Costco storefront in Mount Prospect, Illinois.Tim Boyle/Getty Images Sam’s Club and Costco are the main membership club grocery competitors in the US.They’re nearly identical in many ways, but Costco’s food court has better options and is more convenient.Sam’s Club has the edge on curbside pickup.I’m a Costco member, but I’ve never been to Sam’s Club before.Mary Meisenzahl/Insider Both stores operate on the same premise: customers purchase annual memberships that give them access to bulk goods at prices lower than most other grocery stores, plus a discount on gas and other items.Mary Meisenzahl/Insider Costco has over 500 stores in the US, and Sam’s Club has about 600.
Costco.Mohammad Khursheed/REUTERS Costco has far higher sales than Sam’s Club, reporting $192 billion in the 2021 fiscal year, compared to less than half that at $63.9 billion for Sam’s Club.A Costco truck makes a delivery to a Costco store in Carlsbad, California.Mike Blake/Reuters I visited both stores to get an idea of how they compare in person, beyond the balance sheet.Mary Meisenzahl/Insider When you walk into Costco, a greeter checks to make sure you have your membership card, which is required to make purchases besides alcohol, the food court, and a few other exceptions.Mary Meisenzahl/Insider Walking past the carts and greeters, I entered the gigantic Costco warehouse.Mary Meisenzahl/Insider In my location, large electronics are on display near the entrance, with TVs stacked up on huge shelves.
Mary Meisenzahl/Insider Ceilings are extremely high, and stocks of products extend nearly all the way up.
Many of the largest products at Costco are located along this side wall.
Mary Meisenzahl/Insider You could outfit an entire home from the appliances in Costco, including washing machines, dryers, refrigerators, dishwashers, and more.Mary Meisenzahl/Insider Then, we finally made our way to the food.Brand name snacks mostly made up the center displays, sitting on pallets.Mary Meisenzahl/Insider Products are loosely organized by type, like snacks or baked goods, but it’s so overwhelming that it’s good to come in with a game plan.Mary Meisenzahl/Insider For the most part, every section is inside the main warehouse itself, but dairy and some fruits and vegetables have their own separate refrigerated sections off the main area.Mary Meisenzahl/Insider Some staples always seem to be available in the produce section, while others change out seasonally.Mary Meisenzahl/Insider Back out in the main warehouse is the bakery with fresh and packaged goods.Mary Meisenzahl/Insider Fresh baked goods are displayed right in front of the kitchen.
Mary Meisenzahl/Insider You can also buy custom cakes and order them in store, right in front of the bakery.Mary Meisenzahl/Insider The rest of the back wall next to the bakery is a deli and meat counter.Mary Meisenzahl/Insider This is where you can find the chain’s famous $5 rotisserie chickens.Mary Meisenzahl/Insider Rows and rows of refrigerated cases hold more meat products.
Mary Meisenzahl/Insider A few aisles of refrigerated shelves hold cheeses, butter, and all different kinds of dips and spreads.Mary Meisenzahl/Insider Beer and hard seltzers are available in the main area of the store, but other alcohol is only sold in the liquor store next door, which has a separate entrance.
Mary Meisenzahl/Insider Remaining aisles on the far side of the store are dedicated to freezers with entrees and desserts, and pantry goods in bulk.Mary Meisenzahl/Insider Most of the non-food items are gathered in the center of the store, from clothes to books, furniture, electronics, and fine jewelry.Mary Meisenzahl/Insider Costco also provides some services inside stores, including a pharmacy, optical store, and hearing aid center.Mary Meisenzahl/Insider There are about fifteen checkout lanes staffed by workers, plus newer self-checkout stations.Mary Meisenzahl/Insider Just past the checkout lanes, the food court sells food and drinks, including the famous $1.50 hot dog and soda combination.
Mary Meisenzahl/Insider After easing pandemic restrictions, tables for indoor dining were added back.Mary Meisenzahl/Insider Next up, I went to the closest Sam’s Club to me, which was located about 60 miles away in a suburb of Buffalo.Mary Meisenzahl/Insider The first major difference I noted was that no one checked if I was a Sam’s Club member as I walked in.Mary Meisenzahl/Insider When I first walked inside, it looked nearly the same as Costco with large electronics placed near the entry.Mary Meisenzahl/Insider I was struck by the large aisles full of tires taking up some prime real estate close to the front of the store.
Mary Meisenzahl/Insider Costco also has a tire center, but it is separated from the main shopping area.Mary Meisenzahl/Insider Otherwise, the stores had the same main merchandise categories.
Mary Meisenzahl/Insider They both carry large appliances, furniture, and some plants and gardening supplies.Mary Meisenzahl/Insider Both had jewelry displays, with salespeople around to talk about the products.
Mary Meisenzahl/Insider They carry much of the same merchandise, like this inflatable outdoor shark slide that was on display in both locations.Mary Meisnezahl/Insider In most ways, the stores seem to be essentially the same.Mary Meisenzahl/Insider I did find some other differences, though they were relatively minor.Mary Meisenzahl/Insider Sam’s Club has an established curbside pickup program at no extra cost to members, similar to services available at Walmart and Aldi.
Mary Meisenzahl/Insider Source: Insider , Insider
A large area of the entryway is dedicated to holding these orders.Mary Meisenzahl/Insider Most Costco locations only have “warehouse pickup,” with curbside service limited to electronics, jewelry, and a few other items that do not include groceries.Mary Meisenzahl/Insider Sam’s Club also seems to make it easier for customers to use these large pallet carts than at Costco, where I’ve only seen them pushed by shoppers on rare occasions.Mary Meisenzahl/Insider Both stores were very organized and had fully stocked shelves, but Sam’s Club felt a bit more disheveled because there was no separation between shopping areas and loading organizational areas like there were at Costco.
Mary Meisenzahl/Insider I was surprised to find that at Sam’s Club, all alcohol sales are made in the main store area.Mary Meisenzah/Insider Sam’s Club had wine and other flavored drinks in the main store, while Costco typically is limited to beer and seltzers.Mary Meisenzah/Insider The food court was the area I was most interested to see in comparison.Mary Meisenzahl/Insider Sam’s Clubs’ food court was much smaller and less busy than Costco’s, but they had essentially the same menu.
Mary Meisenzahl/Insider They have the same basic lineup of pizza, hot dogs, and soda.Sam’s also matches Costco’s iconic $1.50 hot dog and soda, though they don’t have my personal favorite, the chicken bake.Irene Jiang / Business Insider The two stores even have the same tables set up in their food courts.Mary Meisenzahl/Insider Besides the lack of chicken bake, the biggest discrepancy between food courts was the self-service kiosks at Costco, which make ordering fast and easy.
Mary Meisenzahl/Insider Overall, the two stores were more alike than different.Mary Meisenzahl/Insider If I wasn’t such a regular at my local Costco, I’m not sure I would have even noticed most of these small differences.Mary Meisenzahl/Insider Costco also has better prices on more grocery staples, according to a recent price comparison by Insider, though they are quite close.Mary Meisenzahl/Insider Sam’s Club, on the other hand, has lower membership prices.
Mary Meisenzahl/Insider Costco wins on prices and food court convenience, but I wish it had the curbside pickup service offered at Sam’s Club.Mary Meisenzahl/Insider Do you have a story to share about a retail or restaurant chain? Email this reporter at [email protected] .
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