BJ’s Wholesale Club, Inc. (BJ), a leading warehouse club operator in the United States , recently posted strong sales results for the five-week period ended April 3, 2010 driven by the shift in Easter holidays and better weather.
The sales for March jumped 15.7% to $1,006.7 million from $870.3 million delivered in the same month last year. For the nine-week period ended April 3, 2010, sales rose 14.4% to $1,762 million from $1,539.9 million posted in the same period last year.
Comparable club sales for March rose 10.6%, whereas for the nine-week period comps climbed 9.2%. Gasoline sales positively impacted the comparable club sales by 3.3% during the reported month, and by 3.4% for the nine-week period.
Excluding gasoline, merchandise comparable club sales for March climbed 7.3%, whereas for the nine-week period comps increased 5.8%.
BJ’s also hinted that an early Easter benefited merchandise comparable club sales for the month under review, by approximately 2%.
Excluding gasoline sales, traffic rose by nearly 7% year-over-year in the month, whereas the average transaction amount remained flat.
Heavy job losses and the recent economic downturn have changed the way consumers used to shop. However, with signs of revival in the economy shoppers have started loosening their purse strings. BJ’s Wholesale Club experienced a 9% rise in sales of food, whereas sales of general merchandise grew by 5%.
By categories – apparel, bakery, candy, dairy, eggs, frozen foods, furniture, health & beauty aids, housewares, juices, meat, milk, prepared foods, small appliances, snacks and wine etc. reported robust sales. On the contrary, household chemicals, televisions, and video games delivered sluggish sales.
BJ’s Wholesale Club currently operates 187 clubs in 15 states.
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