Warehouse stores have come into their own during the past decade. They offer the consumer a great outlet to save money and get everything they need all in one place. In today's trying times of economic uncertainty, business owners, families and even single people get more bang for their buck by being able to buy items in large amounts.
Function
The main function of warehouse stores is to offer small businesses and large families a way to buy items in large amounts for discount prices. To shop at warehouse stores, a membership is needed. Along with this membership also come discounts on other things, such as airfare, car rentals, cruises and hotels.
Types
Three of the biggest and most popular warehouse stores in North America are Costco, Sam's Club and BJ's Wholesale Club.
Costco warehouse stores are the largest, size-wise, averaging about 141,000 square feet per store. Costco operates 546 locations in eight countries, including Japan, Korea and Canada. The company employs about 142,000 employees worldwide and grosses more than $72 billion annually.
Sam's Club is a division of Wal-Mart. Currently, there are 7390 locations and they range in size from 110,000 to 130,000 square feet. Wal-Mart and Sam's Club combined operate in 14 countries, offering employment to more than 2 million people.
BJ's Wholesale started in 1984. It ismainly located on the East Coast and has 175 stores in 16 states.
Features
All warehouse stores have similar offerings and the same structure. They are large buildings with products that are packaged in extra-large boxes, bags, containers and bottles. Some of the common products that they offer are food, cosmetics, clothes, music, electronics, computers, gas, tires, oil changes and interior products. Products are also bulked together in cases and extra-large shopping carts are available to accommodate the larger items.
Identification
One great thing about Costco stores is that they always have a lot of product sampling. This is not actually done by Costco employees, but is outsourced to independent contractors. Expect to see a variety of cheese, chips, meats, salsas, ice cream and vitamin drinks when shopping there.
Benefits
One of the benefits of warehouse stores is the convenience of being able to buy in bulk. This can cause less trips to the store and in turn save on gas money if the store is a distance away. Speaking of gas, they also offer gas at a discounted price.
Another big benefit of warehouse stores is overall price savings. Being that items are sold in larger amounts and quantities, they are sold at cheaper prices. Stores display the unit prices as well to show the significance of the savings.
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