BJ's Wholesale Club Reports February Sales.

Business Editors

NATICK, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 4, 2003

BJ's Wholesale Club, Inc. (BJ: NYSE) today reported that sales for February 2003 increased by 16.9% to $430.5 million from $368.4 million in February 2002. Comparable club sales increased by 6.7% for the month of February.

Commenting on the results, BJ's president and chief executive officer, Mike Wedge said, "February's sales results reflect an improving sales trend, particularly across many food categories. The terrorist alert early in the month generated strong sales of stock-up merchandise. However, sales were negatively affected by periods of heavy snow and rain in the Northeast, including a blizzard over Presidents' Day weekend which closed many of our clubs."

                      Sales Results for February
                           ($ in thousands)

          Four Weeks Ended                         % Change
      March 1,         March 2,                Net          Comp.
        2003             2002                 Sales         Sales
     $ 430,482        $ 368,374               16.9%          6.7%

The Company provided the following additional information on the factors affecting February sales:

Comparable club sales increased during weeks one, two and four - with the strongest sales during week two - and decreased during week three. Comparable club sales increased in all major markets, with the highest increase in the Southeast and lowest in Metro New York. Comparable club sales for Southeast region increased by nearly 9% excluding sales of gasoline.

On a comparable club basis, excluding sales of gasoline, the average transaction amount for the month of February increased by 2.5%. Traffic decreased by 0.5%, primarily due to a blizzard in the Northeast.

Categories with the strongest sales increases included fresh meat, frozen foods, HBA, produce, and water. Weaker categories included computers, sporting goods and summer seasonal. Gasoline sales had a positive impact on comparable club sales of 4.6%, primarily due to significant gasoline price inflation.

Fourth Quarter and Year-end Results/Conference Call

In a separate release, BJ's today announced financial results for the fourth quarter and fiscal year ended February 1, 2003. BJ's management has scheduled a conference call to discuss these results and the outlook for the first quarter of 2003 for 8:30 a.m.

Eastern time, today. The conference call will be broadcast live on BJ's web site; it will be directly accessible as follows: www.bjsinvestor.com/medialist.cfm. Replays will be available at the same web address for approximately one week following the conference call.

BJ's introduced the wholesale club concept to New England in 1984, and has since expanded to become a leading warehouse chain in the eastern United States. The Company currently operates 140 clubs and 68 gas stations compared with 131 clubs and 55 gas stations one year ago. BJ's press releases and filings with the SEC are available on the Internet at www.bjs.com.