Sam's Club and Costco are two top rival stores, with most people choosing one or the other for membership. Costco is pretty decisively winning this battle, with 136.8 million members as of 2024, while Sam's Club had 69 million as of 2022.
Costco also has slightly more locations than Sam's Club, and significantly more revenue, earning $254.45 billion in 2024 compared to Sam's Club's $86 billion.
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Still, while both stores offer some similar benefits, like discounts on gas and bulk items, there are also important differences between the club memberships that are worth considering when deciding which is best to join.
One of those differences is coming to light this weekend, as Sam's Club members score a big win over Costco.
Image source: JJBers, CC BY 2.0 via Flickr; Walmart, CC BY 2.0 via Flickr
Sam's Club is offering something this weekend that Costco members won't have
While Costco may be winning the battle in terms of membership, Sam's Club members are the big winners this weekend compared with Costco members.
That's because Sam's Club is open on Labor Day, while Costco is not.
According to the Sam's Club website, the store's Labor Day hours are:
- 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. for Plus members
- 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. for Club members
In contrast, Costco is closed on Labor Day. That means members who want to get last-minute holiday items will not be able to, nor can those who have Labor Day off benefit from the extra day to shop.
Sam's Club offers more holiday access than Costco
Labor Day is not the only day that Sam's Club members get more access to their warehouse club than Costco members.
Costco is closed on all of the following holidays, according to the Costco website:
- New Year’s Day
- Easter Sunday
- Memorial Day
- Independence Day
- Labor Day
- Thanksgiving Day
- Christmas Day
In contrast, Sam's Club is closed only on:
- New Year's Day
- Easter
- Thanksgiving
- Christmas
This means Sam's Club members get almost twice as much access to the warehouse club on holidays compared with Costco members.
Related: Dollar Tree's new pricing strategy sparks customer fury
If you want to be able to visit your warehouse club to stock up on items for any of the summer holidays, this is worth considering when deciding which membership club is right for you.
Some members have complained about Costco closures
Costco's closures on so many holidays is not an issue that has gone unnoticed by members. In fact, in one Reddit thread earlier this year, a user commented on the issue and the fact that it makes it more difficult to shop at Costco:
“I hate that they close on days when I have off. I get like 9 days off a year and I swear Costco is closed on eight of them.”
Other posters also commented that while it was good for employees that Costco was closed on Memorial Day, they were surprised that the store had shut down for the day.
Costco also loses to Sam's Club in another way on access
It's not just holidays when Sam's Club is more accessible to customers. Sam's Club has set hours posted on its website, and those hours apply to all warehouse clubs across the country.
Costco, on the other hand, does not offer this level of uniformity to customers. The Costco website reads:
“There may be slight variations in hours for each warehouse. We recommend that you view the location information for a warehouse near you using our Find a Warehouse feature. This feature will also display any adjusted holiday hours and closures.”
This can make it more complicated for people to plan their shopping trips, especially if they are traveling and want to have access to the local Costco to stock up on vacation items.
Do Costco's hours and closures matter?
Obviously, Costco customers are not concerned enough about the extra holiday closures to switch to Sam's Club, as Costco still has the dominant market share among warehouse club members.
Still, customers who prioritize access and uniform hours, or who tend to be off and want to shop on holidays, may want to consider these issues when deciding which membership club to join.
Related: Costco will soon do something it only does 7 times a year
