My Saturdays often start in the same riveting fashion: breakfast, a long dog walk and a requisite trip to an East Bay farmers market to feel like the native Californian I am. I come back with a few pears, a malasada and a 12-ounce coffee and wonder where my $20 went.

Then, it’s time for actual grocery shopping, which, in this age of ever-increasing prices, means hitting multiple stores for the best deals. At Safeway, I clip digital coupons for avocados. At Target, I grab my son’s Vitamin Water, which is about $3 less per case than it is at Safeway. Then, once a month, I make the inevitable trip to Costco for bulk-buying. I brave the congested parking lot and put my $65 annual membership to work on olive oil, canned tuna and more apples than we need. I even buy the infamous rotisserie chicken, despite how salty and slimy it is these days. 

But when I recently ran across a deeply discounted membership for another big-box grocery store in the Bay Area — Sam’s Club, which has some of the same benefits, often for less and with fewer restrictions — I decided to cheat on my old Saturday faithful.

Article continues below this ad

While there are only two Sam’s Club stores in the Bay Area, in Concord and Vacaville, the Walmart Inc. division that’s worth $90 billion is growing its 30-store footprint in California with two more locations this year in Lathrop and Visalia. It keeps improving on its nifty Scan & Go tech within the mobile app, which allows customers to bypass checkout lines entirely. Sam’s Club also accepts all major credit cards, not just Visa, which is the only plastic that Costco takes in-store. 

The entrance to the Sam’s Club store in Concord, Calif., leads to Member Services.

The interior of the Sam’s Club store in Concord, Calif. 

People seem to like the convenience: For two consecutive years, Sam’s Club has beat Costco as the warehouse retailer with the highest satisfaction rate. After I found that deal cutting the $50 annual Sam’s Club membership (already $15 cheaper than Costco’s basic tier) to a mere 15 bucks, I hightailed it to the Concord location, which is just over 2 miles away from a Costco store.

Article continues below this ad

Don't let Google decide who you trust.

Almost immediately, I noticed a difference between the two warehouses. Sam’s Club was quieter — both in the parking lot and in the store. No one asked for my membership card; I just walked right in. I noticed fewer employees and customers inside, which allowed me to push my giant shopping cart down the middles of the aisles like a brat. There weren’t even lines for samples.

I found the app a pleasure to use. I scanned bar codes as I went; a bag of frozen blueberries here, some smoked salmon there. My virtual cart tracked my savings, so I knew what was on sale and by how much. As I went along, it told me to confirm the number of items in my cart. After I paid, it offered me a QR code to show at the exit, but it turned out that I didn’t even need it.

Walking the aisles, I noticed that Costco and Sam’s Club carry a lot of the same brands I buy, like Chosen Foods’ Avocado Oil Cooking Spray, but that the sizes at Sam’s Club are smaller and therefore have a lower price tag. For instance, Sam’s Club sells two 8-ounce bottles of the oil for $9.98; at Costco, you get two 13.5-ounce bottles for $24.99. My eight-pack of solid white albacore tuna is $12.98 at Sam’s Club and $18.99 at Costco, though Costco gives you two more ounces per can. It might be different for a family of six, but for my little family and kitchen, I prefer the former. 

Article continues below this ad

A customer scans a product to pay in the Sam’s Club mobile app.

A beverage sampling station at the Sam’s Club store in Concord, Calif., on a quiet Tuesday.

On the other hand, Costco seems more likely to carry premium products and viral one-offs than Sam’s Club. If snail mucin skin products are your thing, for instance, you best stick with Costco. Overall, I found Sam’s Club’s beauty section small and underwhelming compared to its competitor’s, which is often where I learn about the next big thing in skin care. 

Central Coast | 'Doomsday fish': Once-in-a-lifetime sea creature encountered in Monterey BayTechnology| A Calif. teen trusted ChatGPT for drug advice. He died from an overdose.Central Coast| He gifted Calif. one of its largest city parks. Then he shot his wife.Culture | Tragedy cut Sublime's fame short. Now the singer's son has the mic.

Get SFGATE's top stories sent to your inbox by signing up for The Daily newsletter here.

Article continues below this ad

But what absolutely rocked my world was when I reached the bulk beverage section and found my son’s Vitamin Water — 18 bottles for $16.78 — beckoning me like a gift.

