BJ’s uses tariff refunds to cut prices and widen its edge
BJ’s cut prices by about half a point with tariff refunds, and Bob Eddy said that widened its edge over rivals.
BJ’s Wholesale Club trimmed overall retail prices by about half a percentage point after using tariff refunds for price cuts, widening the company’s price advantage over competitors, Bob Eddy said.
On BJ’s May 22 Q1 2026 earnings call, net sales rose nearly 10% year over year to $5.5 billion, comparable club sales increased 6.3%, and membership fee income climbed about 10% to $132 million, an all-time high. Adjusted EBITDA rose about 4% to $298 million. Laura Felice, BJ’s chief financial officer, said tariff-related items added roughly $20 million to merchandise margin last quarter. Merchandise gross margin would have been down 60 basis points without tariff refund benefits, and the refunds added 50 basis points to merchandise margin.
BJ’s investor materials list the company as founded in New England in 1984, with 267 clubs and 205 gas stations across 22 states, about 8 million members and $21.5 billion in annual total revenue. It offers up to 25% savings on a representative basket of manufacturer-branded groceries compared with traditional supermarkets.
BJ’s expected “a little bit of additional tariff dollars” in the current quarter and would keep trying to recover money paid directly or through suppliers. A February Supreme Court ruling found President Donald Trump had imposed country-specific tariffs illegally. Walmart expects about $2.4 billion in tariff rebates and plans to use them for price cuts, while E.l.f. Beauty expects to use $58.5 million in refunds to lower prices and lift sales volume.
Oaktree Capital Management filed a New York Supreme Court lawsuit in April, alleging BJ’s breached an agreement to sell Oaktree its claim to about $29 million in tariff refunds for roughly 70 cents on the dollar, or about $20 million, after U.S. Customs and Border Protection announced on April 10 that it would launch a tariff refund portal.
Big Lots filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on September 9, 2024, and Variety Wholesalers acquired 219 stores out of bankruptcy before reopening locations in phases, with the final phase on June 5, 2025.
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