Sam’s Club leaves the Seattle area with sudden closures

Walmart wholesale arm Sam’s Club is packing up and leaving the Seattle area entirely. The chain’s three stores in and near the city—Renton, Auburn, and their sole location in the Seattle city limits—are among 63 that will close in the next couple of weeks. A store locator currently shows nothing within 100 miles of Seattle.

The closures will affect about 500 local jobs.

That doesn’t exactly leave a gap in the area’s wholesale business. Seattle has its own homegrown version, Costco, which is headquartered in Issaquah—and even with recently announced Sam’s Club raises, Costco pays more. It’s also a little more common around the area; the Shoreline location was just a few miles up the road from Sam’s Club’s sole Seattle-proper location on Aurora.

All that may mean not too many Sam’s Club members around the city—but for those that are, USA Today and KING 5 both suggest calling or going online for a membership refund.

Sam’s Club announced the store closures Thursday, saying that the company “decided to close a series of clubs and better align our locations with our strategy.” Maybe that strategy includes not competing with Costco.

Walmart, in general, hasn’t maintained much of a presence in Seattle—but the company still maintains two stores in Bellevue and one in Renton.

• Sam’s Club is suddenly closing some stores, including Washington locations [Q13]
• Walmart is closing Sam’s Club stores in Seattle, Renton and Auburn [PSBJ]