Sam’s Club celebrates its 40th birthday with $10 memberships

Walmart-owned warehouse retailer Sam’s Club is celebrating its 40th birthday this month by shaving $40 off its membership price.

From Friday through April 19, first-time Sam’s Club members can purchase a one-year membership for $10, the retailer announced Wednesday. Plus-level memberships will be $70 during the period.

In October, Sam’s Club raised its membership prices for the first time in nearly a decade, increasing the cost of a basic membership from $45 to $50 and a Plus membership from $100 to $110.

Since opening its first Sam’s Wholesale Club on April 7, 1983, in Midwest City, Oklahoma, the chain has grown to nearly 600 locations in the U.S. and Puerto Rico, the company said.

In January, Sam’s Club announced that record same-store sales and membership numbers would fuel the retailer to open 30 new locations around the country over the next several years. The retailer hadn’t opened a new location since 2017 and shut down more than 60 clubs around the country in 2018 amid a restructuring. The first new Sam’s Club is slated to open in Florida in 2024, the company said at the time.

It also intends to build new fulfillment and distribution centers in the coming years.

Sam's Club is selling retro merchandise in honor of its 40th birthday. / Photo courtesy: Sam's Club

“From the day we opened our doors, we’ve worked hard to build relationships and create experiences that earn our members’ loyalty,” Chief Member and Marketing Officer Ciara Anfield said in a statement. “That passion is reinforced today through a member-obsessed culture focused on delivering value through price, quality, convenience and assortment.”

In addition to the limited-time membership deals, Sam’s Club will celebrate its birthday with a free treat and fountain drink in-store on Saturday, a $1.58 birthday cake sundae LTO in its cafes through the end of April, more than $100 in savings offers, special events and commemorative merchandise such as clothing and stickers with early-80s logo styles.

“Forty years in and yet we’re just getting started,” Anfield said.