Sam’s Club to Open Flagship Store in Shanghai in 2021

Walmart has announced that its subsidiary Sam’s Club is set to open a new flagship store in Shanghai. This will be the third Sam’s Club store in the city and is expected to open for business in 2021. Sam’s Club is a high-end membership warehouse club and was the first foreign-funded retail chain to establish itself in China using a paid membership system.

The new flagship store will be located in the Waigaoqiao New Development Zone, part of the Shanghai Pilot Free Trade Zone, and will cover an area of 70,000 square meters. Rather than simply being a traditional shopping destination, the store will make use of innovative design to create a more customer-focused experience, fusing shopping, leisure and entertainment.

Sam’s Club will make use of both physical stores and e-commerce to provide convenient solutions to varying shopping needs. The chain will offer one-hour delivery services in many Chinese cities via its own online store, offering consumers a wide selection of global products. Sam’s Club’s online flagship store, hosted on the platform of e-commerce giant JD.com, will service additional cities that currently do not have physical Sam’s Club stores.

“We are excited to add the flagship outlet into our rapidly expanding footprint,” said Andrew Miles, president of Sam’s Club China. He called the opening of the new flagship store “a testimony of our commitment to our members and China,” adding that “the tremendous trust and loyalty local shoppers have shown in recent years motivates us to keep rewarding and surprising our members.” The opening of the new flagship store demonstrates the value that Walmart places on the Chinese market.

Fruit and vegetables generally account for approximately 10–20% of the retail market. With the growing selection of fruit varieties available to Chinese and international consumers, shoppers are increasingly focused on healthy lifestyle choices and are willing to pay for high-quality fruit. With market demand for fruit rising steadily, the opening of the Sam’s Club flagship store is good news for both international suppliers and Chinese wholesalers and will allow for the import of more high-quality fruit.

Sam’s Club has maintained steady growth in recent years and at present has 26 retail stores throughout China. By the end of 2022, the chain is expected to have 40–45 stores either already operating or under construction across the country.

Image: Sam’s Club via PR Newswire

This article was translated from Chinese. Read the original article.