After six years since its last opening, Sam’s Club is planning its biggest expansion yet.
According to CNBC, the Walmart-owned warehouse brand announced today its plans to open 30 clubs nationwide over the next five years, and more in the two years afterward.
The company is planning to start this expansion with an opening in Florida in 2024. Five new fulfillment and distribution centers are planned for this year, with the first opening in Georgia.
The news came after the company’s success over the last couple of years with strong gains in sales and an all-time high in memberships. Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, Sam’s Club has gained more customers with shoppers buying household items in bulk and low gas prices for its members.
The company’s CEO Kath McLay believes this is the perfect time to keep up the momentum and open more locations. The warehouse club will be opening up in high-growth suburban areas filling the spaces in the country where the club has few or no stores. Each club will also allow for more employment opportunities for residents in the area as each club employs about 150 to 175 people.
Sam’s Club is going big with the expansion with every store being about 160,000 square feet, which will allow for extra space to provide customers with a sushi island, a full-service floral area and a larger waiting area for hearing and optical appointments. The new locations will also create more space for online options such as curbside pickup and larger coolers to prepare for delivery orders.
The last expansion of the warehouse club happened in the 2010s, when Sam’s Club opened five to 10 clubs per year. The most recent Sam’s Club was opened in 2017 in Hanover, Penn. The chain has about 600 stores in the U.S.
