BJ's Wholesale Club Holdings, Inc.

Is BJ's Wholesale Club publicly traded?

Yes. BJ's Wholesale Club Holdings trades on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker BJ. The company re-entered public markets in June 2018 after seven years of private equity ownership under CVC Capital Partners and Leonard Green and Partners.

Who owns BJ's Wholesale Club?

Public shareholders own the company. No single investor or family controls it, and the private equity firms that took it private in 2011 have fully exited. The largest shareholders are institutional asset managers. Bob Eddy serves as Chairman and CEO.

When was BJ's founded?

The first BJ's Wholesale Club opened in 1984 in Medford, Massachusetts, as a division of Zayre Corporation. The company became an independent public company in 1997, went private in 2011, and returned to the NYSE in 2018.

What does BJ's stand for?

The name honors Beverly Jean Weich, daughter of Mervyn Weich, who was president of Zayre when the chain launched in 1984.

What are Wellsley Farms and Berkley Jensen?

They are BJ's two private label brands. Wellsley Farms covers grocery and fresh food categories, while Berkley Jensen covers general merchandise, health, and household products. Together they represent roughly a quarter of merchandise sales.

How many BJ's clubs are there?

As of late fiscal 2026, BJ's operated approximately 267 warehouse clubs and 206 gas stations across 22 states. The company has been opening new clubs at its fastest pace in years, including its first locations in Texas.

How much is a BJ's membership?

A standard Club membership costs $60 per year and a Club+ membership costs $120 per year, rates that took effect January 1, 2025. Club+ adds 2% cashback on most purchases and additional digital benefits.

Zayre Corporation, a Massachusetts discount department store operator, opened the first BJ's Wholesale Club in Medford, Massachusetts in 1984, eight years after Price Club invented the format in San Diego. The name came from Beverly Jean Weich, daughter of Zayre president Mervyn Weich. Expansion through the late 1980s made BJ's the dominant club operator in New England.

Zayre's corporate restructuring shaped the chain's early ownership history. After selling the Zayre stores to Ames in 1988, the parent spun off BJ's and HomeBase as Waban Inc. in 1989. In 1997 Waban spun off BJ's Wholesale Club as a standalone public company, giving the chain its first independent listing.

BJ's went private in October 2011 when private equity firms CVC Capital Partners and Leonard Green and Partners acquired it for approximately $2.8 billion. Under private ownership the company remodeled clubs, expanded into fresh grocery, and built its private labels. CVC and Leonard Green returned BJ's to the public markets in June 2018 at $17 per share on the New York Stock Exchange, ticker BJ.

The club business benefited disproportionately from the pandemic. Comparable sales and membership surged in fiscal 2020 and 2021 as consumers consolidated trips and bought in bulk, and the company kept most of those members afterward. CEO Lee Delaney, who led the 2018 IPO and the pandemic response, died unexpectedly in April 2021. CFO Bob Eddy succeeded him.

Since 2021 the strategy has centered on four pillars: membership growth, merchandising, digital convenience, and footprint expansion. BJ's raised membership fees on January 1, 2025, taking the Club tier from $55 to $60 and Club+ from $110 to $120, the first increase in seven years. Membership still grew past 8 million, then 8.5 million, and the tenured renewal rate held near 90% for a fourth consecutive year.

Geographic expansion accelerated in fiscal 2025 and 2026. The company opened clubs in new markets across the Southeast and entered Texas with multiple Dallas-Fort Worth locations, taking the footprint from 21 to 22 states. Fiscal 2025 closed on January 31, 2026 with total revenues of $21.46 billion, up 4.7%, and net income of $578.4 million. The company's fiscal 2026 guidance called for 2% to 3% comparable sales growth excluding gasoline and adjusted EPS of $4.40 to $4.60.

BJ's publishes an annual sustainability report covering emissions, waste diversion, and sustainable sourcing commitments. Headline programs include food donation partnerships through Feeding America, with tens of millions of pounds of food donated from clubs, and a long-running unsold food redistribution program. The company has committed to science-aligned emissions reduction targets and reports progress on refrigerant management, a material emissions source for grocery retail.

On sourcing, BJ's has published responsible sourcing policies covering seafood, palm oil, and cage-free eggs, and has worked toward converting its egg supply to cage-free. The Wellsley Farms and Berkley Jensen labels give the company direct control over packaging reduction on a large share of assortment. The company is not a certified B Corporation.

BJ's has been named to Newsweek's lists of America's best retailers and best places to work in multiple years, and its clubs have ranked highly in consumer satisfaction surveys of the warehouse club category, including the American Customer Satisfaction Index where it has competed closely with Costco. The company has also appeared on Forbes' best employers lists and has been recognized for veteran hiring.

The most significant regulatory episode in BJ's history predates its current ownership. In 2004, federal authorities disclosed a major data breach in which attackers stole card data from tens of thousands of BJ's members through insecure wireless networks at stores. The FTC brought a case in 2005 alleging the company failed to use reasonable security measures; BJ's settled with a consent order requiring a comprehensive security program and biennial audits for 20 years. The breach was one of the events that accelerated adoption of stronger payment card security standards across retail.

Labor relations are an ongoing pressure point, as with most large retailers. BJ's faced criticism during the pandemic over hazard pay and sick leave policies before expanding benefits. The company has also drawn routine scrutiny over wage levels at clubs, though its turnover rates compare favorably within the sector. There have been no material controversies under current management.