Big Lots Stores, Inc. (stylized as Big Lots!) is an American
retail company headquartered in
Columbus, Ohio
Columbus () is the state capital and the most populous city in the U.S. state of Ohio. With a 2020 census population of 905,748, it is the 14th-most populous city in the U.S., the second-most populous city in the Midwest, after Chicago, an ...
with over 1,400 stores in 47 states.
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 & Small 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.
Consolidated Stores Corp. was an investor in the
DeLorean Motor Company, which declared
bankruptcy in 1982. Consolidated took possession of approximately 100
DeLorean models, then still at the factory in Northern Ireland, when the U.S. importer was unable to import them. This unusual excess inventory acquisition is commemorated on the Big Lots website's "Closeout Museum" page.
In 1994, Consolidated Stores Corp. acquired Toy Liquidators, adding 82 stores in 38 states. Looking to expand further into the toy business, Consolidated Stores Corp. purchased
KB Toys from
Melville Corporation
Melville Corporation, formerly based in Rye, New York, was a large retail holding company incorporated by Ward Melville in 1922 from Melville Shoe Company. It became CVS Corporation in 1996 under a massive reorganization plan. The company traded ...
in 1996; ironically, shortly afterward Melville purchased Revco and folded it into the
CVS Pharmacy
CVS Pharmacy, Inc. is an American retail corporation. A subsidiary of CVS Health, it is headquartered in Woonsocket, Rhode Island. It was also known as, and originally named, the Consumer Value Store and was founded in Lowell, Massachusetts, in ...
chain on its way to eventually becoming
CVS Health
CVS Health Corporation (previously CVS Corporation and CVS Caremark Corporation) is an American healthcare company that owns CVS Pharmacy, a retail pharmacy chain; CVS Caremark, a pharmacy benefits manager; and Aetna, a health insurance p ...
, making the "Odd Lots" dispute moot.
In 1997, Big Lots Inc. bought out 'MacFrugals' (
Pic 'N' Save) stores for $995 million in stock, eventually converting them to the Big Lots brand.
In 2000, Consolidated Stores Corp. sold the
KB Toys and Toy Liquidators lines to private equity shops. A year later, Consolidated Stores Corp. changed its name to ''Big Lots, Inc.'' and its ticker symbol from CNS to BLI.
In the later part of 2005, Big Lots closed 170 stores, including all free-standing ''Big Lots Furniture'' specialty stores.
On August 3, 2006, Big Lots announced that it would change its New York Stock Exchange ticker symbol from BLI to BIG, beginning with trading activity on August 18, 2006.
File:OddLotsBerwick.jpg , Big Lots Store No. 1, Berwick Plaza Shopping Center, Columbus, Ohio (Before and after); The first store in the Big Lots chain was located in the former Kroger
The Kroger Company, or simply Kroger, is an American retail company that operates (either directly or through its subsidiaries) supermarkets and multi-department stores throughout the United States.
Founded by Bernard Kroger in 1883 in Cinci ...
store in the same shopping center. The store was later relocated to the former Buckeye Mart/Sarco building also pictured.
File:Big Lots.jpg , This Murrieta, California Big Lots was a former Pic 'N' Save store.
File:Storeentrance.JPG , Entrance to Big Lots in Englewood, Colorado, which was a former Children's Palace.
Big Lots Wholesale
Big Lots operated a wholesale division which provided merchandise in bulk. Big Lots closed its wholesale division at the end of the 2013
fiscal year
A fiscal year (or financial year, or sometimes budget year) is used in government accounting, which varies between countries, and for budget purposes. It is also used for financial reporting by businesses and other organizations. Laws in many ju ...
. The Columbus-based closeout retailer had conducted wholesale operations through Big Lots Wholesale, ''Consolidated International'' and
Wisconsin Toy for more than 34 years.
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. The first Big Lots location in Canada opened in April 2013 in
Orillia, Ontario, followed by
Burlington,
Niagara Falls
Niagara Falls () is a group of three waterfalls at the southern end of Niagara Gorge, spanning the border between the province of Ontario in Canada and the state of New York in the United States. The largest of the three is Horseshoe Fall ...
,
St. Catharines
St. Catharines is the largest city in Canada's Niagara Region and the sixth largest urban area in the province of Ontario. As of 2016, it has an area of , 136,803 residents, and a metropolitan population of 406,074. It lies in Southern Ontario ...
, and
Thunder Bay
Thunder Bay is a city in and the seat of Thunder Bay District, Ontario, Canada. It is the most populous municipality in Northwestern Ontario and the second most populous (after Greater Sudbury) municipality in Northern Ontario; its populatio ...
(all in Ontario as well). Big Lots exited the Canadian marketplace in 2014, citing poor sales.
See also
*
List of S&P 400 companies
This is a list of companies having stocks that are included in the S&P MidCap 400 ( S&P 400) stock market index. The index, maintained by S&P Dow Jones Indices
S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC () is a joint venture between S&P Global, the CME Group, ...
References
External links
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*
Official websiteBig Lots SEC Filings
{{Authority control
Companies listed on the New York Stock Exchange
Companies based in the Columbus, Ohio metropolitan area
American companies established in 1967
Retail companies established in 1967
Discount stores of the United States
Toy retailers of the United States
Variety stores
1967 establishments in Ohio
1980s initial public offerings