In a number of cases, employees showed up to work and found the doors locked and a notice saying that the store would soon be liquidated.

[8][9][10] Walmart eventually told Business Insider that 63 Sam's Club stores would begin liquidating across the country, including in Alaska, Arizona, California, Illinois, New York, Ohio, and Texas.

[11] According to Business Insider, the closure of Sam's Club locations and plans to convert some stores into e-commerce fulfillment centers as announced in January 2018 are part of Walmart's growing commitment to online retailing that will allow it to better compete with rival Amazon.

The largest Sam's Club store is located in Pineville, North Carolina, with 185,000 sq ft (17,200 m2) of retail space that was formerly an Incredible Universe.

[citation needed] On February 26, 2009, Walmart Canada announced that it would be closing all six of its Canadian Sam's Club locations.

[20][21][22] This was part of Walmart Canada's decision to shift focus towards supercentres, but some industry observers suggested that the operation was struggling in competition with Costco and the non-membership The Real Canadian Superstore (known as Maxi & Cie in Quebec), that had a well-established history in the country.

[citation needed] Rosalind Brewer was named as the new CEO for Sam's Club, a change that came into effect on February 1, 2012.

[26] In 2016, Sam's Club rolled out a mobile application that allows users to scan items while they shop and pay for them, skipping the checkout line.

[29] On January 11, 2018, Walmart announced that 63 Sam's Club locations in cities including Memphis, Houston, Seattle, and others would be closing.

Doug McMillon, Walmart's CEO, said, "We are early in the stages of assessing the opportunities tax reform creates for us to invest in our customers and associates and to further strengthen our business, all of which should benefit our shareholders.

[36] As of January 2024, Sam's Club used an artificial intelligence-based receipt-checking technology at 10 stores that required customers to move through a portal to verify purchases.

Products sold include jewelry, designer goods, sunglasses, crystal, and collectibles, electronics, floral, apparel, food, and meats.

[citation needed] In January 2010, the company announced it would be closing its Business Center, along with nine other clubs across the United States.

[citation needed] In March 2020, a Sam's Club store in Midland, Texas was the site of a violent stabbing that wounded three Asian family members, including two young children.

[43] In 2021, Sam's Club faced a boycott from some Chinese consumers due to taking Xinjiang-produced goods off the shelves.