Expecting pent-up demand, Sam’s Club to start holiday sales early this year

BENTONVILLE. Ark. (UPI) — Sam’s Club, the discount retailer owned by Walmart, signaled on Friday that it’s expecting Americans to return to major holiday celebrations this year after a muted Thanksgiving and Christmas season in 2020 due to COVID-19.

Sam’s Club announced its plans for the 2021 holiday season, which include larger turkeys, taller Christmas trees, and greater inventories of toys.

The membership-only company said it will also offer twice as many discounts as it did last year.

“Sam’s Club will ‘Bring the Merry’ with more this holiday season — more quality items in the club and online, more value, more ways to shop, and more special experiences,” Sam’s Club Chief Merchant Megan Crozier said in a statement.

The company said it will begin holiday sales earlier this year, banking on pent-up demand from shoppers who may have missed out last year after widespread coronavirus restrictions limited Americans’ ability to get together as normal.

Sam’s Club said about 20% of its customers have already begun holiday shopping.

“Our members are telling us it’s ‘game on’ this Christmas,” Sam’s Club Chief Member Officer Tony Rogers added. “We will deliver with more events, an earlier start, more marketing support than ever.”

As part of its holiday plans, Sam’s Club said it’s also partnering with DRINKS to launch home wine delivery service in more than a dozen states.

“People have just felt like they got last Christmas stolen away from them,” Rogers added, according to CNBC. “And they’re eager to get back to some of those traditions with their family and their friends.”

UPI staff report

United Press International

+ postsBio

United Press International is an international news agency whose newswires, photo, news film, and audio services provided news material to thousands of newspapers, magazines and radio and television stations for most of the 20th century.

• United Press International

  Amazon to hire 250,000 workers for holidays
• United Press International

  14 dead after plane crashes in Amazon
• United Press International

  Coinbase to lay off more than 900 employees
• United Press International

  Samsung announces disappointing 3Q results