Sorry, the table looked better in Microsoft word.           

 Costco                                      vs.                         Sams Club

Members:           71.2 million                                                             47.1 million

Stores:                 648 Worldwide                                                 621 Worldwide

Revenue:            97.062 Billion                                                     56.0 Billion

Operating

Income:               2.76 Billion                                                         1.6 Billion

Employees:        174,000 (2013)                                                   110,000 (2013)

Retail Rank:        2nd Place                                                            8th Place

Founded:            1983                                                                       1983

Total Assets:      27.14 Billion                                                       averaged around 13.4 Billion

Outcome:            7/8, 1 tie, Winner!                                          0/8, 1 tie, Sorry, perhaps next year…

Costco and Sams Club have always had a fierce competition, though the situation is kind of like Wal-mart and Target. One is obviously in the lead, and the other is struggling to compete. Both have outstanding figures when it comes to sales, but the one ahead has left a very hard trail to follow. That doesn’t mean it’s impossible for the runner-up to eclipse the head in a few years, but for now, it’s not going to be easy.

Both companies were founded in 1983, which means it was purely the success of the management in the stores that would result in a lead over the other.  Even though Sams Club has the largest retailer backing it up it was still defeated by Costco, which was independent before it went public a few years ago. It isn’t that surprising that Costco reigns supreme, I mean the company itself has some of the most original and unique marketing and features inside their stores. Many of which both companies share, like taste testers and membership assets (insurance, home loans and ect.), but Costco has a very great promotion called the “2% Rewards Check”, which refunds you 2% of every purchase you make. That’s pretty handy if you need a few extra bills in your wallet, don’t you think?

Costco surpasses Sams Club in just about every aspect, including members, stores, employees, revenue, total assets, retail rank and operating income (see chart above article for more info). This as well isn’t a surprise, because Costco just has a lot better variety and for the majority of the time, better prices. Also, with over 30 million more members than Sams Club, it seems Costco is the way to go. I like Costco because of the quality and the great experiences that I receive when inside. You have aisle to aisle taste tester, clerks that go out of their way to assist you and a café filled with delicious low-fat frozen yogurt (which yes, no matter how much you believe it’s ice cream, it’s frozen yogurt).

My opinion is skip Sams Club and head straight to Costco, so that you may see the awe-inspiring effort Costco creates to keep you intrigued. Thanks for reading, Joel Freecheck.