An Inside Look at BJ's Wholesale Club?

A brand new post looking at what it's like working for BJ's Wholesale Club was posted at GlassDoor.com

Agree? disagree? We wanna know what you think....

BJ's Wholesale Club – “Disapointing due to poor treatment of employees and empty promises.”

Here's the post:
 

BJ's Wholesale Club Receiving Manager in Hudson, MA:   (Current Employee)

Pros

The benefits offered are good, and the oppurtunity to receive free BJ's memberships for you and your family are a plus.

Cons

Compensation is generally very poor and treatment of employees seems to be poor as well. Managers are imcompetant and have a strong tendancy to mis-manage as well as micro-manage.

Advice to Senior Management

Gain a better understanding of the practices in each department as well as a respect for the amount of work that each employee puts in.

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BJ's Wholesale Club Sold for $2.8 billion

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Stories broke on BJ's Wholesale Club's sale last week, and now there is an investor suing the company because the sale price of $2.8 billion is "grossly inadequate" Read it at Bloomberg.

BJ's Wholesale Club will be acquired by Leonard Green & Partners and CVC Capital Partners in an all-cash transaction valued at $2.8 billion. BJ's, which operates 190 warehouse clubs in 15 states, reported $10.6 billion in sales last year.

Under the terms of the agreement, BJ's shareholders will receive $51.25 per share, a 38 percent premium to the closing price June 2010, and a 7 percent premium to the closing price on June 28.

BJ's board of directors unanimously approved the merger agreement. The transaction is expected to close during the fourth quarter.

"BJ's will benefit from the continued execution of our business plan and the significant retail expertise of our new partners at LGP and CVC, as well as from continued investments in our clubs, our people and technology, and the future of our business," says Laura Sen, president and chief executive officer. "Our members will continue to enjoy the top-quality merchandise, outstanding savings and great service that they've come to expect from BJ's on every visit."

Links: http://www.licensemag.com/licensemag/News/BJs-Wholesale-Club-to-be-Acquired/ArticleStandard/Article/detail/729435?contextCategoryId=33594


WSJ: http://online.wsj.com/article/BT-CO-20110629-711984.html

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Related articles

• BJ's Wholesale: Longest Sale Process Ever? (blogs.wsj.com)
• Two Firms Pay $2.8B For BJ's (bostonist.com)
• Private equity firms to buy BJ's Wholesale for $2.8-billion (theglobeandmail.com)

BJ's Post 4Q Profit, Sales Climb admist Bad February Weather....

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Fourth Quarter:
BJ's Wholesale Club Inc. released their 4Q numbers on Wednesday, finding  that its fiscal fourth-quarter profit climbed 5 percent and higher gasoline prices led to increased revenue.
 
But the third-largest warehouse club operator also gave a 2010 earnings forecast below analysts' predictions. .
BJ's profit increased to $55.1 million, or $1.01 per share. That compares with earnings of $52.7 million, or 91 cents per share, a year ago

From Chicago Sun Times:
Sales for the period ended Jan. 30 rose 9% to $2.8 billion from $2.56 billion on membership fee growth and increased net sales, beating the $2.79 billion forecast of analysts polled by Thomson Reuters.

Sales at stores open at least a year grew 4.6 percent, with a 2.3 percent benefit from gasoline sales. That figure is a key measure of a retailer's performance because it looks at the results of existing stores rather than newly opened ones.

The results are an improvement from the third quarter, when the sales figure fell 2.5 percent.
Earlier in the morning rival Costco Wholesale Corp. reported that its second-quarter profit rose 25 percent as strong overseas sales growth and increased gasoline prices lifted its revenue.

BJ's, based in Natick, Mass., has seen success during the recession as budget-minded shoppers have come to its stores for deals on food and other necessities.

The company's full-year profit slipped 2 percent to $132.1 million, or $2.42 per share, from $134.6 million, or $2.28 per share, in the prior year. Adjusted earnings were $2.48 per share.

