New Sam’s Club set to open in Springdale, third club in Northwest Arkansas

Northwest Arkansas welcomes its third Sam’s Club set to open at 8:30 a.m., Thursday (May 25),  just ahead of the Memorial Day weekend. Club Manager Mark Byrd said membership sales, which largely support the club, are going well as is his quest to learn Spanish.

Byrd told Talk Business & Politics Wednesday he’s learning to conjugate Spanish verbs, but he’s not yet conversational. Byrd believes learning Spanish is important for him given that he’s heavily recruiting memberships from Latino restaurant owners in Springdale and Huntsville to the east and Siloam Springs to the west.

Byrd said he’s excited to see opening day finally arrive and he’s confident the community will find the local club responsive to its needs. Club members will find the Springdale Sam’s is to very similar to the Bentonville Club in terms of layout, except that the Club Pickup area is located prominently in the front of the Springdale Club.

Byrd said the Springdale club also is carrying Mexican spices and other ethnic foods requested by local Mexican and Salvadorian restaurants who are business members. For instance, he said one unique item sold only in Springdale is Chocolate Frosted Flakes. He said the item is popular at Sam’s Club in Mexico, but the Springdale Club is the only one the country to offer that item. He said lard is also a specialty item that very few Sam’s Clubs carry.

The Springdale Club has 20 checkout lanes, roughly six will be manned throughout the day and the rest is self-check. With scan & go pay being used by more members shopping for just a few items, Byrd said many members will never go through a checkout line.

He said the Sam’s Cafe was built with an expanded seating area because he’s anticipating Sam’s will be a popular lunch and dinner destination for members and non-members. He said anyone can come in off the street and order food prepared at the cafe or back on the seafood island by the sushi chefs churning out ready-to-eat sushi rolls throughout the day. Byrd said non-members also can use the pharmacy and buy beer at the Springdale club, because those categories which are regulated by state or federal agencies are available to the public. That said, he hopes anyone who eats often at Sam’s Club will want a membership.

The local club employs around 200 and 24 of those have transferred from either Fayetteville or Bentonville. Byrd said his staff is representative of the local community in terms of ethnicity and age demographics.

When asked about technology advancements in the new club, he said the 4K televisions have 4K feeds coming into the store so the member can see exactly what they are purchasing. One unique television sold in Springdale is known as “wallpaper t.v.” by L.G. that is about 2 inches thick. Byrd said basically it’s a thin monitor with a sound bar and an incredible image and sound clarity.

“It’s the latest thing in television and we have it,” he said.

Members will find everything from watermelons priced at $3.98 to drones ($978 and $1,478) and scooters ($998) on display along the main aisle as they enter the club. A gigantic hot tub ($5,999) is also center stage and a child’s playhouse ($1,499) are part of the fun in the sun display with floats, barbecue grills and kayaks and other outdoor gear in the front of the store directly behind the checkout stations.

The Springdale club also offers a fresh bulk flower station where bouquets can be arranged or sold as is. The club also features several walk-in coolers for produce and dairy which helps to guarantee the best possible freshness. There is also endless aisle shopping in fine jewelry, outdoor furniture and medical equipment. In these areas member can shop online from a touch screen and pay for the product before they leave the area. The products will be delivered directly to their homes.

The Springdale Club will host several Road Show events during its opening weekend. House of Webster in Rogers will be premiering a new product to members and Byrd said there is another potential vendor from Missouri in the store this weekend.

The Road Show events is one way for potential vendors to sell in the Sam’s Club without the retailer taking that product into its inventory. It’s one way suppliers can test the market for their products and it also helps them to build a sales record which can be used with buyers should they want to become a regular club item.

“I can’t tell you how many times I have seen an item on Road Show and the next year it’s sold in the club. It’s a great way for us to find new products and it helps local suppliers as well,” Byrd said.

Sam’s Club also gives away $20,000 to local organizations with each new opening. Byrd said one of the $5,000 recipients was a local young man working on his Eagle Scout project which is a fallen heroes memorial to be located in downtown Springdale. Byrd said he had to complete the project before he turns 18 and the Sam’s Club donation helped him with that goal. A number of local elementary schools were awarded $1,000 each and the other $5,000 recipient was the Hogeye Marathon. The presentations were made late Wednesday ahead of the VIP viewing and trial run ahead of Thursday’s public opening.

The last time Springdale had a Sam’s Club was 2006 when parent Wal-Mart Stores failed to secure a liquor license. A new club with a liquor store was built in north Fayetteville in 2006. That club is now being updated. A second club was added in north Bentonville in 2008. The population of Northwest Arkansas is estimated at roughly 530,000 residents and is expected to grow to 670,000 by 2025, according to the Northwest Arkansas Council. Since 2000, the regional population has grown from 330,000, according to U.S.Census records.

Springdale Mayor Doug Sprouse said it’s hard to estimate the financial impact of the new Sam’s Club given the landscape of Springdale has dramatically changed since 2006. But he said it will be another great anchor for the development to come near the Arvest Ballpark, Arkansas Children’s Northwest and NorthWest Arkansas Community College which has also planned to build a campus just west of Interstate 49.