Are Sam's Club And Walmart Connected? The Link Between These Two Grocery Stores

If you've ever gotten a sense of deja vu strolling through your local Sam's Club or Walmart, you're not entirely off base. It's no secret that Sam's Club is a division of Walmart, the largest grocery store chain in America, meaning that it operates underneath the retail giant.

In other words, Walmart is the parent company that owns Sam's Club, but it does more than make big business decisions. The two also share resources, such as technology, data, and suppliers for house-brand products. As a matter of fact, Sam's Club and Walmart merged their supply chain teams completely in 2024, bringing both companies even closer together.

Walmart directs Sam's Club's broad and long-term business operations, as would be expected of a parent company. However, Sam's Club does operate quasi-independently with a CEO and other executive-level staff that make some decisions. In addition, Sam's Club requires a membership for anyone wishing to shop there, while anyone can step into a Walmart and begin putting stuff in their cart. Walmart does have its own paid membership system called Walmart+, but it currently doesn't allow customers to shop at Sam's Club or give Sam's Club members any extra benefit.

Sam's Club and Walmart have been intertwined from the very beginning, as their names hint. Sam's Club was founded by Walmart founder Sam Walton, who lent his name to both companies, in 1983 in Oklahoma. This was a full two decades after Walmart's founding in 1962. It started out as "Sam's Wholesale Club," which was simplified to Sam's Club in 1990.

While there are many differences between Sam's Club and other warehouse stores like Costco, there are even more between Sam's Club's and its parent company's business models, and not for no reason. Sam Walton opened the original Sam's Wholesale Club with the intent to provide goods and services to other business owners. The membership model and wholesale products were designed to attract and appeal to small businesses looking for affordable products, not individual shoppers — though, of course, that model has since changed.

Today, both are retail giants. Sam's Club's total revenue was over $80 billion as of January 2023, while Walmart's readily surpassed that at over $600 billion. Walmart continues to be one of the most successful retailers worldwide, while Sam's Club trails behind other warehouse stores like Costco. Even still, with Walmart's backing, Sam's Club has been quite successful and seems ready to continue on that course.