Annual revenue increased 2 percent to $10.19 billion from $10.03 billion.

Sales at stores open at least a year fell 1.9 percent, with a 5.9 percent drag from lower overall gas prices. Taking out gas sales, the figure climbed 4 percent for the year.

BJ's forecast a profit between $2.54 and $2.64 for fiscal 2010, but that's short of the $2.71 per share that analysts are looking for. The company anticipates first-quarter earnings in a range of 40 cents to 45 cents per share. Wall Street predicts a quarterly profit of 43 cents per share.

February Sales:

BJ’s Wholesale Club, Inc. (NYSE:BJ): reported that sales for February 2010 increased by 12.8% to $755.2 million from $669.6 million in February 2009. Comparable club sales increased by 7.5% for the month of February 2010, including a contribution from sales of gasoline of 3.6%. Excluding gasoline sales, merchandise comparable club sales increased by 3.9%.  A calendar shift in the timing of the Super Bowl from January last year to February this year had a positive impact on merchandise comparable club sales of approximately 2%. However, severe winter storms had a negative impact of 2-2.5%.

Four Weeks Ended    Four Weeks Ended 
                                     February 27, 2010   February 28, 2009 
----------------------------------  ------------------  ------------------ 
Merchandise comparable club sales          3.9%                8.2% 
----------------------------------  ------------------  ------------------ 
Impact of gasoline sales                   3.6%               (7.6%) 
----------------------------------  ------------------  ------------------ 
Comparable club sales                      7.5%                0.6% 
----------------------------------  ------------------  ------------------ 
 
 
     Sales Results for February 2010 
             ($ in thousands) 
 
     Four Weeks Ended          % Change 
February 27,  February 28,   Net    Comp. 
    2010          2009       Sales   Sales 
------------  ------------  ------  ------ 
 $ 755,241     $ 669,589    12.8%    7.5% 

The Company provided the following additional information regarding comparable club sales for February 2010:

• By week, the strongest sales increase was in week one, reflecting a calendar shift in the timing of the Super Bowl, and the smallest increase was in week four, reflecting severe snow storms in the Northeast.
• By major region, the strongest increases were in the Southeast and Upstate New York. The smallest increases were in the Mid-Atlantic and Metro New York regions.
• Excluding sales of gasoline, traffic increased by approximately 3% and the average transaction amount increased by approximately 1%.
• Sales of food increased by approximately 7% and general merchandise sales decreased by about 1%.
• Departments with the strongest sales increases compared to last year included bakery, breakfast foods, cigarettes, computers, dairy, deli, frozen foods, furniture, house wares, juices, produce, small appliances and snacks. Weaker departments versus last year included books, household chemicals, DVDs, televisions and trash bags.

BJ’s press releases and filings with the SEC are available on the Internet at www.bjs.com. 

Fourth Quarter and Fiscal Year-end Conference Call available for download: http://www.bjsinvestor.com/events.cfm.

The financial future of BJ's looks pretty stable and solid, thanks to all the great team members who make the entire machine run.

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BJ's begins laying foundation for new store in Mass.

This weekend, workers began laying foundation for a new BJ's Wholesale Club in Quincy Massachusetts.  The 85,000 sqft store is slated to be completed by April 2010. 

Elsewhere, BJ's sales announced that its comparable club sales for August 2009 decreased by 6.0%, including a negative impact of 8.2% from lower gasoline prices and volumes. Excluding gasoline, merchandise comparable club sales increased by 2.2%.

In 2008, the Company reported a comparable club sales increase of 15.4% for August, including a contribution from sales of gasoline of 7.7%. Excluding the impact of gasoline, merchandise comparable club sales increased by 7.7%

BJ's Sales Down Again...

