Sam's Heads North

Wal-Mart Canada (Mississauga, Ont.) will begin opening Sam's Club membership warehouse clubs in select markets in the fall of 2003.

Phase one will see the opening of four to six Sam's Clubs in Ontario, each more than 100,000 square feet in size.

Though these will be the first Sam's Clubs in Canada, the chain's nearly 600 units include eight in Brazil, three in China, 49 in Mexico and nine in Puerto Rico, plus the 522 U.S. stores. The Sam's Club format was launched in 1983.

Wal-Mart Canada operates 207 stores nationwide.