| On the Q3 earnings conference call, BJ's Wholesale Club (BJ) CEO Laura Sen said food and consumables continued to be the primary driver of sales during Q3. She said traffic grew by 5% on top of a 5% in last year's Q3 and noted that given the uncertain economic climate, the company has been conservative with its holiday inventory level. However, Sen said she expects a small increase in Q4 in general merchandise sales versus the company's original plan for slight decrease. Also due to the uncertain economy and continuing impact of deflation, the company will get through Q4 before providing detailed guidance for FY10. She does expect that many of this year's trends will carry into next year, and BJ's should see strong increases in traffic and market share due to the operational and merchandising improvements that have been made in the business. Sen expects perishables deflation to cycle "at some point" in 1H10, which should help sales dollars growth. The company said that, particularly in the metro New York area, BJ's has been seeing strong results of EBT. :theflyonthewall.com |
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