[Dr Winston O Boogie jr]

I think that this Sam's Club is here to stay. They are really the only game in town. It is one of the smallest stores in the chain so its operating expenses are lower than most.

The fact that there is no Costco or BJ Wholesale in the area means that they have the market cornered on this type of store. It's doubtful that Costco or any other store of this type will ever come to this area. If you notice all of the other shopping clubs, including Sam's in Ocala are all located near a major highway. That is one of the primary consideration for where to locate these stores. A community of 150,000 people with another 100,000 or so in surrounding communities is not enough for these corporations to build a store in that area. They want to locate near a major highway like route 4, route 95 or route 75 so that people can easily get to their location from 30 or 40 miles away. The Villages just does not have that kind of access.

The Villages is larger than Ocala, Summerfield, Bellevue, Fruitland Park and Leesburg all put together. But the Ocala Sam's Club is much larger than the one that we have here. It's because it's right off of 75.

The thing is that these types of stores were never meant to have great customer service. Product is stuck onto shelves still in boxes and employees are really just stock clerks. Shopping clubs are are popular because of buy in bulk for low prices with little or no service.

[NotFromAroundHere]

Originally Posted by banjobob

We no longer shop Lowe’s, no staff on the floor to ask questions on finding items or for information about an item. Contrast at Home Depot , I feel a better selection of goods and staff all over the store to help locate items and help with questions.

Lol! I'm usually trying to avoid all the Lowe's employees asking me if I need any help finding anything. I must look clueless to them.

[Dr Winston O Boogie jr]

Originally Posted by Larry chappel

Something you should know about tires from the club stores. They are not the same as you get from the tire store. They are made to the club specifications with up to 4/32 less tread than the ones from a tire source hence the cheaper price. Only way around this is to compare product numbers. If by chance they are selling first run tires the price will be comparable to other vendors. I am knowledgeable in this regard as I have 25 years in the automotive service and tire industry.

That is actually the case with a lot of large retailers. I was in the golf business for 35 years. I worked for Dick's Sporting Goods for a short while and was surprised to find that most of the major manufacturers make products specifically for big box stores. In fact sometimes, the manufacturer will simply license their name to a store and the store will have products made in China with the manufacturers name on it. Any time you see "So and so's Exclusive" you are not getting the same product that you would buy elsewhere.

I had a client that owned a small engine store. He sold lawn mowers, snow blowers and other similar equipment. He said that the same thing was true for lawn care products that you find in places like Home Depot and Lowes. Many are made to less stringent specifications than products you can buy at your Mom and Pop lawn care store where products like Toro and Jacobsen are the real deal.

It's the case in every industry. Part of the problem is that these chain stores buy so much that they can dictate the terms of sales to the manufacturers. Many manufacturers would go under if not for the business generated by big box chain stores. The manufacturers also cannot afford to sell to these stores at the prices that they demand to they either make product with less quality for exclusive distribution by a particular store or they sell their name to the store so that they can have products made under that name.

That Taylor Made driver that you just bought at Dick's is probably not a Taylor Made driver at all. It's most likely a piece of junk with the Taylor Made name stamped on it and Dick's made 75% profit margin on it.

[parkersykes]

Plus membership at Sam’s with Sam’s MasterCard nets good rebates on gas, dining, travel. For example 5% off on gas at any gas station!

[Kgcetm]

Without question, a Sam's Club is not going to compete with Costco because it doesn't know how. Sam's Club average store sales are $96.4M per store compared with Costco's 213M per store. Sam's just can't get there. That said, we don't have a Costco in the Villages, we do have a Sam's. Like it or not, that's a big plus for our community. I drive to the Costco in Lutz, FL twice a month. Bought my hearing aids there (best equipment, best service), my eyeglasses (best frames, best service) and get my Prime Meat there. It's a great store but it still isn't in the Villages. We'll have a Sam's Club in the Villages until a Costco opens near by and then Sam's will close.

[justjim]

Originally Posted by missypie

I went with my 93 year old daddy to Sams. My daddy is real good in the AM, so we got there one hour before the regulars could come in. We didn't know there were special hours for upgraded folks. I asked the woman if my daddy could pick up his 3 items. A big NO. You can wait in your car we were told. My daddy complied but I'm saying he's old. So we left. I know rules are rules. I just cry for my daddy.

