BJ's

[Thraz]

Has anybody here ever visited the wine aisle at a BJ Wholesale store? Any good?

[TheEngineer]

I think that different states have different setups. MA has no wine in the Framingham store....In CA, the wine aisles are hugh....I also like the Whole Foods ones in CA, but Costco and Sams have much more wine.

[Kcwhippet]

TE - Just a few more miles west is the Westboro BJ's and they have wine. That's a result of the antiquated liquor laws here in MA. One law stipulates that a chain can only control a maximum of three licenses statewide. BJ's has 18 stores in MA, and the 3 stores they chose to have the licenses are in Danvers, Stoughton and Westboro. That's why you can find wine in only three Stop & Shops, three Whole Foods, three Trader Joe's, etc. Most other states have no such restrictions.

[TheEngineer]

Wow,...I did not anticipate anything like that. I always wondered about the wine shopt at the Stop and Shop in Quincy....

KC, many thanks for the information and I'm going to search out one of those BJ's!

[californiagirl]

I went w/dad to bj's last time we visited. If I remember correctly, the prices were higher that Costco and Sam's, sorry... but I wasn't impressed.

[Thraz]

I ended up going to BJ's in Maple Shade, NJ out of curiosity. Very disappointing - the selection was limited to a few blockbusters and to the best-known 4-5 wine regions. Prices did not seem so great either.

[Kcwhippet]

I've been into the BJ's only a few times to look at their selection. Never been impressed. The problem is that in MA, they can't make their alcohol section exclusionary because of the liquor laws here (there's that puritanical attitude again). It has to be open to the general public and not just to club members, so there's no incentive to make it anything special - and it isn't. We have much better stuff in our shop, so I haven't been in the BJ's shop in about five years. I saw much better stuff at the Costco in Nashua, NH right over the border.