BJ's Gaining Ground on Costco and Walmart

Sales at Costco (NASDAQ: COST) may indeed have fallen this January, but how is the firm performing compared with its competition?

MSSI Data from January on Costco and its two main competitors, Wal-Mart (NYSE: WMT) and BJ’s (NYSE: BJ), reflect that BJ’s gained some ground against its rivals. The average trip to BJ’s saw Geezeo users spending almost 10% more in January ‘09 compared with December ‘08 figures, which is significantly better than the 4.79% dip at Costco and almost 1% decrease at Wal-Mart over the same period.

click to enlarge

Looking at aggregate figures for this sector, which includes firms like Target (NYSE: TGT) and Big Lots (NYSE: BIG), Wal-Mart holds clear market dominance, accounting for 37% of sector sales. BJ’s gains have not done much to shift this balance of power.

The dip in consumer spending can partially be attributed to a return to normal following last month’s holiday season. Compared to January ‘08 figures, Costco has seen a 9.24% increase, BJ’s a 13.54%, and Wal-Mart a significant 38% in the average monthly customer spending. These percentages indicate that people are indeed spending more, even given the economic situation. As long as these firms can keep attracting customers, they have the ability to position themselves well. This data was compiled by the Geezeo Main Street Spending Index (MSSI).

Comments

[sschatt:]

What kind of a stupid story is this? Does your editror have no sense? BJ's is "Gaining ground"? BJ's has 1.4% of the market, Costco 13& and Walmart 37.7%. How much ground has BJ's gained? One-tenth of one percent? That's ludicrous. Whoever edited this story and wrote the headline ought to be ashamed of himself. Someone ought to teach him how to use the language. Saying BJ's "gained ground" with that minuscule increase in one month is like saying a worm "gained ground" on a racing car because it moved one inch when the racing car stopped to refuel. When BJ's moves up two or three percentage points, let us know. Then it might be significant.

Feb 08 09:41 PM

[Non union Dan:]

This is a stupid news story that is completely out of context with relality. The reporter who wrote this story must not be from the american stock of reporters ............

Feb 09 04:02 AM

[schade:]

Is it just me or does the story say: "BJ’s gains have not done much to shift this balance of power." But yes with such a small (obviously biased) percentage what's the use of giving the market share data at all?

Feb 10 12:19 PM