Give a stream of consciousness and then the final answer. As of January 31, 2018, Sam's Club operates 597 membership warehouse clubs in 44 U.S. states. Alaska, Massachusetts, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Washington are the only states where Sam's Club does not operate, as is the case for the District of Columbia. Walmart International also operates Sam's Clubs in Mexico, Brazil, and China. It has 162 locations in Mexico, 27 locations in Brazil, and 19 in China. Locations generally range in size from 94,000 -- 161,000 sq ft (8,700 -- 15,000 m), with an average club size of approximately 134,000 sq ft (12,400 m).

Based on this passage, how many sams clubs are there in the usa?
To answer this question, we should know that: As of January 31, 2018, Sam's Club operates 597 membership warehouse clubs in 44 U.S. states.
So, the final answer is 597.