We Have Over 30-Years With Club Store and Restaurant Supply Chains Nationwide (as Nestle, Coca Cola, Conagra and More Recently With a Number of Successful Start-up Brands). Our Locations Include Bentonville, AR (Sam’s Club, Wal-Mart), Southern California (Costco, Smart and Final, Shamrock FS, PriceSmart) and Raleigh (BJ’s, Restaurant Depot).
Club Stores
- Costco
- Sam’s Club
- BJ’s
- Cost-U-Less
- Price Smart
Restaurant Supply and Cash and Carry Stores
- Restaurant Depot
- Smart and Final
- Chef’s Warehouse
- GFS Marketplace
- Wayfair Restaurant Supply
- Shamrock FS Warehouse
- Ace Mart
- American Hotel Register
- Guest Supply
Club, Restaurant Supply and Cash and Carry Product Incubator Programs
Our co-founders have been helping food and beverage start-ups (examples include Nature’s Bakery and Perfect Bar) with national roll-outs for over 10-years. They have a incubation program available to start-ups looking to get into Club and Restaurant Supply store programs and more.
Their community includes:
The Difference Between a Club Store and a Restaurant Supply Store:
Club Stores cater to both the everyday consumer as well as independent restaurants and retailers (c-stores, concession stands, liquor stores, supermarkets, etc.). Club stores charge membership fees and are catered to high traffic areas. Restaurant Supply stores mostly cater only to food service locations and may or may not charge membership fees. Most Restaurant Supply stores require that you are a legitimate business prior to becoming a member or be able to shop there.
How to Get Distribution into a Club Store:
Club Stores will review products that have something unique to them and have a savings to their customers. These chains (Costco, Sam’s Club, BJ’s) have specific requirements (pricing, business scores, manufacturing capabilities, sourcing of ingredients and more) that relate to current and new products. Usually, a new product has-to show a percentage of savings before it is brought into the stores.
- Club Store chains usually will test a product in a select number of stores and/or a specific region of the country.
- They need to have specific packaging and pallet designs to make the product easy to store and stock in their stores.
- Club stores generally don’t want to receive inventory until the very last minute and often times they will expect your product to be retail-ready when it arrives at the store.
- Upon arrival, your product should be packaged for immediate display, as most club stores do not want their in-store employees to be responsible for assembling your pop-up displays.
- Excess materials can be viewed negatively by club stores and they definitely don’t want to deal with your packaging waste.
