BJ’s Wholesale to open more locations

BJ’s Wholesale Club said Wednesday it will open more locations across the country this year.

Each of the five planned locations will help generate 150 new jobs for people in the areas where they open, the Massachusetts-based company said. BJ’s, with a smaller warehouse footprint, competes with Sam’s Club and Costco Wholesale.

Two of the new locations will be in Florida, operating in Palm Coast and West Palm Beach. The others will be located in Carmel, Indiana; Myrtle Beach, South Carolina; and Maryville, Tennessee.

“Our real estate pipeline is the strongest it’s been in 20 years, and we look forward to helping even more families save up to 25% off grocery store prices as we add clubs to both new and existing markets,” Bill Werner, BJ’s executive vice president of strategy and development, said in a statement.

BJ’s expansion plan for fiscal 2024 includes establishing 12 new clubs. It has also indicated it would open 15 gas stations.

During the company’s quarterly earnings call earlier in March, Werner said BJ’s locations “are outperforming on the sell side, and we see really great member acquisition, member engagement” over the last couple of years.

The company’s real estate footprint spans 20 states with 244 clubs and 175 gas locations.

“This is really clubs’ time, right? You think about the shopping environment that’s out there where value is paramount. There’s not better value than the club business,” CEO Bob Eddy told analysts and investors. “And so we need to be as aggressive as possible in bringing what we offer to new markets and to really extending our reach in existing markets as well.”

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The Massachusetts-based company said earlier this month over 7 million people have BJ’s memberships.