Sam Beating a Retreat
Posted by IronMac on March 1st, 2009
The news that Sam’s Club in Canada was closing down was a bit abrupt but not a surprise to me. I’ve been a member off and on since 2005 and the signs were plain that the venture was in trouble. They never expanded beyond the first six stores and there were never any lineups at the checkout. The selection was ok as was the pricing but nothing like Costco or Club Price.
So, given that I had a $25 gift card in my wallet and a hankering for savings, S and I drove over there this morning to see what there was to see. There was also that feeling of anticipation and excitement that you get when you go to a closing-down sale; what will be there…what sort of bargain…how many other people will I have to beat out and so on? Mmmmm…
Frankly, there was not much beyond the usual assortment of products and the pricing was about the same. S went gaga over a couple of items and I loaded up on chips, Spam meat, and a couple of other odds and ends. The real surprise that made the trip worthwhile was the fact that they gave me back my entire membership fee in the form of another gift card! Cha-ching! Totally taken by surprise. I had expected a pro-rated amount to cover the time left on my membership which I calculated at just enough to do my laundry for next week.
S has vowed to go back in about a week when the real liquidation sale starts and I guess I will be tagging along. I just hope that I don’t end up with $47 worth of Spam.
