BJ's Nov. Food Comps Healthy

Excluding gasoline sales, merchandise comps increased 6.2 percent vs. guidance of 2 percent to 3 percent. BJ's said the boost came mainly from improved sales of food and consumables, particularly during the fourth week of the month. While food comps rose about 14 percent, general merchandise sales sank by about 4 percent.

Excluding sales of gasoline, traffic went up 6 percent, and the average transaction amount was a little higher than last year, the chain said.

Departments with the strongest sales increases over last year included bakery, breakfast foods, dairy, deli, frozen, HBC, household chemicals, meat, oils, paper products, pet foods, prepared foods, produce, snacks, soda, trash bags, and computer equipment. Among the weaker departments vs. last year were apparel, cigarettes, electronics, jewelry, prerecorded video, seasonal, televisions, tires, and toys.

Natick, Mass.-based BJ's operates 178 BJ's Wholesale clubs and 101 gasoline stations in 15 states.