Walmart opens Sam’s Club Southeast distribution center
A new supply chain hub will process deliveries for Sam’s Club stores in three Southeastern states and Puerto Rico.
Walmart is opening a 1 million-sq.-ft. distribution center in Jacksonville, Fla. that receives and processes items for delivery to 18 locations of its Sam’s Club discount warehouse club banner across Florida, Georgia and South Carolina, as well as seven stores in Puerto Rico.
Located 10 minutes from the port of Jacksonville, the facility also stores and sorts imported goods for delivery to four other Sam’s Club distribution centers across the Southeast. It will create about 250 local Jacksonville-based jobs.
"We’re proud to create a new slate of jobs in our community," said Frank Herrera, GM of the new facility. "Each position brings a pathway for opportunity at Walmart and Sam’s Club. Today’s ribbon cutting is a celebration of our commitment to our associates, our community and our future."
Sam’s Club in growth mode
Walmart is opening this new distribution center for its Sam’s Club discount warehouse club banner as it is undergoing significant expansion. Sam’s Club CEO Chris Nicholas recently said at Walmart’s investor day that it plans to remodel all of its approximately 600 locations across the country as a "strategic growth investment.
[READ MORE: Sam’s Club in big store remodeling and expansion move]
Nicholas said the company is confident in the capital returns it will see in sales and membership income. Sam's Club also is accelerating its expansion plans.
The company in January 2023 said it planned to open more than 30 new clubs across the United States during the next several years, but it now expects to build a pipeline to 15 new clubs every year after that for the foreseeable future, expanding its physical reach.
Nicholas said that Sam's Club is looking to double membership over the next eight-10 years. Current membership is at an all-time high, with membership income up 22% over the last two years. Gen Z and millennial members make up more than half of new members.
Headquartered in Bentonville, Ark., Walmart Inc. operates more than 10,750 stores and numerous e-commerce websites in 19 countries. Sam’s Club is a subsidiary of Walmart Inc. and operates nearly 600 clubs in the U.S. and Puerto Rico.
