Sam's West, Inc.

Company overview. Sam's West, Inc. is the legal entity that operates Sam's Club, the membership-only warehouse club division of Walmart Inc. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of Walmart (NYSE: WMT) and is listed in Walmart's SEC Exhibit 21 subsidiary filings. Sam's West is headquartered in Bentonville, Arkansas. The first Sam's Club opened in 1983, founded by Sam Walton. Walmart's 10-K reports Sam's Club U.S. segment net sales of roughly $90.2 billion for fiscal 2025 (year ended January 31, 2025) and about 599 clubs; the entity does not publish a standalone payroll, though third-party estimates place Sam's Club headcount in the 48,000–58,000 range. Parent Walmart employs roughly 2.1 million worldwide.

Products / services / operations. Sam's Club operates membership-based warehouse stores across the U.S. and Puerto Rico selling groceries, electronics, home goods, and other merchandise in bulk, alongside samsclub.com e-commerce, curbside pickup and delivery. Its own technology offerings include the "Scan & Go" mobile self-checkout app and in-store location-based services — the products at the center of its patent litigation.

Patent-litigation posture. Sam's West is an operating company and an active plaintiff: the tracked docket shows 1 case as plaintiff and 0 as defendant. In March 2022 it sued rival warehouse club operator BJ's Wholesale Club Holdings, Inc. in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida (Orlando Division), jointly with Walmart Apollo, LLC, Walmart's patent-holding affiliate — not a plaintiff-friendly venue like the Eastern District of Texas, but a jurisdiction tied to BJ's retail footprint.

Notable cases. The sole tracked case, Sam's West, Inc. et al. v. BJ's Wholesale Club Holdings, Inc. (No. 6:22-cv-00587), asserted four patents covering mobile self-checkout methods and in-store location-based service frameworks, allegedly mirroring Sam's Club's Scan & Go technology. BJ's responded with inter partes review petitions, the litigation was stayed, and the court administratively closed the case in February 2023. The suit reflects Sam's West's use of patents to protect its proprietary store-technology systems rather than any assertion of acquired third-party portfolios.