We went to Sam’s this summer at our “northern” Sam’s when seniors could go two hours early and shop. We got the day wrong. Wow! The lady was so rude and angry for us showing up when we pulled out our “regular” Sam’s card. She told us to go and sit in our car until the store opens up for you! “I just looked at her and “said thanks for telling us and I hope your day gets better. I think we will just go over to McDonalds and have a cup of coffee from the nice lady that’s over there - so you have a nice day.” We left and came back in about 45 minutes and she was gone. It seems everybody is stressed out these days.

[Garwood1]

After being in retail for decades , the issue that is huge and causes shortages in service etc., is the ability to hire good associates, they are scarce , look at any place you go and almost everyone has their heads buried in their phones -guess what , those are the people you are expecting to drop their phones and be able to carry on a service situation with calm and poise . We aren’t preparing young people to work in public , we taught them to introverts when it comes to communication

[elevatorman]

If Sam's closes where will we get our TP?

[newgirl]

They pay employees well and for many, working at Ace is their lifetime career. I sold homes to many Ace employees.

[Carla B]

Originally Posted by Garwood1

After being in retail for decades , the issue that is huge and causes shortages in service etc., is the ability to hire good associates, they are scarce , look at any place you go and almost everyone has their heads buried in their phones -guess what , those are the people you are expecting to drop their phones and be able to carry on a service situation with calm and poise . We aren’t preparing young people to work in public , we taught them to introverts when it comes to communication

You make a good point.

[CFrance]

It used to be if you bought a laptop from one of the manufacturers--Dell, Toshiba, Hewlitt Packard, etc.--and something went wrong with it, you couldn't return it, per se. You had to give it up (send it back) for them to fix, which left you without a computer and getting back basically a refurbished machine. I once had to send an H-P laptop back four times till it finally went out of warranty and they wouldn't help me anymore.

I bought a Toshiba from Sam's Club when we first got down here. It crashed a couple weeks later. Rather than go through the rigamarole of sending it back to Toshiba, I took it to Sam's and returned it. Of course, they inspected it to be sure I hadn't thrown it across the room or some such. When it wouldn't boot up for them, no questions asked, I got a refund.

That's my only experience with Sam's down here, but it was a good one.

[72lions]

It’s a big box discount store. Quit complaining about everything. I hate old grumpy people (I’m 70 LOL).

For the record, just buying gas at Sam’s is worth the membership. It is typically 15 to 18 cents cheaper. 15,000 miles at 25 miles/gallon saves $90/year alone. And, the drive through car wash is $7.

[graciegirl]

Originally Posted by Garwood1

After being in retail for decades , the issue that is huge and causes shortages in service etc., is the ability to hire good associates, they are scarce , look at any place you go and almost everyone has their heads buried in their phones -guess what , those are the people you are expecting to drop their phones and be able to carry on a service situation with calm and poise . We aren’t preparing young people to work in public , we taught them to introverts when it comes to communication

I think it is worse than that. Many of them have never heard the old adage; "The customer is always right" and many are shocked by the mention of it. It starts young and casual conversation heard by little kids may make them think all old people are less than worthy. Children are not raised or talked to by people who impart standards, they are given over very young to people their parents wouldn't trust with their house keys.

[donfey]

Originally Posted by villagetinker

ACE hardware still has great customer service, easy to find someone and get an answer.

AND, we all want Ace to be there when we need them. It’s in our own best interest. SUPPORT THIS LOCAL RETAILER! They’re nice people, too.

[retiredguy123]

Originally Posted by CFrance

It used to be if you bought a laptop from one of the manufacturers--Dell, Toshiba, Hewlitt Packard, etc.--and something went wrong with it, you couldn't return it, per se. You had to give it up (send it back) for them to fix, which left you without a computer and getting back basically a refurbished machine. I once had to send an H-P laptop back four times till it finally went out of warranty and they wouldn't help me anymore.

I bought a Toshiba from Sam's Club when we first got down here. It crashed a couple weeks later. Rather than go through the rigamarole of sending it back to Toshiba, I took it to Sam's and returned it. Of course, they inspected it to be sure I hadn't thrown it across the room or some such. When it wouldn't boot up for them, no questions asked, I got a refund.

That's my only experience with Sam's down here, but it was a good one.

That is the main reason that I always buy televisions, computers, and electronics at Sam's. They have a 90 day return policy on those items. If you had bought it at Best Buy, after 2 weeks, you have have been out of luck.

Another thing about Sam's that some people don't know is that you can use the pharmacy and optical departments without being a Sam's member. I think it is state law. If you use expensive prescription drugs, Sam's will often have a significantly lower price than other pharmacies. Non-members get the same price as regular members, but "Plus" members often get a much lower price on prescription drugs.