Sam's Club, a big box shopping warehouse, has confirmed that it will add a store in the Nexton community near Summerville.
The store will be the second in the tri-county area, according to Jennifer Howard, spokeswoman for WestRock, which oversees the 4,500-acre Nexton development.
Operated by Arkansas-based Wal-Mart, the world's largest retailer, Sam's Club will sit on a parcel on Sigma Drive adjacent to Interstate 26 near the new interchange being developed just beyond the Summerville exit.
The store's square footage and opening date have not been determined, she said. It could be 2018.
The site is just down the street from a parcel purchased in August by Baker Motor Co. of West Ashley for a future automobile dealership.
Howard said there is no indication that Wal-Mart will follow with a supercenter near Sam's, like the side-by-side big-box stores near Tanger Outlets in North Charleston.
Sam's Club will be the Summerville area's second warehouse store.
Massachusetts-based BJ's Wholesale Club is building an 87,000-square-foot store at the juncture of I-26 and U.S. Highway 17A. It's set to open in June.
Rival Costco is not sitting on the sidelines either. It's eyeing a 21-acre tract in the Carolina Park subdivision in northern Mount Pleasant. The wholesaler operates another store in West Ashley near I-526 and Savannah Highway.
If all of the warehouse stores are built, the Charleston-area will have five club-member wholesale sites. It now has two: Costco and Sam's.
