Sam's Club bullish on membership model's popularity and profitability

Chefs from five-star hotels cooking fresh imported Australian steak, wine experts demonstrating direct imports from Napa Valley, and spacious maternity rooms offering spaces for breastfeeding and playtime, are all new experiences on offer at a recently remodeled Sam's Club in Shanghai, as part of a bid to increase visits and membership renewals.

Remodeling the 8-year-old Shanghai branch of Walmart Inc's high-end membership brand cost about $6 million, a typical sum for new Sam's Club openings or upgrades, depending on the location.

"Chinese consumers have become increasingly willing to pay for better services in the past one to two years," said Chen Zhiyu, senior vicepresident of Sam's Club China. He predicted that the membership model would enter a phase of explosive growth in the years to come.