It seems discount shopping is a family affair.
Some fans of members-only retail chain BJ’s Wholesale Club are only just finding out what the initials in the store’s name stand for.
Although customers of the wholesale giant may assume it comes from its exclusive private-label brand, Berkley Jensen, there is actually a heartwarming story behind the name.
When the mega-retailer first opened in 1984, its founder, Mervyn Weich, lent the initials of his daughter, Beverly Jean, to its first store, located in Massachusetts.
Although Weich resigned as the brand’s president just three years later, in 1987, the name had already gone down in retail history.
BJ’s Wholesale Club even has a page in the help center section of its website revealing the initials stand for Beverly Jean.
The publicly traded corporation, which boasts 267 locations and 206 gas stations in 22 states, now has plans to launch 25 to 30 new clubs every two years.
Six new locations are coming this year, in Texas, Alabama, Indiana, Kentucky and two in Florida.
Other companies with initials in their names have storied pasts.
H&M began as Hennes, which was then changed to Hennes & Mauritz in 1968 after acquiring menswear store Mauritz Widforss. It was later shortened to H&M.
The acronym IKEA was made in 1943 from the initials of its 17-year-old founder, Ingvar Kamprad, combined with the first initials of the farm where he grew up and its nearby village.
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