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The nation's No. 3 warehouse club operator with 180 locations, the Natick company joins rival Sam's Club in allowing its members to make purchases using their government-issued electronic benefit transfer (EBT) cards.
BJ's 20 Massachusetts clubs started accepting food stamps last week. Some 318,286 Massachusetts households were issued food stamps in January, up 23 percent from the same month last year and 91 percent since January 2005.
BJ's first started accepting food stamps a decade ago in Maine and upstate New York at the request of members. In 2007, it expanded the program to Florida following a string of hurricanes there.
Thirty BJ's accepted the form of payment before the chain decided on the full rollout. A BJ's executive had visited the company's Auburn, Maine, store and learned of increased use of EBT cards. Similar increases were noticed at the other BJ's clubs accepting the cards.
"It was enough that we took notice and said this is a great member benefit, and we wanted to be as inclusive as possible," said Laura Sen, BJ's president and CEO.
BJ's likely has more to gain than its competitors from allowing members to use food stamps. It's more consumer-focused, while Sam's and No. 1 Costco Wholesale attract more business shoppers.
BJ's derives more than half of its revenue -- which last year rose 11.5 percent to $9.8 billion -- from food sales and has benefited from more consumers looking for grocery deals amid the recession.
Sam's started accepting EBT cards at all 602 locations last month. Costco, which has 408 clubs, did not return calls. Workers at its Waltham, Dedham, Avon and Danvers stores said the chain does not accept food stamps.
dgoodison@bostonherald.com
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