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 Wage and Hour Suit destroys Q3 Numbers...Expansion details...

Image via Wikipedia

We know this story has been re-published throughout the blog, just bringing it to everyone's attention.  The story broke about three weeks ago...

We'll take you through the timetable:

BJ's has an abysmal Third Quarter.  (Read the entire Q3 report at Yahoo!.)

Further research to BJ's Wholesale Club dissatisfying Q3 numbers has BJ's and investors scapegoating the $11.7 Million Dollar wage and hour lawsuit which was settled during the end of the quarter as the main contributer to the terrible Q3 numbers. 

More on the Lawsuit:

Press Release:  http://www.tradingmarkets.com/.site/news/Stock%20News/2663574/

Klafter Olsen & Lesser LLP has reached a $9.3 million settlement of an overtime pay class action lawsuit against BJ's Wholesale Club Inc. (NYSE: BJ). The settlement, which is subject to Court approval, is intended to resolve claims that BJ's misclassified certain Mid Manager employees as exempt from receiving overtime for hours worked in excess of 40 hours per week.

Plaintiffs claim that they were misclassified because their primary responsibilities included hourly duties such as loading and unloading materials, stocking shelves and other activities which are not exempt under federal and state overtime laws Under the settlement, approximately 1,500 current and former Mid Managers employed by BJ's since November 2007 will be entitled to make claims to share in the recovery, based on the number of weeks they were employed by the company. 

From BJ's.com, quote: "The settlement of the lawsuit is not an admission on the part of the Company of any wrongdoing. "

What are your thoughts? Any company wrongdoing here? Lot's of people complain that they do work outside their job classification, which allows companies to take advantage of most workers, what are your thoughts?


As far as chain expansion in the coming months:

"Chain expansion, club renovation, our technology roadmap and team member training and development. Our preliminary expansion plans call for 79 new clubs, including two in Massachusetts, one in Metro New York, one in Orland, Maryland and a club relocation in Rhode Island."

Keep the emails and posts coming,

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 to report Second Quarter Earnings Wednesday

Image by djlah via Flickr

The New York Times previews BJ's Wholesale Club's second quarter earnings, after J.P. Morgan downgraded the stock yesterday. Earnings aren't expected to be too strong, we've heard that the mood has been a little tense in the stores because of this.

Yet another new BJ's Wholesale Club in the works?!?

Massachusetts: A Seyon Street site that was once slated for a Lowe’s home improvement store will now be home to a BJ’s Wholesale Club, according to a spokeswoman for the developer of the property.

Diana Pisciotta, spokeswoman for Boston-based Samuels and Associates, said an 117,000-square-foot BJ’s is planned for the 20 Seyon St. location., which the developer will build “by right.”

Read the article here. Construction is planned to be finished by the fall of 2010.

More at Boston.com: BJ's to move into former Raytheon site.

What a month for BJ's, if I'm counting right, that brings the July count of new BJ's developments up to four, and the sixth announcement of new projects since March...What recession??

Oh and they've also just inked a new 5-year contract with Wirpo Bags.

Another BJ's development in Jersey spurts up, inches away from approval

Image by Getty Images via Daylife

BJ's continues to acquire more and more retail space during a recession, and set their sights on potential areas for growth.

This time they're inches away from approval in Howell, New Jersey.

Plans for the nearly 45-acre site include the 117,925-square-foot BJ's Wholesale Club with a gas station and tire sale and service area.

So as they continue to expand during a recession, do the excuses of being hurt in a bad economy warrent the complaints we recieve on not getting enough hours? Let us know...

BJ's Sales Down Again...

Image via Wikipedia

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.

BJ's Briefs...an inked deal in Flushing, a lawsuit, and more...

Image by Getty Images via Daylife

Here's some recent press BJ's has gotten in the past week:

BJ's Wholesale Club inks another lease in the NYC Metro area.

BJ's to take 170,000 sqft in Canarsie, Brooklyn.

An 89 year old widow is suing BJ's Wholesale Club in an age biased firing.

BJ's eyes are still on Pittsburgh.

Enjoy the Holidays

We hope you enjoy your holidays, we'll be back next week and unveil our new 2009 plans.

Until then we hope the recent gains by BJ's [BJ's Wholesale Club - up 11.5%] are being reflected upon you, the workers who deserve the credit.

Happy Holidays!

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.

BJ's announces new store opening in Florida...

Image by Ditch the Kitsch!! via Flickr
The hard economic times do not seem to be on retailers like BJ's & Wal-Mart, who are taking advantage of the struggling economy by offering lower prices than competitors, question is though are their employees seeing any of these benefits?

CLERMONT - A BJ's Wholesale Club is scheduled to open next spring, showing that commercial growth in Clermont is not about to stop, even with a slowdown in the construction of new homes.

Read the entire article here [Orlando Sentinel]

Has BJ's cited tough economic times to regarding to your wages?

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

mage by Getty Images via Daylife
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

Forecasts are up for BJ's

Once again, investing websites are predicting sunny skies for BJ's Wholesale Club:

The company’s efforts to improve its merchandise and increase store traffic continue to drive its sales. The difficult macro-economic conditions are also pushing customers into discount stores and wholesale clubs, which offer a better value compared to supermarkets. We maintain our Hold rating, and our target price of $38.

Retailers like BJ's Wholesale Club & Wal-Mart are set to thrive in tough economic times.

Here's another investment blog saying BJ's will benefit in this economy.