Please sign in to post.

BJ's Wholesale Club

I know lots of folks here like Costco.

The nearest Costco or Sam's Club to me is about 35 miles away.

But we recently got a BJ's in my town. It's across town, but that's not that big a deal.

I took a walk through it today. I liked that it was not crowded like Wal-Mart. Neither was the parking lot. [Disclosure: I hate going to a Wal-Mart. I've been known to enter the parking lot and drive right back out.] But by BJ's being "NEW", they may not have had time to get crowded and junkie yet.

Lots of stuff. Some of it in quantities that would be too much for me to ever consider buying.

I also noticed that they did not have some regional brands of groceries.

I didn't notice if they had any luggage or backpacks.

They do have clothing and shoes including Eddie Bauer shoes. I looked at some very lightweight [all synthetic] shirts and some warm looking vests that weren't puffy, and some very thin, lightweight quarter zips.

Gasoline is about 10 cents cheaper than other places in town. Unless you buy the "Easy-pay" or whatever pre-paid card the others offer. Then they are only about 2-3 cents cheaper.

So my questions are:

If you have a BJ's, do you like it?
Why? / Why not?

Do you also have a Costco?

Which do you prefer?

Posted by
416 posts

I prefer Costco, and have been a member for many years. BJs recently came into our area, and we now have a membership there too, because they offer a hefty teacher discount. BJs is a more convenient location for us, so we take advantage of the discounted gas often. Costco is a bit of a drive and not as convenient to stop just for gas.
In terms of clothing that one might buy for travel, Costco has a much bigger selection and everything seems of a higher quality than BJs, IMO. I think they have some luggage at BJs, but I haven’t looked closely at it. Years ago we bought Samsonite luggage at Costco and were happy with it.

One thing that annoys me about BJs is that they offer coupons that you have to select in the app to get the savings. It seems like if you’re a member, you shouldn’t have to search for coupons? But maybe that’s just me!

Posted by
8459 posts

We have one Sam's Club. And we have two Costco's on the same road 6 miles from each other.

We also have a BJ's in, but it is not doing very much volume at all. They built it in an industrial part of town where not many people live, and its long term success is doubtful.