BJ’s Wholesale Club, a potential takeover target, will shave hundreds of jobs and close five stores by the end of the month, The Associated Press reports, citing the Massachusetts retailer. BJ’s 12 Connecticut stores are not affected.
Three stores in the Atlanta area will be shuttered, along with one in Sunrise, Fla., and one in Charlotte, N.C., resulting in 380 job cuts.
The company also says it’s cutting 114 corporate-level jobs, 61 of them at the company’s Natick, Mass., headquarters and 53 field positions.
“The five clubs to be closed have historically underperformed and, after careful consideration, we concluded that improvement of their operating results was unlikely,” said CEO Laura J. Sen.
In July, Green Equity Investors revealed that it had acquired 5.1 million shares in BJ’s Wholesale, sending the stock rocketing.
Last month, the private equity firm bought the craft store chain Jo-Ann Stores Inc. for about $1.6 billion. The firm has significant investments in food retailers, including Whole Foods Market Inc. Green Equity is an affiliate of retail investors Leonard Green & Partners, which led the buyouts of a number of retailers including Petco Animal Supplies Inc. and Sports Authority.