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Another month, another dip in sales. For consecutive months BJ's sales are down, via Barron's.com

BJ's Wholesale Club (BJ) comparable-store sales have lost momentum for the second month in a row and the first time in several quarters as the company reported a below plan and below consensus comp store sales gain of 2.7%. The company believes bad weather may have pressured sales by 1%-2%. Despite a relatively low enterprise value/earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization multiple of about 5 times, we are maintaining our Hold rating given our concerns around a deceleration in sales and difficult comparisons ahead as other retailers face easier comparisons.

Thanks and keep sending in the emails on how these sales are affecting your working conditions.

Another BJ's to Brooklyn

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A release surfaced last week saying BJ's just inked a deal to anchor a new shopping center in Canarsie Brooklyn. The company continues to expand in a struggling economy and to areas which lack shopping options.

Back to Basics at BJ's?

From www.boston.com

An interview with Laura Sen on the future of BJ's...

How does it feel to take over during one of the worst economic crises?
We are fortunately in a business model that is well-positioned in a bad economy or a good economy. There's been a migration toward value in the retail world over the years. The value players are the winners. Do I have concerns about what the future may bring or what may happen to us? Sure, but we're very well positioned to not only survive but to grow.

Do you foresee any cuts in BJ's workforce or store closings?
For the moment, we're creating jobs. We just opened a club in Revere. But we're always looking for new efficiencies in our supply chain and club processes. We do not expect any job cuts at this time. That being said, we're very cautious about increased spending.

How long do you think the recession will last?
I wish I had a crystal ball. My guess is all of 2009 will be a tough year. We might see some light in a year from now. A lot rests on the administration and what kind of stimulus they can get that will reignite employment, housing, and the credit markets.

What is the best way to jump-start the economy - a spending stimulus, tax cuts, rebate checks?
A rebate check to somebody who is unemployed helps them for a very short time. What needs to happen - and it's the same approach we use here - is we need long-term sustainable measures that will create fertilizer for the ground so things can grow. We need systemic efforts - focusing on infrastructure improvements that will create jobs, education, and social programs that will help create jobs, and some of the tax measures will help create spending.

An interview with the new CEO, A new member to the board of directors....

Image by Road Fun via FlickrHere's an interview with the new CEO of BJ's Wholesale Club, Laura Sen.

BJ's Wholesale Club, Inc. has elected Picis president and c.e.o. Christine Cournoyer, to its board of directors. The Wakefield, Mass.-based company is a worldwide provider of software solutions for automating resource-intensive hospital documentation and business practices...

It's been said throughout this blog that the company needs change.

Anonymous 12/17/2008: "...All we can hope for is CHANGE"

Anonymous 12/17/2008: "But when January comes they'll forget all about how many hours we worked and will think nothing of cutting all of our hours. Apparently we all need the money and we still need it in January..."

Anonymous 12/10/2008: "The ONLY thing your GM is interested in is keeping his job with the salary and bonus. He knows in todays market, new jobs are tough to find."

With all these new appointments and hires, where's the change for the real people who run the company? We'll have a monthly wrap up of the comments next week...until then, Happy Holidays!

A new CEO for BJ's Wholesale Club

BJ's Wholesale Club on Thursday named its president, Laura Sen, to serve as chief executive officer, succeeding Herb Zarkin in a widely expected management change...

Previous reports of Herb Zarkin's retirement were denounced, as he will continue to serve as chairman and will stand for re-election to the board when his term expires in May of 2010.

Read more here at Business Week.

Tough Economy??? Not for BJ's, reports say sales continue to rise..

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BJ's Wholesale Club continues to gain.

Here's a link to their press release reporting strong sales.

Wal-Mart sales also were up. Both retailers continue to make money in this economy

BJ's sales up

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BJ's said Thursday that its October sales at stores open at least one year rose 10.2%, with a contribution from gasoline sales of 3.6%. Analysts, on average, had expected same-store sales to rise 6.3%, according to Thomson Reuters. Total sales for the four weeks ended November 1 rose 11.6% to $738.8 million.