Sam’s Club opens four new locations

Sam’s Club opened four new 136,000-sq.-ft. units this week expanding its base of clubs to a record 630 units.



The new clubs are located in Owasso, Okla., Fall River, Mass., and Mansfield and Corpus Christi, Texas. The latter is a relocation of a 20 year old club. These opening follow the addition of three new clubs earlier in the month in Aiken, S.C., Romeoville, Ill., and Edmond, Okla.



September was also a busy month for Sam’s with the opening on two new clubs in Harker Heights, Texas and New Rock Hill, S.C., and the relocation of clubs in Houston and Anchorage to new locations.



The October and September openings wind down what has been a busier than normal year for Sam’s as it accelerated expansion in 2013. The estimate for total new units during the current fiscal year was pegged at a range of 19 to 21 when the company updated its expansion plans for financial analysts on October 15. That’s well above the 14 units that were added in 2012 and at the upper range of an earlier forecast which called for 12 to 20 units during 2013.



Next year promises more of the same with Sam’s indicating it will open between 17 and 22 units. The one area where there is a slight pullback involves remodeling activity as Sam’s expects to remodel between 55 and 60 clubs versus 70 this year.