My favorite time to shop is during business member hours (7 to 10 a.m.) during the workweek. The store is relatively quiet and you can drop in and make your way out easily. I had forgotten how chaotic a weekend trip to Sam’s Club could be until last Saturday afternoon, when I decided to brave the masses. It was the only available time slot I had, and I had to feed the urge to go.
You need special skills to survive a Saturday excursion to Sam's Club. If you decide to venture in during the weekend, just remember thousands of other people have the same idea and they are going to be there at the precisely same time as you. There’s no in-and-out quickly on a Saturday, so just resign yourself to spending a lot more time navigating the aisles.
Hunker down in your bunker and enjoy it. Speaking of in (and out), it appears that weekend shoppers don’t know the meaning of “Entrance” and “Exit.” Our Sam’s entrance and exit doors are right next to each other, causing a bit of confusion to the uninitiated. Be prepared to fight the misguided flow of traffic coming into the store, and also when leaving. Try very hard not to use your 1,000-pound flatbed to run over small children and old foreign ladies who don’t know any better.
Once inside, you will notice Saturday shopping cart traffic is out of control. The main reason for this is the proliferation of samples that may pop up like mushrooms between 11 a.m. and 4 p.m.. I gather some people come to Sam’s on Saturday specifically to have lunch. This is okay (I think), but realize that a really hot item like Italian meatballs in sauce or General Tsao’s chicken is going to cause a traffic jam, and the commotion is usually located right in front of the refrigerated area that houses the butter you need.
Article comments
1 - Condor
Shopping at "club" type stores has one disadvantage. They usually don't open until 10am.
By then the weekend traffic has picked up and every detail of a swift shopping spree flys out the window. Face it, you can't push the envelope at 10. So, I save my "club" shopping for a Wednesday or Thursday stop (once per month) in the evening on the way home from work. Additionally, it's on the way home and not a backwards commute on a Saturday morning.
Secondly, I shop for the groceries at a Mega Wally Mart. I live out in a semi-rural area and the only option is the Mega-WalMart. Which is fine, but... if you want to shop in a store that is freshly stocked and not picked over... be there NO LATER THAN 8am on Saturday. It's perfect.
2 - Matthew T. Sussman
"I’ve been a Sam’s Club convert since the mid 1990s when my son suffered a growth spurt and began to devour everything in sight"
People shop with a conscience until they have a family who is in dire need of new underwear and pizza bagels and cell phone headsets.
3 - Juliann Mitchell
I have a confession to make I love Sam's Club too. It it such a thrill to get a bargain.