I have been a “Sharing the Savings” mom for a little more than a year now.  I’ve gotten to share Sam’s Club promotions and fun deals with you and in return I’ve gotten paid.  Shocker, huh?  I was not a Sam’s Club member before I became their blogger.  I was a devout club store shopper, just not this club store.  Over the past year, I’ve gotten familiar with my local club and while I didn’t have any problems with it, I just didn’t choose to shop there regularly unless I was preparing information for a promotion.

One little trip to Bentonville, Arkansas has changed that.

I learned a lot of surprising things about Sam’s Club this week.  My view of the store has changed for the better and I really think it was a great idea for them to invite us out to tour their facilities.  I really think more brands need to do this with their blogging communities because it has given me (the blogger) a whole new view on the brand that has helped support my family this past year.  It will make my job easier because I have a new passion for the club that wasn’t there before.

• Did you know that Sam’s Club does blind taste tests on every food item that they stock in their store?  They will not put it on the shelves if it isn’t good and if people don’t like it.  They even do this with packaged baked goods and boxed side dishes.
• Sam’s Club has a test kitchen where they develop all these amazing “meal solutions” so that you can go into a store and pick up something delicious while on the go.
• They consult with real live blackberry breeders to ensure that they are providing the very best blackberries in the store.  They do this will all produce items.
• Each department has it’s own set of buyers that goes out into the world to find only the very best products for their departments.  I was shocked to learn how much effort they actually put into their products.
• They have a team of people thinking up ways to keep the “club store” prices in line with what actually fits into people’s pantry’s.  Like coffee, for instance, is packaged into three 5 pound bags instead of one large 15 pound bag that can potentially go bad before you ever use it.
• The people that work at Sam’s Club headquarters in Bentonville, Arkansas are just about the nicest people I’ve ever met.  And they like to feed us!

I will have lots of Sam’s Club stories coming in the future.  I took some 280 pictures and learned a TON of things.  I met some really great people and had a lot of fun.  But I just wanted to say Thank You to Sam’s Club for bringing us out and showing us what exactly you do.  It was enlightening and inspiring and I came away really impressed with your entire operation.

Sam’s Club really is all about Savings Made Simple.