wholesale club type private industry retailing warehouse club founded 1984 ; 32 years ago 1984 1 headquarters westborough ma united states number of locations 213 ; gas stations 150 area served east coast of the united states and ohio 1 key people chris baldwin ceo 1 products electronics home furniture outdoor sporting goods toys jewelry clothing health and beauty grocery . number of employees 25 500 fy 2009 1 website bjs.com bj s wholesale club commonly referred to simply as bj s is an american membership only warehouse club chain operating on the united states east coast as well as in the state of ohio . 1 contents 1 history 2 bj s today 3 brands 3.1 house brands 3.2 other brands 4 distribution centers 5 references 6 external links history edit 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 . 2 3 weich announced his resignation as president in june 1987 and left on august 1 . 4 he was replaced by john levy . 5 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. 6 in 2011 bj s was acquired by two private equity firms leonard green & partners and cvc capital partners . 7 in 2014 bj s was fully bought by leonard green & partners . bj s today edit as of november 6 2013 update bj s operated 200 bj s clubs in fifteen states and employed approximately 25 000 team members both full and part time . 1 clubs are found in maine new hampshire massachusetts delaware connecticut rhode island new york new jersey pennsylvania maryland virginia north carolina georgia florida and ohio . its major competitors are costco wholesale and walmart s version of a warehouse club concept sam s club . bj s wholesale club in virginia bj s offers a variety of special benefits to its members . these include member pricing a variety of name brand products at discount wholesale prices acceptance of all valid manufacturers coupons and acceptance of many forms of payment cash check atm debit cards all major credit cards and ebt snap benefits . 8 memberships at bj s are required for these benefits and are available to individual consumers and businesses . bj s memberships normally last for twelve months from the date of purchase and must be renewed yearly . as of january 3 2011 update a standard inner circle individual membership at bj s cost 50 per year . 9 in addition bj s also has a special rewards membership that may be purchased for an additional 50 1 10 allowing 2 % of most of a member s purchases to be rewarded and redeemed for use towards future bj s purchases with the exception of alcohol gas and tobacco . business members may apply to purchase bj s products for resale and non profit organization members may apply for tax exempt privileges where applicable . members with expired memberships if they choose not to renew as well as non members are allowed to shop but are assessed a 5 15 % surcharge depending on the club and the circumstances on their total and are not allowed to pay by check . however if non members keep their receipts and decide to renew their membership or open a new membership they will be refunded the surcharge and applied towards the membership fee within seven days . 11 to aid in convenience most bj s memberships can be renewed at the register during checkout . bj s wholesale club has a 100 % satisfaction guarantee on their memberships ; therefore a membership can be refunded at any time during that membership period without any 90 or 30 day stipulation . 12 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 . 1 in february 2007 bj s closed all pharmacies in its clubs . 11 bj s wholesale club locations frequently stock different varieties of products at different locations . however all clubs carry the items listed in the coupon book that is published on a monthly basis . however at certain times it is not uncommon for a certain club not to carry a new item immediately due to its higher demand . citation needed in march 2010 bj s announced they would move their corporate headquarters from natick to westborough massachusetts in 2011 . 1 13 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 . 14 15 brands edit house brands edit bj s wholesale club regularly markets numerous products under its own private labels including products by richelieu foods . 16 berkley jensen formerly berkley & jensen bj s private label products including some food and non food items . 17 wellsley farms bj s upscale private label line of fresh foods which includes a full selection of dairy products produce juices and fresh heat and eat meals other brands edit additionally bj s carries many organic and natural food brands such as kerrygold amy s kitchen kashi newman s own and american flatbread . distribution centers edit bj s utilizes three cross dock distribution centers along with third party warehouse space when extra storage is needed . 