Sam's Club in northwest Austin, at the northeast corner of SH 25 and Toll 183A, held a grand opening April 16.[/caption]

Sam's Club opened its fifth location in the Austin area April 16 at 10901 Lakeline Mall Drive, Austin. The company has three other sites in Austin and one in Round Rock.

Organizers held a grand opening celebration before inviting customers and local business supporters, including representatives from the Cedar Park Chamber of Commerce, into the 134,464-square-foot store.

Sam's Club, a division of Wal-Mart, features groceries, clothing, electronic goods, furniture, books and health items, with many in bulk, as well as medical care options to its member businesses and individuals, store manager Maurice May said. The new Austin store features locally made items such as Kountry Boy Sausage and local wines, he said.

"This is the newer format for the Sam's Club, where we have the pharmacy next to the optical next to the hearing aid [center]," he said. "You know exactly where to go to get a total solution for anything."

May said builders preserved a ridge of oak trees between the store and Lakeline Mall Drive. The store includes energy-efficient devices such as interior lights that automatically dim in response to the amount of exterior light coming through its 126 skylight windows, he said.

"This [building] is the gold standard," May said.

The Lakeline Mall Drive store has 175 employees—25 transferees from other stores and 150 new hires from Austin, Cedar Park, Leander and Round Rock, he said.

As part of its grand opening, Sam's Club made donations to several nonprofit organizations such as the Cedar Park Public Library, Meals on Wheels of Williamson Burnet County and Texas Humane Heroes. Several National Football League players, including Dallas Cowboys defensive tackle Bob Lilly and Washington Redskins quarterback Colt McCoy, made appearances at the store on April 16 and 17.