A warehouse club, also called a wholesale club, is a retail business model in which customers pay an annual membership fee for access to a large, no-frills store selling merchandise at close to wholesale prices, serving both individual shoppers and small businesses. The format was pioneered by Sol and Robert Price, who opened Price Club in San Diego in 1976 to serve small businesses holding resale certificates before broadening membership eligibility more widely. It expanded rapidly in the early 1980s with the founding of The Wholesale Club in Indianapolis in 1982, Costco in Seattle in 1983, and Sam's Club the same year, followed by BJ's Wholesale Club in 1984; Costco and Price Club merged in 1993 to form what was then a 206-store chain generating 16 billion dollars in annual sales.
Facts
Core MechanismA warehouse club is a large-format retailer that charges shoppers a recurring membership fee and requires proof of that membership at checkout, typically in exchange for bulk quantities and wholesale-style pricing. 1 Cross-Tradition Connections
Associated With
Costco is the defining modern warehouse club, selling bulk goods to fee-paying members from no-frills warehouse stores.
A warehouse club is a large-format subsector of the retail industry, selling membership access to bulk merchandise at close to wholesale prices to both individual shoppers and small businesses.
Sources
1. Wikipedia, Warehouse Club
WikipediaLead sectionQuote, Lead section
A warehouse club (or wholesale club) is a wholesale retail store, in which customers have to pay for membership and present proof of membership to complete a purchase.
1. Wikipedia, Warehouse Club
WikipediaHistory sectionQuote, History section
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, as their first warehouse club.
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