A warehouse club (or wholesale club) is a

retail Retail is the sale of goods and services to consumers, in contrast to wholesaling, which is sale to business or institutional customers. A retailer purchases goods in large quantities from manufacturers, directly or through a wholesaler, and ...

store, usually selling a wide variety of merchandise, in which customers may buy large,

wholesale Wholesaling or distributing is the sale of goods or merchandise to retailers; to industrial, commercial, institutional or other professional business users; or to other wholesalers (wholesale businesses) and related subordinated services. In ...

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 A consumers' co-operative is an enterprise owned by consumers and managed democratically and that aims at fulfilling the needs and aspirations of its members. Such co-operatives operate within the market system, independently of the state, as a f ...

, but lacks key elements including

cooperative A cooperative (also known as co-operative, co-op, or coop) is "an autonomous association of persons united voluntarily to meet their common economic, social and cultural needs and aspirations through a jointly owned and democratically-contro ...

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 (A&P) opened their very first

Warehouse Economy Outlet Warehouse Economy Outlet, (W.E.O), ''Where Economy Originates'', was a discount, warehouse-style supermarket concept that was developed in the 1970s by The Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Company The Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Company, better ...

(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 State ...

, as their first warehouse club. In 1982, the discount pioneer John Geisse founded The Wholesale Club of Indianapolis, which he sold to

Sam's Club Sam's West, Inc. (doing business as Sam's Club) is an American chain of membership-only retail warehouse clubs owned and operated by Walmart Inc., founded in 1983 and named after Walmart founder Sam Walton as Sam’s Wholesale Club. , Sam's C ...

in 1991. In 1983, James (Jim) Sinegal and Jeffrey H. Brotman opened the first

Costco Costco Wholesale Corporation (Trade name, doing business as Costco Wholesale and also known simply as Costco) is an American multinational corporation which operates a chain of membership-only Big-box store, big-box retail stores (warehouse c ...

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 Walmart Inc. (; formerly Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.) is an American multinational retail corporation that operates a chain of hypermarkets (also called supercenters), discount department stores, and grocery stores from the United States, headquarter ...

to merge Price Club with

. 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 Sam's West, Inc. (doing business as Sam's Club) is an American chain of membership-only retail warehouse clubs owned and operated by Walmart Inc., founded in 1983 and named after Walmart founder Sam Walton as Sam’s Wholesale Club. , Sam's C ...

(later sold to

) started operations. That same year,

opened the first Sam's Club on April 7, in

Midwest City, Oklahoma Midwest City is a city in Oklahoma County, Oklahoma, United States, and a part of the Oklahoma City metropolitan area. As of the 2010 census, the population was 54,371, making it the eighth largest city in the state. The city was developed in r ...

. In 1984, former The Wholesale Club executives founded BJ's Wholesale Club, owned by

Zayre Zayre () was a chain of discount stores that operated in the eastern half of the United States from 1956 to 1990. The company's headquarters was in Framingham, Massachusetts. In October 1988, Zayre's parent company, Zayre Corp., sold the stores ...

. 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

, 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 *

, 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 *

, operates in the U.S., Mexico and other countries * Selgros, operates in Germany, Poland, Romania and Russia *

Wholesale Club WH, W.H., or wh may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Mr. W.H., a mysterious dedication in Shakespeare's sonnets * Whitney Houston (1963-2012), American singer Language * ''wh'' (digraph), in ''when'', etc. ** Voiceless labio-velar approximant ...

, operates in Canada and Jamaica

Defunct

* American Wholesale Club (1986–1989) * Buyers Club, a

Denver Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the Unit ...

-based independently owned chain * Club Wholesale, turned into

office supplies Office supplies are consumables and equipment regularly used in offices by businesses and other organizations, by individuals engaged in written communications, recordkeeping or bookkeeping, janitorial and cleaning, and for storage of supplies o ...

stores, then folded * Fedco, bankruptcy in 1999 (most stores were bought by

Target Stores Target Corporation (doing business as Target and stylized in all lowercase since 2018) is an American big box department store chain headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota. It is the seventh largest retailer in the United States, and a compon ...

) * GEM & GEX Membership Department Stores (required membership like a warehouse club) *

Gemco The Groote Eylandt Mining Company, known by its acronym GEMCO, is an Australian company that was commissioned to mine high grade manganese ore. GEMCO is majority owned by South32. It runs its operation on 84 square kilometres of the Arnhem Land Ab ...

, 1959–1986, owned by

Lucky Stores Lucky Stores is an American supermarket chain founded in San Leandro, California, in 1935. Lucky is currently operated by Albertsons in Utah and Save Mart Supermarkets in Northern California. In 1998, Lucky's parent company, American Stores, ...

* HomeClub, a home improvement warehouse, later became

HomeBase Homebase is a British home improvement retailer and garden centre with stores across the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland. Founded by Sainsbury's and GB-Inno-BM in 1979, the company was owned by Home Retail Group from October 2006, un ...

and then folded in 2000 * Max-Club, owned by

SuperValu (United States) SuperValu, Inc. was an American wholesaler and retailer of grocery products. The company, formerly headquartered in the Minneapolis suburb of Eden Prairie, Minnesota, had been in business since 1926. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of United Nat ...

* PACE Membership Warehouse, owned by

Kmart Kmart Corporation ( , doing business as Kmart and stylized as kmart) is an American retail company that owns a chain of big box department stores. The company is headquartered in Hoffman Estates, Illinois, United States. The company was inc ...

, 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 *

, in Canada 2003–2009 * SourceClub, owned by

Meijer Meijer Inc. (, ; stylized as meijer) is an American supercenter chain that primarily operates throughout the Midwest. Its corporate headquarters are in Walker, Michigan, which is a part of the Grand Rapids metropolitan area. Founded in 1934 ...

, from 1992 to 1994. Only had seven locations, all in

Michigan Michigan () is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the List of U.S. states and ...

, 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 ( ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Warehouse Club Retail formats Warehouses

History

Examples

Defunct

See also

References

External links