Big Lots
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| File:Big Lots.svg | |
| Company type | Public |
|---|---|
| NYSE: BIG S&P 500 Component | |
| Industry | Retail |
| Founded | 1967 |
| Headquarters | Columbus, Ohio, U.S. |
Number of locations | 1,415 (July 2011)[1] |
Key people | Steven S. Fishman, President, Chairman and CEO |
| Products | Overstock/closeout merchandise |
| Revenue |  US$4.65 Billion (FY 2009)[2] |
| US$255 Million (FY 2009)[2] | |
| US$152 Million (FY 2009)[2] | |
| Total assets |  US$1.43 Billion (FY 2009)[3] |
| Total equity | US$775 Million (FY 2009)[3] |
Number of employees | 14,113 |
| Website | http://www.biglots.com/ |
Big Lots, Inc. is a Fortune 500 retail corporation.
Its department stores focus mainly on selling closeout and overstock merchandise. The company is based in Columbus, Ohio, USA and currently operates over 1,400 stores in 47 states. On July 19th 2011, Big Lots became an international retailer when it bought Liquidation World, a Canadian retailer with 89 locations. A typical store sells a wide variety of merchandise, including toys, furniture, clothing, housewares, and small electronics. Most of the items sold in these stores are purchased as they become available. What is in the store one day may not be there the next, and the store may not get further shipments of those particular items. However, there are some items in the stores, such as foodstuffs, that are replenished on a continual basis.
In many cases, Big Lots uses an existing building, such as a grocery or department store that had either moved or ceased operations. When Rite Aid Inc began transitioning many Payless Drugstores into the Brand, it moved them into newly designed stand-alone buildings, leaving many open-air plaza storefronts vacant, Big Lots (Pic 'N' Save) opened many new stores in these existing buildings.
History
The Big Lots chain traces its history back to 1967, when Consolidated Stores Corporation was formed in Ohio by Sol Shenk. In 1982, Consolidated Stores Corp. opened its first closeout store, called Odd Lots, in Columbus, Ohio. In 1983, drug store chain Revco bought New Jersey closeout retailer Odd Lot Trading Co. As Consolidated's Odd Lots stores expanded from Columbus, Revco took issue with the fact that another closeout retailer was operating a chain with national aspirations that had a similar name as the Revco-owned subsidiary. Consolidated Stores Corp. agreed to limit their use of the Odd Lots name to stores located within a certain radius of Columbus. Beyond the radius, Consolidated began opening stores under the Big Lots name. Eventually, all Odd Lots stores were rebranded as Big Lots. In 1985, Consolidated Stores Corp. began trading as a separate public company on the American Stock Exchange. In 1986, Consolidated Stores Corp. switched to the New York Stock Exchange, trading under the symbol CNS.
[Note: There is a common misconception that the Odd Lots stores operated by Consolidated Stores, Inc. were under common ownership with another closeout retailer known as the Odd Lot Trading Co., which was a New Jersey-based subsidiary of Revco Drug Stores. Big Lots, Inc. and its predecessors Consolidated Stores Corp. and Odd Lots are not related to, nor have they ever been in common ownership with Revco Drug Stores or Odd Lot Trading Co.]
Consolidated Stores Corp. was an investor in the De Lorean Motor Company, which declared bankruptcy in 1982. Consolidated took possession of approximately 100 De Lorean DMC-12 models, then still at the factory in Northern Ireland, when the US importer was unable to import them. This unusual excess inventory acquisition is commemorated on the Big Lots web site's "Closeout Museum" page.
In 1994, Consolidated Stores Corp. acquired Toy Liquidators, adding 82 stores in 38 states. Looking to expand further into the toys business, Consolidated Stores Corp. purchased KB Toys from Melville Corporation in 1996. In 2000, Consolidated Stores Corp. sold the KB Toys and Toy Liquidators lines to private equity shops. A year later, the company decided to focus on the Big Lots brand, and on May 16, 2001, Consolidated Stores Corp. changed its name to Big Lots, Inc. and its ticker symbol from CNS to BLI. By the end of 2002, Big Lots Inc. completed a nationwide conversion to the single Big Lots brand. In 2002, Big Lots Inc. bought out 'MacFrugals' (Pic 'N' Save) stores for $995 million in stock and converted those still in operation to the Big Lots brand. In recent times, Big Lots has expanded by opening hundreds of new stores.
In the later part of 2005, Big Lots closed 170 stores, including all free-standing Big Lots Furniture specialty stores. Most Big Lots stores have furniture departments which sell upholstered furniture (sofas, love seats, and recliners), Serta mattresses, fully assembled and ready to assemble furniture. Some, primarily smaller, stores only carry a limited assortment of mattresses and ready to assemble furniture.
On August 3, 2006, Big Lots announced it would change its New York Stock Exchange ticker symbol from BLI to BIG, beginning with trading activity on August 18, 2006.
Big Lots Wholesale
Big Lots also operates a wholesale division which provides merchandise in bulk for resale from a variety of categories. This is a separate division of Big Lots and does not carry the same merchandise found in the retail stores. Big Lots Wholesale also attends trade shows and has permanent showrooms in Columbus, Ohio; New York; and the Boston and Chicago areas.
Big Lots Canada
On July 19, 2011 Big Lots announced that it had purchased Liquidation World Inc., a Canadian closeout retailer with 89 locations. The cost of the acquisition was $20 million in cash and the assumption of certain liabilities. This represents Big Lots first retail venture outside of the US.