“Dreams really do come true,” I texted my husband, with a photo of a case. “Winning,” he wrote back. It really was a win. Costco doesn’t carry Vitamin Water because it makes Vita Rain, a “vitamin enhanced water beverage” under its Kirkland Signature brand, which my kid won’t drink because “it’s disgusting.” That’s 93 cents per bottle compared to Target’s roughly $1.17 per bottle. 

The ultimate find: an 18-pack of Vitamin Water at the Sam’s Club store in Concord, Calif. 

The sushi at the Sam’s Club store in Concord, Calif., starts at just $8.37.

Costco has been forthcoming about the number of private label SKUs it has — roughly 550 at any given time. While Sam’s Club is more tight-lipped about its branded products, spokesperson Steven Zapata shared that the company once had 21 different private labels but consolidated them in 2017 into the company’s single Member’s Mark brand. According to a 2025 news release, Member’s Mark represented approximately 50% of merchandise sales growth in 2023 and 2024. 

Article continues below this ad

As I walked through meat and produce to the bakery, a few Member’s Mark products caught my eye, including a very-fresh-looking Mediterranean pasta salad studded with kale and sun-dried tomatoes and a layered Tuxedo Bar Cake. Unfortunately, both were much too big for me to splurge on trying them. What was just the right size, and my biggest discovery of the day: Sam’s Club’s paprika-flecked rotisserie chicken, which my family and I declared better than Costco’s over dinner that night. 

I don’t know if it’s because this chicken comes in a container with a lid, unlike the plastic-bagged birds now common at Costco, Whole Foods and Safeway, but I found it moist rather than slimy and flavorful rather than a sodium bomb. Sam’s Club charges a penny less than Costco for its chicken — $4.98 versus $4.99 — which made me laugh. Touche. Southern Living and Delish also rated it the best supermarket rotisserie chicken — in the latter publication, Sam’s Club beat out both Whole Foods and Eataly.

Soon after, I made my way to the cafe, a smaller version of Costco’s food court, and that’s where my shopping trip reached new heights: Waiting there for me in single, grab-and-go servings was a slice of that chocolate cake ($2.98) layered with mousse and cream cheese frosting, along with a small container of the pasta salad ($3.75) that I coveted. I got to try both options before committing to bigger portions and prices. The salad hit the spot and made for a healthier lunch than the cafe’s other options. 

The cafe and checkout aisles at the Sam’s Club store in Concord, Calif. 

The rotisserie chicken at Sam’s Club has a crispy, paprika-tinged skin.

Customers load up on eggs and milk in the produce section at the Sam’s Club store in Concord, Calif. 

In 2024, Sam’s Club launched an initiative that tapped on 50,000 members, who provide thoughts on everything from ingredients to flavor profiles to packaging for its brand. “They co-develop products with us,” Zapata, the spokesperson, said in a phone interview. “So much of our innovation is dependent on our community.” For instance, the Caramel Palmier sundae in the cafe, which features vanilla soft serve, caramel drizzle and a cinnamon palmier cookie, was chosen for the menu by that group, known simply as the Member’s Mark Community, he said.

Article continues below this ad

Surprisingly, you don’t have to be a member to eat in the cafe. Unlike at the Costco food court, anyone can pop into Sam’s Club for a $1.50 hot dog and drink combo — though it made for a bit of a line on the Saturday I was there. 

What made up for the wait at the cafe, however, was my seamless exit from the store. I didn’t have to stand in a long line for an employee to manually check my receipt, a la Costco. A combination of computer vision and digital technology captured an image of my cart and verified my payments in the app so I could head home right away and reap the benefits of that Vitamin Water win. No need to stop at Target this time.

Sam’s Club, 1225 Concord Ave., Concord. Open Monday through Sunday, 9 a.m.-8 p.m.

Article continues below this ad

— Michelin-level chef's killer $10 breakfast sandwiches are hitting the Bay Area— The East Bay's massive new Asian grocery store is a sensory overload— Overworked staff at Bay Area restaurants keep doing a 'disrespectful' thing— The hidden gem SF neighborhood where you can find food from all over the world

For all things fascinating in Bay Area food, sign up for our Eat the Bay newsletter here.

© SFGate