The State With The Most Sam's Club Locations
The warehouse club industry has become big business around the world. Though the rise of the ubiquitous Costco is generally attributed to the birth of bulk buying, Costco is actually one of a long line of warehouse wholesalers. Britannica reports that the goal of Costco was to emulate the success of the Price Club, which was a warehouse retailer out of San Diego. Then there's the second major warehouse retailer, Sam's Club, which was started by Walmart founder Sam Walton and helped put wholesaler clubs on the map.
Sam's Club opened just scant months prior to the launch of the first Costco, and while the two companies have many similarities in shopping experiences, they actually couldn't be more different. According to a 2014 HuffPost article, Sam's Club seeks consumers who are sensitive to price, whereas Costco seeks out shoppers who are more affluent. The outlet goes on to say that Costco's signature brand, Kirkland, is a highly desired one, while Sam's Club is yet to have one.
One need only look at how the two stores are distributed to notice that each one is seeking out a different demographic. While Costco has the most outlets in California, an area notorious for the wealthy, Sam's Club has significantly more stores in states where the lower and middle class reside, and more average shoppers abound.
Sam's Club loves the south
The state that wins the award for most Sam's Club locations is the second largest in the union, Texas. The land of cattle, big hats, and white Cadillac convertibles prefers to do its shopping at Sam's. There are a whopping 82 Sam's Club locations (via Scrape Hero) throughout the 268,596 square miles that the United States Census Bureau says Texas has. Florida has the second most Sam's Clubs, at 46. By comparison, Costco only operates a scant 36 stores down in the Lone Star State, according to the company's website, though it does have 30 in Florida.
It's unclear exactly why Sam's Club seems to thrive in Texas while Costco can't seem to gain the same foothold. Nearly everywhere else, Costco tends to beat Sam's Club soundly. Investopedia says that Costco generates approximately three times the revenue of Sam's Club, and is opening more stores while Sam's Club is shutting many down.
Back in 2018, there were reports of multiple Sam's Clubs disappearing across the country and financial experts suggested it was due to the company's focus on the middle to lower class. The Motley Fool reported that these groups were less likely to spend their money in a tanking economy, however, Sam's Club did just report its highest membership count ever.