BJ’s Wholesale Club is coming to Texas, land of Costco and Sam’s

Costco Wholesale Club and Sam’s Club have long dominated their niche in Texas, but a new competitor from the East Coast is heading west.

BJ’s Wholesale Club has filed for a permit in Fort Worth to build a store in southern Tarrant County at 5901 Altamesa Blvd., about 3 miles south of a Costco.

“We are continually looking to grow our club footprint and bring outstanding value to new communities. Our real estate pipeline is the strongest it’s been in years,” said BJ’s spokesman Kirk Saville. He declined to provide Texas plans.

There are likely more stores in the works because retailers need economy of scale when they enter a new market.

The Massachusetts-based wholesale club pioneered the wholesale club concept in New England and now has 244 stores in 20 states. It just added its 21st state by announcing a store in Kentucky and has new stores planned for Florida and New York.

Last year, BJ’s expanded into Tennessee and Alabama.

It’s a big leap into Texas, where Sam’s Club operates 82 stores and Costco Wholesale has 39 stores. Sam’s hasn’t been building new stores in Texas in recent years, but Costco has three new stores in the works in Prosper, Celina and Weatherford.

The wholesale club will be entering Texas as H-E-B is accelerating its D-FW expansion.

How do the three stack up in revenue? Costco is the biggest with sales last year of $237.7 billion, followed by Sam’s sales of $84.3 billion, and BJ’s sales of $19.97 billion.

BJ’s operates stores that are 63,000 to 163,000 square feet and most new clubs have gas pumps. Sam’s and Costco stores in Texas average around 150,000 square feet.

BJ’s reported first quarter results Thursday and said it’s on track to open 12 new clubs this year. The company reported a profit of $111 million on sales of $4.92 billion in the period ended May 4, compared with a profit of $116 million on sales of $4.72 billion a year ago.

Staff writer Anna Butler contributed to this report.

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