Last week, Sam’s Club announced it was laying off about two percent of its workforce, roughly 2,300 people, in an effort to bring its club staffing in line with performance. Will the layoffs announced by Sam’s Club help improve its competitive position against Costco and others?

At Bentonville/Bella Vista Chamber’s WalStreet speaker series in September, John Boswell, Walmart’s SVP of marketing, insights, and e-commerce, discussed how critical technology and data are to forging connections with members. What do you think of Sam’s three-pronged approach to recruiting and driving loyalty with members?

There will be skeptics, but Rosalind Brewer, CEO of Sam’s Club, since January, believes the company has a chance to catch up to Costco — or at least make it a competitive race. What do you think of Sam’s Clubs strategies and tactics to grow faster? How do you think Costco will respond?

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. last Friday said that Brian Cornell, who is credited with helping Sam’s Club regain its sales momentum, is leaving the company. Rosalind Brewer, who ran Walmart’s eastern division, will take over as the warehouse club’s CEO. What do you make of the CEO changes at Sam’s Club?

According to a Reuters report, Sam’s used Nielsen Homescan data to determine one of its two major club competitors had captured 20 percent of its members’ grocery purchases. Acting on that information, Sam’s has expanded its grocery offerings. What are your thoughts on the current direction of Sam’s Club relative to its competitors?

Getting credit is not always easy for new business owners, but now one very large business, Wal-Mart’s Sam’s Club division, is working to help members get loans of up to $25,000 through the Small Business Administration. What do you see as the pros and cons of Sam’s involvement in helping club members apply and get SBA loans?

Sam’s Club is getting personal with its members. Plus card members, who pay an added fee over regular Sam’s shoppers, are able to go to an in-store kiosk and pick up deals created based on their shopping history. What do you think of the Sam’s personalized offer program?

A recent article from The Wall Street Journal explores how certain U.S. apparel retailers are looking to Canada for an easy way to expand their locations. Is expansion into Canada a guaranteed success? Why do you think some U.S. retailers have struggled trying to expand into Canada?

Sam’s Club is launching free technical support nationwide for consumer electronics. The rollout ignited speculation that its bigger sister, Wal-Mart, would likely be introducing a similar service. How critical are tech services in supporting the consumer electronics category?

As retailers look to cut overhead and maintain profitability during recessionary times, underperforming stores and divisions are being shuttered without hesitation. How should hiring managers and recruiters deal with the onslaught of unemployed retail workers? Is it possible to still find enthusiastic associates that will represent the brand positively?

Sam’s Club plans to open a new store that will sell products imported from Mexico to Latino consumers in the U.S. The first Más Club will open in Houston during the first half of 2009. What do you think of Sam’s prospects with Más Club?

Sam’s Club has built its very substantial business by catering to the needs of many much smaller businesses. Costco has built its reputation by satisfying the desires, both mundane and extravagant, of individual consumers. But Sam’s has sought for some time to be seen as more individual-friendly without turning its back on its core small business customers. Has Sam’s broken through the image that it is a small business store and not “right’ for individual consumers?

Described as “strictly an experiment” by Sam Walton when it first opened in 1983, Sam’s Club has grown to 715 locations, including 122 in foreign territories. A host of owners of caterers, restaurants, motels, and other small and larger businesses recently gathered at Sam’s locations across the country to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the wholesale club concept of Wal-Mart. What do you think of Sam’s strategy for focusing on small business owners? Is Sam’s differentiated enough from its main competitor, Costco?

There apparently isn’t any shortage of rice in the U.S. but concern over how quickly current world supplies are being drawn down has given commodity speculators all the ammunition they need to drive the price of rice through the roof. While U.S. government and trade group officials have maintained that there is no shortage on the horizon, buyers have been streaming into warehouse clubs to buy rice in bulk. Will we be seeing this type of activity taking place in other food commodities?

Sam’s Club is looking to expand a test of home and small business deliveries by adding shelf-stable foods and grocery non-foods, according to the Financial Times. What do you make of Sam’s testing a grocery home delivery service? Should we expect the same from Wal-Mart?

Sam’s Club has always set its niche as the small business owner. That is about to change. Greg Spragg, executive vice president of merchandising and replenishment for Sam’s Club, told an audience at Citigroup retail conference in Orlando, Fla., “We are going to have to broaden our appeal beyond small business owners. We have to be more relevant to the mom.” Will Sam’s small business customers remain convinced they are the club’s primary focus as it places greater emphasis on recruiting and keeping female shoppers?

Sam’s Club is thinking more upscale these days, reports Reuters. Just as Wal-Mart has looked to offer higher quality items in an effort to capture some of the purchasing dollars that often go Target’s way, now Sam’s is looking to selectively go more upscale with the intent of grabbing higher-end sales a la rival Costco. What changes will Sam’s have to make to attract Costco shoppers?

The lure of great deals on bigger ticket items, from flat screen televisions to fine art, has many affluent consumers willing to pay the membership fee price of admission to Costco, Sam’s and BJ’s, according to the latest issue of Retail Forward’s ShopperScape newsletter. What do you see as the relevant strengths and weaknesses of the three major membership warehouse clubs? How will changes in the population (age, ethnicity, etc.) impact clubs in the future?

Whether the idea is to send a message that it can offer merchandise on par with the more upscale Costco, simply draw attention to its new line of colored diamonds or sell an extremely expensive piece of jewelry, Sam’s Club will put a one-of-a-kind 3.74 carat pink diamond pendant valued at $813,000 on sale at an everyday low price of $560,000 on Friday, May 6. What is Sam’s Club trying to accomplish with its one-of-a-kind pink diamond pendant? Has it succeeded?

Members of 552 Sam’s Clubs nationwide now will have access to discounts of up to 50 percent on a variety of medical and dental services through UnitedHealth Group’s HealthAllies program. Will we see more retailers following suit and offering discount health services?

Sam’s began advance selling 50-copy “church packs” of Mel Gibson’s movie last week to religious groups and Wal-Mart’s warehouse club division has already exceeded its own sales expectations. What are your thoughts on Sam’s Club marketing religious films directly to church groups?