New Sam’s Club in Tarrant County is first of its kind: All digital. Don’t forget your phone

Sam’s Club reopened in Grapevine on Thursday, nearly two years after a powerful tornado destroyed the membership warehouse. But this new store, rebuilt at the same location, is nothing like Sam’s shoppers have seen before.

The Grapevine Sam’s Club is the company’s first all-digital store — meaning, for one thing, there are no traditional cash registers. The head of the division of Walmart is describing the format as “what the future should look like for Sam’s Club.”

“You’re going to walk into this club and it’s a fully digital experience,” Chris Nicholas, CEO and president of Sam’s Club, said in an Oct. 7 video interview with Omni Shop Retail . “The first thing you’re going to notice on your left-hand side is there are no registers. We expect 100% digital engagement in that club, which means everyone is shopping Scan & Go. ”

Customers of the store at 1701 W. Texas 114 will use the Sam’s Club app while in the store to find and pay for their items. But that doesn’t mean the store won’t have employees. Nicholas said workers will be on hand to help shoppers who are less digitally savvy. “We are going to help them get on that journey,” he said.

When guests exit the store, “computer vision receipt” arches will check a shopper’s cart against their online receipt. This eliminates the checkout line.

The Grapevine location now features a pizza-making robot that can produce 100 pies an hour. The location will also have a “reimagined cafe,” sushi bar and in-house tortilla machine.

After the tornado outbreak in December 2022, which injured at least five people in Grapevine, Sam’s Club said it planned to permanently close the Grapevine location that had been there since 2003. “This decision aligns with the long-term growth strategy for our company,” a representative said at the time.

But a year later, Sam’s Club announced it had changed its mind.

“The Grapevine community reached out to us, sharing the many ways they love Sam’s Club and how we’ve served their small businesses, schools, sports clubs, nonprofit organizations and more,” Walmart said in a statement .

The new store will be different in other ways, too. Without the cash registers, there’s more room for online pickup and fulfillment. Nicholas told Omni Shop Retail that a local artist painted a large mural near the entrance.

The store will maximize what the industry calls a frictionless experience for customers, which Nicholas says customers want. And, he said, members who are “digitally engaged” by using the app and other tools spend three times more than members who don’t.

Thursday’s grand opening celebrations start at 8 a.m. Events continue through Sunday with “free family fun, giveaways, food, & more while supplies last.”

As part of the grand opening, Sam’s Club will give $30,000 through a grant and in-kind charitable donations to support the Grapevine Relief and Community Exchange (GRACE).

Sam’s Club Grapevine hours:

The new store is open at 1701 W. Texas 114 in Grapevine. It is closed on Mondays and Tuesdays, but see below for more hours of operation:

• Sunday: 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.

• Wednesday: 5 p.m. to 8 p.m.

• Thursday and Friday: 10 a.m. to 8 p.m.

• Saturday: 9 a.m. to 8 p.m.

Service Team reporter Ella Gonzales contributed to this report.