- Another category of stores sometimes included in the hypermarket category is the membership-based wholesale warehouse clubs that are popular in North America, pioneered by Fedco and today including Sam's Club, a division of Wal-Mart; Costco, in which Carrefour has a small ownership percentage;[24] BJ's Wholesale Club on the East Coast and Clubes City Club in Mexico. In Europe, Makro (owned by METRO AG) leads the market.
- However, warehouse clubs differ from what is normally considered a hypermarket because of their sparse interior decor, restrictive membership, and broad-not-deep selections that maximize inventory turnover.
One of the newer formats in discount retailing is the wholesale warehouse club, which combines the concepts of wholesaling and retailing. These stores tell a limited selection of brand-name goods on a cash-and-carry basis. Stores are typically located in warehouse buildings with concrete floors and high ceilings allowing for high steel warehouse shelving. Merchandise is offered in bulk quantity and is displayed stacked in packing cartons or on pipe racks. The decor is "no frill" as are the services. Credit or delivery services are not offered nor are there the usual store amenities of restroom and paper bags. Little advertising or promotion is done. Price is the primary appeal to the customers.
Warehouse clubs are basically in the commodity business, not the fashion business. They combine the selling of commodity products such as groceries with hardware and soft goods. Typical merchandise includes food, liquor, sundries, house wares, appliances, electronics, hardware, and automotive products. Some warehouse clubs carry furniture and plants. Although certainly not fashion stores, warehouse clubs do sell some basic apparel items and footwear as home textiles such as sheets towels. All merchandise carried by warehouse clubs is brand name because these stores do not carry private-label merchandise.
Wholesale clubs are expected to have their biggest impact on supermarkets, small wholesalers, and appliance stores. Yet these stores are representing a new competitive force for traditional department stores and discounters. Warehouse clubs are providing a new form of competition of customers' disposable dollars, and traditional retailers are concerned that their market share will be reduced because of the expansion of these stores.
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