• by Sarah Mahoney , March 4, 2009

It looks like shoppers are increasingly saying "No, thanks" to warehouse clubs these days. Costco says its sales and profits fell in the latest quarter. And Wal-Mart Stores, not long after announcing disappointing quarterly sales at its Sam's Clubs, has said it will bail out of the concept entirely in Canada, converting Canadian clubs to Walmart supercenters. Only BJ's Wholesale Club, which reported strong sales, seems to be bucking the trend.

"Consumers who are looking to cut costs are finding that these stores aren't usually a bargain," says David J. Livingston, a supermarket consultant in Waukesha, Wis. "The main allure of these stores is that they get shoppers to fall in love with larger sizes. But frugal people quickly realize they usually wind up buying more than they need."

As the recession wears on, consumers are honing their smart-shopper strategies. Not only are they less likely to fork over a membership fee, he says--they are buying more and more private-label products, which weakens the "name brands for less" appeal of warehouse clubs. Instead, he expects such channels as supercenters, dominated by Walmart and Target, to continue to gain market share, as well as limited-assortment stores, such as Aldi, and dollar stores.

Costco says sales for the second quarter of its of its fiscal year slipped 1% to $16.49 billion, while net income dropped to $239.7 million, from $327.9 million in the same period a year ago. The Issaquah, Wash.-based chain says its results were hurt by overall weakness in the economy, and "increased pre-holiday seasonal markdowns and other selective price reductions to drive sales and increase market share."

Recently, Wal-Mart reported that membership and other income fell 1.3% in the quarter at its Sam's Club division, while sales (which include fuel) were flat.

The exception, at least for now, seems to be BJ's Wholesale Club, which says its fourth-quarter net income increased to $52.7 million--up from $50.2 million in the same period a year ago--while sales climbed 3.2% to $2.5 billion, including an unfavorable impact from sales of gasoline of 4.7%. Excluding gas sales, comparable-store sales for the Natick, Mass.-based company rose 6.4% for the quarter.