America's #2 warehouse club—69 million members, $90 billion in sales, and still chasing Costco's crown. A CrowsEye deep dive.
Sam's Club is a membership-only warehouse club chain operating as a division of Walmart Inc. (NYSE: WMT). Founded on April 7, 1983, as "Sam's Wholesale Club" in Midwest City, Oklahoma, by retail titan Sam Walton, it was his answer to the warehouse-club model pioneered by Price Club. The concept was straightforward: stack it high, sell it cheap, and charge an annual fee for the privilege of walking through the doors.
Today, Sam's Club operates approximately 600 locations across 44 U.S. states and Puerto Rico, plus 173 clubs in Mexico and 48 in China. An additional 58 locations operate in Brazil under license through the Carrefour-owned Grupo Big. The chain employs roughly 100,000 associates and serves an estimated 69 million members.
With $90.2 billion in net sales for fiscal year ending January 31, 2025, Sam's Club sits firmly as the world's second-largest warehouse club by revenue—ahead of BJ's Wholesale Club but perpetually trailing its archnemesis, Costco. It's the dependable silver medalist of bulk retail: never quite the headline act, but too massive to ignore.
Chris Nicholas serves as CEO of Sam's Club, having taken the helm after predecessor Kathryn McLay moved on. Nicholas, an Australian-born retail executive, previously held senior roles within Walmart's operations. His mandate has been clear: modernize the member experience, accelerate digital adoption, and close the perception gap with Costco.
As a division of Walmart, Sam's Club doesn't have an independent board. Ultimate governance flows up to Walmart's board of directors, chaired by Greg Penner (Sam Walton's grandson-in-law). This means Sam's Club strategic decisions are ultimately filtered through Walmart's priorities—sometimes a benefit (access to Walmart's logistics empire), sometimes a constraint (competing for capex allocation against the mothership).
Sam's Club doesn't file independent financials—its results are reported as a segment within Walmart's 10-K. But the numbers are revealing. The division has been on a steady growth trajectory, driven by comp-store sales gains and membership fee increases.
Membership fees are the profit engine. Like all warehouse clubs, the merchandise is sold at razor-thin margins (often 10–14%), with the membership fee contributing outsized profitability. Sam's Club raised its base membership from $45 to $50 in 2024, the first increase in nearly a decade—a move that followed Costco's own fee hike. The Plus tier sits at $110/year and includes perks like free shipping, pharmacy savings, and early shopping hours.
Notably, Sam's Club's operating income margins trail Costco's (~2% vs. ~3.5%), reflecting Walmart's tendency to invest more heavily in price competitiveness and digital infrastructure. The division contributes roughly 13–14% of Walmart's consolidated revenue but a smaller share of total operating profit.
Sam's Club's merchandise mix follows the classic warehouse club playbook: bulk groceries, general merchandise, electronics, home goods, pharmacy, optical, tires, and a robust fuel station network. The magic word is Member's Mark—Sam's Club's powerhouse private label brand, which has undergone a significant overhaul in recent years to compete directly with Costco's beloved Kirkland Signature.
Once a scattershot collection of store brands (Simply Right, Baker's & Chefs, Daily Chef), Sam's Club consolidated everything under the Member's Mark umbrella. The rebrand has been aggressive and, by most accounts, successful. Member's Mark now spans over 1,000 items from olive oil to patio furniture, with packaging and quality that no longer scream "generic." It's still not Kirkland—but the gap is narrowing.
Sam's Club has pushed hard on its Scan & Go app feature, letting members scan items on their phone and skip the checkout line entirely. It's arguably ahead of Costco on in-club technology. The chain has also invested in AI-powered inventory management and automated floor-scrubbing robots that double as shelf-scanning units.
The warehouse club war has exactly one meaningful rivalry. BJ's is a distant third. Here's how the two heavyweights stack up:
| Metric | Sam's Club | Costco |
|---|---|---|
| Revenue (FY2025) | $90.2B | ~$260B |
| U.S. Locations | ~600 | ~610 |
| Global Locations | ~821 | ~890 |
| Members | ~69M | ~135M cardholders |
| Base Membership | $50 | $65 |
| Premium Tier | $110 (Plus) | $130 (Executive) |
| Private Label | Member's Mark | Kirkland Signature |
| Avg. Club Size | ~134K sq ft | ~146K sq ft |
| Operating Margin | ~2% | ~3.5% |
| Scan & Go Tech | ✅ Yes | ⌠No |
| Renewal Rate | ~87% | ~93% |
The scoreboard tells a clear story: Costco wins on revenue, margins, renewal rates, and brand loyalty. Sam's Club wins on price (lower fees), technology (Scan & Go), and geographic accessibility via Walmart's infrastructure. The renewal rate gap is the most telling metric—Costco members are borderline cultish in their devotion, while Sam's Club has a churn problem it's still working to solve.
Sam's Club's geographic footprint is overwhelmingly American. The chain operates in 44 states plus Puerto Rico, conspicuously absent from Alaska, Massachusetts, Oregon, Rhode Island, Washington, and Vermont. Average club size runs about 134,000 square feet, and 41 locations offer car wash services at their fuel stations.
Outside the U.S., the biggest presence is Mexico (173 clubs), where Sam's Club benefits from Walmart's dominant position in Mexican retail. China (48 clubs) has been a growth focus area, with the warehouse club format gaining traction among China's expanding middle class. The Brazil operation (58 clubs) is legally independent, operating under license via Carrefour's Grupo Big subsidiary.
Canada was a notable failure. Sam's Club entered Ontario in 2003 with six locations, but all were shuttered by 2009—crushed between Costco's entrenched dominance and the Real Canadian Superstore's no-membership model.
The division leverages Walmart's legendary supply chain infrastructure—the largest private logistics network on Earth. This gives Sam's Club a structural cost advantage that independent warehouse clubs simply cannot match, though it also means the division doesn't operate fully autonomously.
Sam's Club inherits many of Walmart's broader controversies while generating a few of its own:
The biggest existential risk isn't a scandal—it's irrelevance. If Sam's Club can't meaningfully differentiate from Costco (or even from parent Walmart), the perennial question of "why does this division exist?" will keep surfacing in analyst calls.
Sentiment toward Sam's Club is solidly positive but rarely enthusiastic. Members appreciate the value but lack the evangelical fervor that Costco inspires. The brand occupies a curious middle ground: too corporate to be cool, too useful to abandon.
Sentiment scores are CrowsEye estimates based on aggregated review data, employee surveys, analyst reports, and media coverage analysis.
A score of 66/100 reflects a division that is financially sound, operationally competent, and strategically stuck. Sam's Club benefits enormously from Walmart's infrastructure but suffers from an identity problem: it's neither cheap enough to be the clear value play nor premium enough to command loyalty. The Scan & Go tech investment is a genuine differentiator, and the Member's Mark overhaul shows strategic awareness—but closing the gap with Costco requires more than incremental improvements.
Sam's Club enters 2026 with tailwinds and headwinds in roughly equal measure:
The bottom line: Sam's Club isn't going anywhere. Walmart won't kill a $90 billion revenue machine, and the warehouse club model has proven remarkably resilient through economic cycles. But "not going anywhere" is also the problem. Without a bolder strategic vision—whether that's aggressive international expansion, a true private-label arms race, or a meaningful tech leap—Sam's Club will remain what it's always been: a perfectly adequate second choice.
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Last Updated: March 22, 2026
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