Sam’s Club to focus on female shoppers

NEW YORK — Wal-Mart’s Sam’s Club is reaching out to female shoppers to help drive growth at its warehouse division, which built its business on small business operators.

“We are going to have to broaden our appeal beyond small business owners. We have to be more relevant to the mom,” said Greg Spragg, executive vice president of merchandising and replenishment for Sam’s Club, in an address to analysts at a retail conference in Orlando, Fla. The conference was broadcast over the Web.

Wal-Mart Stores Inc.’s Sam’s Clubs have fared better than the company’s namesake discounters, but sales gains have been only modest. For the fiscal year ended in January, the overall company posted a 2.1 percent increase in same-store sales, or sales at stores opened at least a year, according to Thomson Financial. Same-store sales are a key indictor of a retailer’s health. At the company’s namesake discounter division, same-store sales rose 1.9 percent, while at Sam’s Clubs, same-store sales averaged a 3.1 percent gain for the year.

Wal-Mart is expected to report its fourth-quarter and full-year earnings results Tuesday.

Spragg noted that the Sam’s Club division has made some progress in fine-tuning and upgrading its offerings in wine, electronics like GPS units and flat-panel TVs, and jewelry. The company plans to broaden its advertising message to appeal to both small business owners and consumers. Spragg also noted that the company is working on new prototypes that will enhance the shopping experience for female shoppers.