has
more retail locations.
Its major competitors are Costco and BJ's Wholesale Club. As
of January 31, 2009, Sam's Club operated 602 membership warehouse clubs in 47
U.S. states (Oregon, Rhode Island and Vermont are the only states without a
Sam's Club), as well as Puerto Rico, Brazil, China and Mexico. Locations
typically range in size from 70,000–190,000 sq ft (6,500–18,000 m2); with an
average club size of approximately 133,000 sq ft (12,400 m2).
