Branding of Bulk Retailers

(5/16/2014) Most people probably think the difference between Costco and Sam's Club (Walmart owns it) is tiny, just a different store name. But it seems it is more than that. In the last several quarters, the performances of these two bulk retailers show they are going to different directions: Costco is doing just fine, but Sam's Club is going south. Here is a very good analysis and comparison between them.

There is no Costco in Rhode Island and I shop in Sam's Club sometimes for several years. But, based on my experience in several Sam's Club, the Sam's club management is really bad. Many of Sam's employees are most not well trained, and cannot answer some basic questions about where is the stock. I think they probably receive very little training and get paid not much better than Walmart's associates. Sam's Club definitely has serious supply issue (maybe it's related to its relationship with suppliers) since they discontinue some good brand stocks for no reasons, which made me less incentivized to shop there.