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A warehouse club (or wholesale club) is a
retail Retail is the sale of goods and Service (economics), services to consumers, in contrast to wholesaling, which is sale to business or institutional customers. A retailer purchases goods in large quantities from manufacturing, manufacturers, dire ...
store, usually selling a wide variety of merchandise, in which customers may buy large, wholesale quantities of the store's products, which makes these clubs attractive to both bargain hunters and small business owners. The clubs are able to keep prices low due to the no-frills format of the stores. In addition, customers may be required to pay annual membership fees in order to shop. Membership in a warehouse club superficially resembles that in a consumers' cooperative, but lacks key elements including cooperative ownership and democratic member control. The use of members' prices without cooperative ownership is also sometimes used in bars and casinos.


History

In 1971, the
Great Atlantic and Pacific Tea Company The Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Company, better known as A&P, was an American chain of grocery stores that operated from 1859 to 2015. From 1915 through 1975, A&P was the largest grocery retailer in the United States (and, until 1965, the lar ...
(A&P) opened their very first Warehouse Economy Outlet (WEO), a warehouse format that only lasted a few years. In 1976, Sol Price (who in 1954 founded FedMart, an early US discount store) and his son Robert Price founded Price Club in
San Diego San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the eighth most populous city in the United States ...
, as their first warehouse club. In 1982, the discount pioneer
John Geisse John Francis Geisse (September 1, 1920 – February 21, 1992) was an American businessman. He founded three successful retail chains: Target Discount Stores, Venture Stores, and The Wholesale Club (which merged in 1991 with Sam's Club). Early ...
founded The Wholesale Club of Indianapolis, which he sold to Sam's Club in 1991. In 1983, James (Jim) Sinegal and Jeffrey H. Brotman opened the first Costco warehouse in Seattle. Sinegal had started in wholesale distribution by working for Sol Price at FedMart. Also in 1993, Costco and Price Club agreed to merge operations, after Price declined an offer from
Sam Walton Samuel Moore Walton (March 29, 1918 – April 5, 1992) was an American business magnate best known for founding the retailers Walmart and Sam's Club, which he started in 1962 and 1983 respectively. Wal-Mart Stores Inc. grew to be the world's ...
and Walmart to merge Price Club with Sam's Club. Costco's business model and size were similar to those of Price Club, which made the merger more natural for both companies. The combined company took the name PriceCostco, and memberships became universal, meaning that a Price Club member could use their membership to shop at Costco and vice versa. PriceCostco boasted 206 locations generating $16billion in annual sales. PriceCostco was initially led by executives from both companies, but in 1994, the Price brothers left the company to form Price Enterprises, a warehouse club chain in Central America and the Caribbean unrelated to the current Costco. In 1983, Kmart's Pace Membership Warehouse (later sold to Sam's Club) started operations. That same year,
Sam Walton Samuel Moore Walton (March 29, 1918 – April 5, 1992) was an American business magnate best known for founding the retailers Walmart and Sam's Club, which he started in 1962 and 1983 respectively. Wal-Mart Stores Inc. grew to be the world's ...
opened the first Sam's Club on April 7, in Midwest City, Oklahoma. In 1984, former The Wholesale Club executives founded BJ's Wholesale Club, owned by Zayre. In 1997, Costco changed its name to Costco Wholesale Corporation, and all remaining Price Club locations were rebranded , the three largest warehouse club chains operating in the United States are BJs, Costco, and Sam's Club. BJ's Wholesale Club is one of the smaller competitors, with stores located primarily in the Eastern United States. Costco and Sam's Club are the largest chains. Costco has locations in seven other nations including Australia, Canada, Japan, Korea, Mexico, Taiwan, and the United Kingdom. Sam's Club, a division of Walmart, claims a membership base of 47 million persons and 602 stores across the United States (as of June 2019). On July 16, 2020, it has been announced that Price Club will be returning to San Diego with new locations.


Examples

* BJ's Wholesale Club, operates in the U.S. only * City Club, operates in Mexico only * Costco, operates in the U.S., Canada, Mexico, the UK, Iceland, Australia, New Zealand, Sweden, Spain, France, South Korea, China, Japan and Taiwan * Metro AG, headquartered in Germany, majority control in different regions by multiple third parties, Metro AG has 674 wholesale stores in 24 countries. * PriceSmart, operates in Central America and Caribbean; previously operated in Asia-Pacific region * Sam's Club, operates in the U.S., Mexico and other countries *
Selgros Selgros is a cash and carry chain in Europe, owned by Transgourmet Holding, a wholly owned subsidiary of Coop (Switzerland). It started in 1989 as a joint venture between Rewe Group (50%) and Otto Group (50%). In March 2008, Rewe took over 100 ...
, operates in Germany, Poland, Romania and Russia * Wholesale Club, operates in Canada and Jamaica


Defunct

* American Wholesale Club (1986–1989) * Buyers Club, a Denver-based independently owned chain * Club Wholesale, turned into office supplies stores, then folded * Fedco, bankruptcy in 1999 (most stores were bought by Target Stores) * GEM & GEX Membership Department Stores (required membership like a warehouse club) * Gemco, 1959–1986, owned by Lucky Stores * HomeClub, a home improvement warehouse, later became HomeBase and then folded in 2000 * Max-Club, owned by SuperValu (United States) * PACE Membership Warehouse, owned by Kmart, merged with Sam's Club * Price Club, merged with Costco in 1993 * Price Savers Wholesale Club, merged with PACE Warehouse Club, then merged with Sam's Club * Sam's Club, in Canada 2003–2009 * SourceClub, owned by Meijer, from 1992 to 1994. Only had seven locations, all in
Michigan Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and t ...
, but helped loosen restrictions on who can become members industry-wide. * Super Saver, merged with Sam's Club (Southeast US) * The Wholesale Club, merged with Sam's Club * Titan Warehouse Club Inc., an early warehouse concept in Canada based in Calgary with locations in Toronto/Kitchener/Stoney Creek areas in the 1985–1994 * Warehouse Club, was a
public company A public company is a company whose ownership is organized via shares of stock which are intended to be freely traded on a stock exchange or in over-the-counter markets. A public (publicly traded) company can be listed on a stock exchange ( ...


See also

*
Bulk foods Bulk foods are food items offered in large quantities, which can be purchased in large, bulk lots or transferred from a bulk container into a smaller container for purchase. Bulk foods may be priced less compared to packaged foods because they ar ...
* Cash and carry (wholesale) *
Hypermarket A hypermarket (sometimes called a hyperstore, supercentre or superstore) is a big-box store combining a supermarket and a department store. The result is an expansive retail facility carrying a wide range of products under one roof, includin ...


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Warehouse Club Retail formats Warehouses