Sales up at BJ's

BJ's Wholesale Club Inc. said today that its May same-store sales rose 4.1 percent on increased demand for food, major appliances, lawn and garden, summer seasonal products and televisions.

Same-store sales, or sales at stores open at least a year, is a key measure of retailer performance, because it measures growth at existing stores rather than from newly opened ones.

May results included a 1 percent contribution from gasoline sales, compared with a contribution of 2.2 percent from gasoline sales in the 2006 month.

BJ's total sales rose 8.2 percent to $711 million from $657.4 million in May 2006.

So far this year, BJ's same-store sales are up 2.8 percent. Total sales increased 7 percent to $2.72 billion from $2.54 billion at the same time last year. (AP)