Well, it took two years of negotiations, but finally a deal has been struck to bring the first BJ’s Wholesale Club to Passaic County, more specifically, Wayne.
BJ’s announced that they will be opening a 105,031 square foot warehouse club and gas station some time later this year.
The store will feature "an extensive selection of fresh foods, a full-service deli and household essentials like paper products, cleaning products, diapers, pet supplies and more,"according to BJ's. The membership based club mainly has stores on the East Coast (including 23 in New Jersey), but has been expanding into the Midwest recently
BJ’s had applied to build the store in 2020 and now, two years later, plans are moving ahead, although no definite opening date has been announced; the company said it will be later this year.
BJ’s uses the membership/warehouse model similar to Costco’s and Sam’s Clubs; only members are allowed to shop there and they also receive member benefits when it comes to things like car rentals and other travel options. According to their website, non-members are allowed to purchase gas at BJ’s, but they do not receive member discounts or promotions.
The company also operates a pretty big distribution center in Burlington (it’s over 600,000 square feet).
BJ’s was started by the old Zayre department store (remember them?!) in 1984 in Mass. And has grown from there; now there are 239 stores in the US and more are coming.
“We’ve seen tremendous success in growing our footprint over the last several years, both in our core East Coast communities as well as in new markets like the greater Detroit and Pittsburgh areas,” Bill Werner, executive vice president of strategy and development at BJ’s, said in a statement.
Opinions expressed in the post above are those of New Jersey 101.5 talk show host Bill Doyle only.
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