Big Lots

Big Lots, Inc.

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]
Operating income	US$255 Million (FY 2009)[2]
Net income	US$152 Million (FY 2009)[2]
Total assets	US$1.43 Billion (FY 2009)[3]
Total equity	US$775 Million (FY 2009)[3]
Employees	14,113
Website	http://www.biglots.com/

Big Lots, Inc. (NYSE: BIG) is a Fortune 500 retail corporation with annual revenues well over $4 billion.

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, Biglots (Pic 'N' Save) opened many new stores in these existing buildings.

Open-air plaza style Big Lots. A former Payless Drug in Hermiston, Oregon

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 Consolidated Stores Corp. to prevent a hostile takeover of Revco. However, Revco soon lost focus on its core drug store operations and earnings tumbled, forcing Revco to jettison Consolidated Stores Corp. In 1985, Consolidated Stores Corp. began trading as a separate public company on the American Stock Exchange. Also in 1985, the first Big Lots store was introduced. In 1986, Consolidated Stores Corp. switched to the New York Stock Exchange, trading under the symbol CNS.

Entrance to Big Lots in Englewood, Colorado A former Children's Palace in Englewood, Colorado

This Murrieta, CA Big Lots was a former Pic 'N' Save store.

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.

Slogans

Odd Lots

• A Store With Odd Junk (1982-1992) (this slogan stayed the same for Odd Lots in 1985 when Big Lots began with their first slogan in which the word "big" was added to between "A" and "store")

Big Lots

• A Big Store With Odd Junk (1985-1992)
• The Closeout Store (1992-2000)
• Brand Names, Closeout Prices (2000-2001)
• Brand Names, Closeout Prices, Happy People (2001)
• Think Extreme Value! Think Big Lots! (current)

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 dollars in cash and the assumption of certain liabilities. This represents Big Lots first retail venture outside of the US.

References

1. ^ Big Lots Reports Second Quarter Sales Results
2. ^ ^{a b c} Big Lots (BIG) annual SEC income statement filing via Wikinvest
3. ^ ^{a b} Big Lots (BIG) annual SEC balance sheet filing via Wikinvest

External links

• Official website
• Big Lots Wholesale Website