Executive Vice President of Strategy & Development, Bjs Whsl Club Hldgs
Search every verified William Werner interview, podcast appearance, and on-the-record quote — each transcript cross-checked by AI and human review to confirm speaker identity. In a September 2018 interview on CNBC's "Squawk on the Street," BJ's Wholesale Club CEO Chris Baldwin discussed the company's initial public offering and the retail landscape. Baldwin stated that the consumer in the United States is "in good shape" and that "discount retail works," particularly when combined with a membership model. He noted that BJ's geographic focus is the Northeast, from New England down the East Coast to Florida, and expressed encouragement about opportunities to grow from that footprint. Baldwin acknowledged that any retailer who says they do not compete with Amazon "isn't being truthful," but asserted that "value retail works" and that BJ's is well-positioned. Baldwin said BJ's prices groceries at about 25 to 30 percent below grocery stores in its regions, and described the company's investments in omnichannel convenience, including a partnership with Instacart for delivery and a "buy online pick up in club" option. He stated that the company's cash flow is strong, with leverage expected to fall below three times by the end of 2019, and that private equity owners have made major investments in IT infrastructure. Baldwin also said BJ's deals with wage pressure on a regional basis and treats employees well, and that the company has no plans to expand internationally.
“I think the biggest thing it says is the consumer in the United States is in good shape and discount retail works and when you add a membership model on top of discount retail the business is healthy, vibrant and growing.”
“In the Northeast we are what's important about it so our geographic scale and markets like New York, New England all the way down the east coast of Florida is a big part of how we run our company and we're encouraged by the opportunities to take that footprint and grow from there.”
“Any retailer who says that they don't compete with Amazon isn't being truthful. So there is no doubt that the consumer is getting great value and great convenience but in the world we're living in today value retail works and membership on top of value retail is a business we feel great about.”
“We generally price groceries at about 25 to 30 percent below grocery stores in the geographies in which we compete and that's a big part of how we drive traffic.”
“The consumer environment is as strong as it is, looking at some level wage growth is good for the consumer. The fact that the consumer is winning as more and more pricing becomes more and more transparent that's good for consumers and in our view transparent pricing is really good for our company.”
“We absolutely do have the capital we need to grow. The cash flow profiles of this business are really good. We will come out of this deal at a little lower than four times leveraged and by the end of next year we'll be below three.”
“Our investments in Omni are about making the trip more convenient. We have a deal where we can go online today and place an order and have it to your house in a couple of hours. We're also letting consumers buy online and we'll have an order ready for them at our clubs, we call it buy online pick up in club.”
“We launched a terrific deal with Instacart where they are delivery agent and we feel good about the early read there and the online business is going to be a source of growth for many years to come.”
“Our private equity has been a great steward of this company over the course of the last seven years. They have made major investments in things like putting in SAP, our IT infrastructure is dramatically better than where we were seven years ago.”
“We feel we're really well positioned to be able to deal with pressures like logistics, supply chain, fuel, and trucker salaries. Our freight is really good, we've shipped full pallets and full trucks all the time and as a competitive advantage it's a big part of our ability to operate efficiently.”
BJ's Wholesale CEO Chris Baldwin speaks to "Squawk on the Street" about the company's initial public offering, the landscape for ...
Sign in to search the full transcript archive, filter by topic, and access every quote from William Werner.
The summary and quote tags on this profile are produced with AI assistance from verified, first-person interview transcripts, then checked by our team to confirm the speaker's identity and the accuracy of every quote. See how we verify →