The company was started by discount department store chain Zayre in 1984, on the Medford/Malden border in Massachusetts. The company's name was derived from the initials of Beverly Jean Weich, the daughter of Mervyn Weich, the president of the new company.[3][4] Weich announced his resignation as president in June 1987, and left on August 1.[5] He was replaced by John Levy.[6]
When Zayre Corporation sold the Zayre nameplate to rival discount chain Ames in October 1988, TJX Companies was formed. In 1989, TJX spun off their warehouse division, consisting of BJ's and now-defunct HomeClub (later known as HomeBase, then House2Home), to form Waban, Inc. In August 1997, Waban spun off BJ's to become an independent company, BJ's Wholesale Club, Inc., headquartered in Natick, Massachusetts, while Waban renamed itself to HomeBase, Inc.[7]
In 2019, BJ's expanded into Michigan, with a new store in Madison Heights. A second and a third Michigan location have since opened in Taylor and Chesterfield Township, respectively. BJ's has also since opened a location in Canton.
Many of BJ's clubs offer special services to members, such as car rentals, gas stations, home heating oil, an optical department, propane filling, and vacation packages. These services vary from location to location. As of 2008[update], there were 154 clubs with optical departments.[citation needed] As of January 30, 2010[update] BJ's operated 104 gasoline stations at their clubs.[2] In February 2007, BJ's closed all pharmacies in its clubs.[10]
In March 2010, BJ's announced they would move their corporate headquarters from Natick to Westborough, Massachusetts in 2011.[2][11] On January 5, 2011, BJ's announced it would close five underperforming stores in the Southeast, eliminate approximately 100 headquarters jobs by the end of the month, and restructure its home office and some field operations. Its restructuring moves would result in savings of 78 to 82 cents per share for its fiscal fourth quarter.[12][13]
On December 19, 2019, BJ's named Lee Delaney as its next CEO starting February 2, 2020. Delaney had been an executive vice president and chief growth officer of the company since 2016. Then CEO Chris Baldwin became executive chairman.[14] Following Delaney's death on April 8, 2021, BJ's financial chief Bob Eddy took over as interim CEO.[1] On April 20, 2021, Bob Eddy’s interim status was removed and he was given the permanent CEO position.[15]
In November 2021, BJ’s announced plans for its first store in Tennessee, to be located in La Vergne, a suburb of Nashville.[16] The store opened on June 14, 2023. The company has announced plans for at least two additional stores in the Nashville market, with confirmed locations being added in Goodlettsville[17] and Mt. Juliet.[18]
As of September 2024[update], BJ's operates 248 BJ's clubs in 21 states and employed approximately 25,000 team members (both full- and part-time).[19] Its major competitors are Costco Wholesale and Sam's Club.
Locations
Map of BJ's locations as of May 2022.
As of September 2024[update], BJ's has 263 locations across 21 states:[20] BJ's utilizes three cross-dockdistribution centers along with third-party warehouse space when extra storage is needed.[2]
Finances
For the fiscal year 2023, BJ's reported earnings of $19.968 billion, with a net income of $523.741 million .[21]
On May 17th, 2018, BJ's filed to return to the public market.[28] The shares opened at $21.25; in its IPO, BJ's sold 37.5 million shares, raising net proceeds of $637.5 million.[29]
Brands
BJ's Wholesale Club regularly markets numerous products under its own private labels—including products by Richelieu Foods.[30] It also sells BJ's private-label products, including non-food general merchandise and sundries items, under the Berkley-Jensen name (formerly 'Berkley & Jensen').[31]
