Construction has already begun for the new BJ’s Wholesale Club in Portage, but ground was ceremonially broken Wednesday.
The 100,000-square-foot store is expected to have 100 to 150 employees, both full-time and part-time, spokesperson Ryan Carney said.
BJ’s, founded more than 40 years ago in Massachusetts, was named for Beverly Jean, the daughter of one of the company’s founders.
Portage caught the company’s eye as the third-largest city in Northwest Indiana and on the eastern edge of the Chicago area market.
“It just seems like it’s a growing community at the moment,” Carney said.
Across Airport Road from BJ’s, a new Target is being built.
Portage Redevelopment Director Dan Botich agrees with that assessment. “This is a feeding frenzy,” he said.
“Wherever there’s (residential) rooftops, that creates development,” Botich said. New subdivisions already approved will create 1,200 new housing units for Portage over the next three to five years, and there are three or four other residential projects going through the planning process now.
Consistent with Mayor Austin Bonta’s vision for the city to grow to the south and southeast, one of the developers agreed to carve out a location for a potential new fire station in that area. “You want to make sure they have a reasonable potential to respond within a certain timeframe,” Botich said.
“Police have the ability to disperse their assets through a community, but it’s always good to have a potential for a substation,” so that’s a possibility, too.
So are people coming for jobs, or are the jobs coming for the people? “Basically, it’s the chicken or the egg approach,” Botich said.
“Portage is at a confluence of expanding industry and manufacturing demand, residential demand and commercial demand, and it’s all happening at the same time,” he said.
“I get calls every day from companies in Illinois,” he said,
Are rooftops coming because of commercial or vice versa? “In this case, it’s the rooftops, and the rooftops are being driven by the demand for Illinois residents and businesses moving here,” Botich said.
At a recent speaking engagement, Botich was advised to increase his economic development budget. All he really needs, he said, is $2, enough to send Christmas cards to Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker and Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson to thank them for policies that send residents and businesses to Northwest Indiana communities.
“Portage has never stopped growing. It has been growing always,” Portage Economic Development Corp. Executive Director Andy Maletta said.
“All those new subdivisions coming in kind of got us to that sweet spot,” he said, to attract new restaurants like Olive Garden.
A proven track record with restaurants like Applebee’s and Texas Roadhouse, performing at the highest level in their chains, helps too.
With the residential growth in affordable homes – and with union jobs, “the median income in Portage is rather high” – Portage is the current hot spot, Maletta said.
Commercial businesses all want to be along the U.S. 6 corridor right now, he said, reasoning, “if it’s good enough for Target, maybe it’s good enough for me.”
He welcomes them. “Portage is open for business. We’re a lot easier to work with than we have in the past,” he said.
BJ’s Wholesale Club is a welcome addition to the city. “In Porter County, there are no wholesale warehouses. There are no Costcos, there are no Sam’s Clubs here,” he noted.
“We’re excited about BJ’s for sure. I think the whole community is excited about that.”
BJ’s Wholesale Club is expanding rapidly, with four stores opening last month. It has a total of 267 locations now. “We’re growing by leaps and bounds,” Carney, the spokesperson, said, always looking for new locations as the company aims to open 25 to 30 new clubs every two years.
Carney expects the Portage location to open this winter.
Other locations this year include Frankfort, Kentucky, and Ocala, Lecanto and Port St. Lucie in Florida. BJ’s already operates in two other Indiana locations, Carmel and Noblesville.
BJ’s competes with others in the industry, including Sam’s Club and Costco. What sets BJ’s apart, Carney said, is its grocery section. “A lot of our members do their weekly grocery store shopping with us,” she said.
Unlike typical wholesale club expectations, BJ’s customers can buy in bulk, Carney said. For groceries, some save up to 20%, she said.
Memberships start at $40 per year.
Carney said the company plans to donate regularly to the Food Bank of Northwest Indiana and be a good community partner. “We’re very active in our communities,” she said.
Doug Ross is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.
