BJ’s Strong Q1 Driven by Membership, Traffic Growth

BJ’s Wholesale Club is on a roll as it reports robust first quarter earnings for the 13 weeks ended May 4. The quickly growing retailer saw gains in membership income, unit volume and traffic, notching a 4% net sales increase for the quarter.

Comparable club sales increased by 1.6% year over year, while digitally enabled comparable sales growth was 21% and membership fee income increased by 8.6% to $111.4 million over the same period. Gross profit increased to $883.4 million during the quarter, up from $880.0 million in the first quarter of fiscal 2023, driven by growth in membership fee income.

According to data from Placer.ai, Q1 visits at BJ’s were up 5.6% year-over-year. Visits were up 0.4% in April, 9.5% in March, and 8.3% in February.

“During the first quarter, we delivered strong increases in membership, traffic and unit volumes,” said Bob Eddy, chairman and CEO. “This resulted in revenue growth and market share gains in our clubs and at our gas stations. Our merchandising improvements and digital conveniences, grounded in delivering compelling value, are resonating with our members. We are also growing our footprint and remain on track for 12 new club openings this year.”

Eddy continued: “I am proud of our team members for their continued dedication to our purpose of ‘taking care of the families who depend on us’. We remain confident in the long-term growth prospects of our company.”

The company’s outlook for the remainder of 2024 remains unchanged.

“As we look ahead to the rest of the year, we remain confident in our ability to maintain our strength in traffic, unit volumes and market share led by our continued focus on delivering value to our members and executing on our strategic priorities,” said Laura Felice, EVP and CFO.

In March, BJ's revealed five new clubs across the Southeast and Midwest that are planned to open this fiscal year, plus its first one in the state of Kentucky in early 2025. As part of its ambitious expansion plans, the retailer also recently made public the locations of three more clubs scheduled to open in 2024. The club locations are:

• Staten Island, N.Y., BJ’s 49th location in New York, located in Bricktown Centre
• Brooksville, Fla., the company’s 40th club in Florida
• St. Johns, Fla., located near Jacksonville, the company’s 41st club in Florida

Marlborough, Mass.-based BJ’s currently operates more than 240 clubs and 170-plus BJ’s Gas locations in 20 states. The company is No. 30 on The PG 100, Progressive Grocer’s 2024 list of the top food and consumables retailers in North America.