BJ’s Wholesale Club is putting the finishing touches on its Beachwalk location in St. Johns County.
The 104,298-square-foot store is at 115 Beachwalk Blvd., about 2.5 miles east of Interstate 95 and north of a Publix Super Market.
No opening has been announced, but a company representative said it is imminent and likely before Christmas.
Holiday merchandise, including decorations and apparel, was on display throughout the store at a media tour Dec. 12.
Kirk Saville. BJ’s head of corporate communications, said the membership club retailer is waiting on remaining permits and utilities, including water.
Club hours will be 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Friday and 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Sunday.
Saville said the store is almost fully staffed with about 100 people, including full- and part-time employees and management.
He said the difference between BJ’s and Costco and Sam’s Club is how often its customers visit.
“The big difference is we have a lot of our members who do their weekly shopping here with us,” he said. “We offer 25% off grocery store prices every day.”
He also said BJ’s focuses on fresh produce, meats and dairy products.
BJ’s owns two brands. Wellsley Farms focuses on frozen food, produce, coffee, baked goods, dairy products, meat and seafood. The Berkley Jensen portfolio is everything else, including paper products, office equipment and medicine.
BJ’s also will sell gas with seven fueling stations and 14 pumps. There is an auto service, maintenance and tire shop and a liquor store that will operate outside of the main store.
It is BJ’s 40th Florida site and its first in the St. Johns. It has three stores in Jacksonville and one in Orange Park.
The wholesale club has 247 locations across 20 states. It has plans for stores in Knoxville, Tennessee; Southern Pines, North Carolina; and Louisville, Kentucky.
It has about 7.5 million members, according to Saville.
Founded in 1984, BJ’s is headquartered in Marlborough, Massachusetts. It is named for the daughter of company founder Mervyn Weich’s daughter Beverly Jean.
St. Johns County issued a building permit June 27 for the $9 million store. Separate permits were issued for the gas station, at a project cost of $946,000 at that time. The store’s foundation plans, at $4 million, were approved May 16. BJ’s announced its plans for the store April 30.
Twin Creeks SPE LLC of Boca Raton owns the land.