1 uxbridge ma size 618 000 square feet 57 400 m2 serving clubs in new england owned facility burlington nj size 634 000 square feet 58 900 m2 serving mid atlantic clubs leased facility jacksonville fl size 480 000 square feet 45 000 m2 serving southern clubs owned facility references edit a b c d e f g h i j bj s form 10 k annual report . march 25 2010 . archived from the original on march 5 2012 . bj s wholesale club inc. club member team guide . july 2010 . p. 6 . bj s wholesale club inc. . gale directory of company histories . the gale group inc. 2006 . retrieved 2013 09 24 . bj s president weich to resign ; 2nd top level departure in major zayre retail unit in june . hfd the weekly home furnishings newspaper . 1987 07 13 . retrieved 2013 09 24 . bj s wholesale club inc. . hoover s inc. retrieved 2013 09 24 . smith samantha 1997 08 11 . spin off of bj s wholesale club draws praise from industry analysts . boston business journal . retrieved 2013 09 24 . bj s wholesale club buyout completed . the boston globe . associated press . september 30 2011 . archived from the original on december 5 2011 . retrieved december 19 2011 . bj s wholesale club company background . bj s membership options bj s rewards membership a b bj s wholesale faqs . archived from the original on april 12 2010 . join the club bj s wholesale club archived april 27 2009 at the wayback machine . jenn abelson march 25 2010 . bj s confirms 11 westborough move . the boston globe . retrieved march 27 2010 . matt egan january 5 2011 . bj s sales fall short ; store closings planned . foxbusiness . karen talley and lauren pollock january 5 2011 . bj s wholesale closing five stores . my fox new york . retrieved january 12 2011 . lisa van der pool february 23 2009 . there s new appetite for peddlers of cheap eats . boston business journal . plunkett jack w. 2008 . the almanac of american employers 2009 . plunkett research . p. 192 . isbn 9781593921439 . retrieved january 13 2015 . external links edit bj s wholesale club official website companies portal business and economics portal v t e leonard green & partners healthcare aspen dental ims health retail bj s wholesale club the container store david s bridal del taco equinox fitness j.crew jo ann stores neiman marcus petco rite aid sports authority tourneau whole foods market v t e supermarket chains in the united states kroger baker s supermarkets city market dillons food stores food 4 less foods co. fred meyer fry s food & drug gerbes super markets harris teeter jay c king soopers kroger owen s pay less super markets qfc ralphs roundy s pick n save mariano s metro market copp s ruler foods scott s smith s albertsons acme markets albertsons amigos carrs haggen jewel osco lucky market street pavilions randalls safeway shaw s and star market super saver tom thumb united supermarkets vons supervalu county market cub farm fresh hornbacher s save a lot shop n save shoppers ahold delhaize food lion giant carlisle giant landover hannaford brothers company martin s food markets stop & shop southeastern grocers bi lo fresco y m s harveys supermarkets winn dixie wakefern pricerite shoprite the fresh grocer other national chains aldi iga lidl target walmart regional chains asian 99 ranch market great wall supermarket h mart hong kong supermarket island pacific supermarket marina food marukai corporation u.s.a. mitsuwa marketplace nijiya market seafood city shun fat supermarket uwajimaya hispanic bravo el ahorro supermarket fiesta foods fiesta mart la perla tapat a supermarkets m s club mi pueblo food center supermercados teloloapan vallarta supermarkets organic earth fare natural grocers trader joe s whole foods market wholesale bj s wholesale club costco sam s club conventional acme fresh market amigo andronico s balducci s bashas best yet market big y boyer s food markets inc. bristol farms brookshire brothers brookshire grocery company buehler food markets inc. c town supermarkets cash & carry central market d & w fresh market dave s markets dean & deluca demoulas market basket dierbergs markets dorothy lane market easy way store econofoods family fare fairway market fareway festival foods festival foods minnesota food giant food city foodarama foodland foodland hawaii foodtown pathmark gelson s gerland corporation giant eagle grand mart gristedes grocery outlet harmons harps food stores h e b heinen s fine foods highland park market homeland houchens hugo s hy vee ingles inserra supermarkets jerry s foods jungle jim s international market karns quality foods key food super fresh the food emporium king kullen kings super markets kuhn s quality foods lewis food town lion supermarket lowe s market lowes foods lund food holdings magruder s marc s market basket market of choice marsh supermarkets martin s super markets meijer met foods minyard food stores miracle mart mollie stone s markets morton williams new deal supermarket new seasons market niemann foods no frills supermarkets nugget markets pcc natural markets petrini s piggly wiggly piggly wiggly carolina co. pink dot price chopper price mart price chopper supermarkets publix pueblo raley s supermarkets red owl redner s markets remke markets rice epicurean markets ridley s family markets roche bros. rosauers supermarkets rouses russ s market save mart supermarkets saverite schnucks scolari s food and drug seafood city sedano s sellers