Friday, July 17, 2009

BJ's Strategy: Take business from Supermarkets

BJ's aims to take business from supermarkets during recession:

BJ's Wholesale Club Inc. , the No. 3 U.S. warehouse club operator, is focused on taking business from grocery stores as consumers look to save money on food in the recession.

4 comments:

  1. To Whom It May Concern:
    Today I visited one of the Bj’s wholesale clubs and wanted you to know about my experience.
    I am a Sam’s club shopper that wanted to see if BJ’s wholesale club would work for me. I have friends and family that have told me that I could save more money because I am a coupon shopper. I really couldn’t believe that Bj’s took manufacturer coupon and multiple coupons on items that are in multiple packs that are package for resale. I first checked BJ’s Internet site and found that this is true. I had my one-day pass and coupons in hand and drove 20 miles to the nearest BJ’s. I first went to the service desk and again had the lady explain the coupon policy. We went through examples and I was sure I understood. I told her that I would probably buy my membership on the way out. I went shopping and then headed to the checkout. The cashier was nice and proceeded to scan in all my coupons. At some point the register asked for a managers override. The manager came over and said I couldn’t use my coupons on the candy bars I purchased. I asked her why. She didn’t have an answer she said they just couldn’t take them. I explained BJ’s coupon policy to her and she replied that the box of snickers candy bars wasn’t packaged for resale. I said yes they are. 48 full sized candy bars individually wrapped. She walked away made a phone call then came back asking what I was going to do with them. I said excuse me. She asked if I was reselling them. I replied what would be the difference? She walked away again then returned saying that she could not take my starbuck coupons. I had bought a case of starbuck cappuccino drinks and had 12 coupons for $1.00 off any starbuck drink. She said the coupon didn’t say bottle so she couldn’t take it. I did point out that there was a picture of a bottle on the coupon. She walked away and returned with a piece of paper in her hand and said she would not take any of my coupons. As I turned around to pick up my coupon she then said, “you are breaking the law!” I turned quickly and said “What!” she repeated this again very loud. I informed her that I wasn’t breaking any laws. She then asked if I was a member. I replied that I was an invited guest and that I did not want to be a member She said that was good. She showed me a paper and pointed to the bottom sentence on the page. It read something like don’t take gang coupons. I asked her what that meant. She replied large amounts. I left.
    I have never been treated so badly. I coupon shop at a number of stores and can say that this was the worst experience ever. I was so upset I had an anxiety attack on the way home. Yes, I was getting a really good deal but I wasn’t doing anything wrong and I defiantly wasn’t breaking any laws. She made me feel like a criminal. I didn’t exceed the price of any item with coupons. My thoughts: If Bj’s is a wholesale club that sells large amounts and has the following policy stated on they’re website, why was I treated this way?
    You may not use more than one coupon on a single item. However, if you buy a multi-pack (a pack that contains multiple full-sized packages of a single product shrink-wrapped together) you may use multiple coupons.
    For example, if you have 2 coupons for 50% off an 8-oz. bottle of face cleanser and you are buying a multi-pack that contains 2 or more 8-oz. bottles of face cleanser you may use both coupons
    The store I visited was in Tampa, Florida at 6290 Commerce Palms Blvd. The manager’s name is Laura Schaller.

    Kelly Reynolds

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  2. Everyone at my club knows about this website. There is a lot of negative comments about fellow team members. I feel that a couple people were just venting because they have issues that no one seems to be concerned about. I think this BJ's Workers Blog was a good place to do that and they felt comfortable doing so on here because they noticed that they could post anonymous. They feel that if they bring these issues up that thier job would be threatened and the reason I feel this way is because if they find out who posted anonymously they are going to be fired. People want to find out who posted what so bad but thats why I'm thanking you because you let the team members without a voice be heard without the fear of repremand. Instead of trying to find out who posted what, I think they should try to right the wrongs within instead of planning a vengeance on the postee. Once again thank you for having a place for the "no voices" be heard.

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  3. To the one-day pass holder: I almost had an anxiety attack reader your post. This is a employee website. There is a regular bjs.com site would have been better for you. I understand that would have me upset too, but what does that have to do with us. It's two coupons per item and if that deal seemed to good to be true you should have realized it was. We already have to deal with members attitudes all day getting cussed out and told to go to hell. What about us? Whoever talked to you like that was wrong, but think about what we put up with all day. Not saying she was right but once again this is the employee site its said you had a bad experience but its nothing we can do about it

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  4. The problem is to many people have to many different rules. I want the rules to the card game before I start playing...way to many times the rules change and no one is informed. Right hand left hand clueless in Fl:(

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