The Decline of Big Lots...What Happened?

[@kendrapratt2098]

Big Lots was cool when it was a disorganized, cheap mess. Then they started getting organized; raised the prices; and also started selling furniture. I think they alienated the customer and started pricing toiletries and household products the way “Dollar” stores do. Lower price, yes, but higher cost per unit in those small containers

[@traviswork7143]

Yes, it used to be more like how Ollies' Bargain Outlet is now.. then the furniture came.

[@cheesecake134]

Yeah it’s like they forgot who they were. You guys aren’t some nice department store, you’re not even Target. Hell, you’re not even Walmart. You’re a cheap place with a low budget reputation. Stick with the formula that works and never forget who you are.

[@dianadialga3955]

Yeah Costco plus all the little mom and pop bargain stores around probably made that strategy very difficult for them.

[@sethstillwell3568]

This. The first time I walked into a remodeled Big Lots that was clean, organized & well-lit was literally the last time I walked into a Big Lots. If I wanted that experience I would have just went to Target. The thrill of "old" Big Lots was sifting through chaos of random cheap items and finding cool stuff.

[@LaraFabans]

Nailed it

[@vegetasasuke0]

Former Big Lots cashier here, management was told with the initial closures that it was gonna be 30-45 stores max and then it turned into 300+ and when we were handed the signs, we were told not to tell people we were closing until the day that all the signs were all up. We were told not to speak to the media about the closures and that the media outlets needed to speak to corporate and corporate wouldn't return calls.

[@jonfreeman9682]

Wow even store managers didn't know what to expect. Just sad as I ship there often and it's always a great place for deals. I think they just let cost get out of control.

[@vegetasasuke0]

@@jonfreeman9682 The part that this video fails to also mention is that Big Lots rented their space, they didn't own the buildings, so another thing that came into play was how the rent has been going up as well. They started with stores that had high rent.

[@Valpo2004]

@@vegetasasuke0 Combine rent going up with online retailers taking business away and it's a perfect storm to take down quite a few retailers. Honestly to survive I think retailers need to make sure they are selling stuff that people don't want to buy online. That would mostly be groceries, non durable goods, and appliances/furniture. You can sell some of the stuff people do buy online alongside all of that, but you need that stuff and a big enough selection to bring people to your location.

[@zArtiifact]

Im a warehouse manager in ohio and we thought we would be safe because they sent us a bunch of other stores fixtures so we thought it would be redundant to close us soon but nope the next couple weeks on my day off they called me and told me we are closing within days the store was in chaos. our store is known as the friendly cleaner store that everyone comes to so I have crying customers on the daily now because of the closeout.

[@chip6147]

@@vegetasasuke0 Big Lots did own a good bit of real estate, but sold it all to get additional capital for the stock buyback fiasco. I worked at a BL store that paid zero rent because the company owned the building.

[@kiitkats.]

you’re genuinely one of the most high quality and most consistent KZbinrs on this platform. always a good day to see the notif that a new video dropped 💪

[@tktru]

Please don’t take offense but i honestly thought you were a bot

[@oscarg.3330]

I still think it's a bot

[@kiitkats.]

@@oscarg.3330 you’re odd bro

[@kiitkats.]

@@tktru LMAOO

[@thanosmaster-abel559]

Buddy is like farming, his videos are well presented but NOT high quality.

[@davidscott1340]

My neighbor was a manager at my local big lots. He fell at work and broke a rib. 2 months later on christmas day be sat up and puked puss then fell back. His wife at the time called 911 and got EMTs there. They brought him back to life with the defibulators and took him to a large trauma center hospital in the next state. His shoulder was cut and moved over so they could remove half a lung. While recovering in the hospital his district manager told him to come in or get fired. They fired him while in the hospital. There was a big lawsuit and biglots settled. I will never shop at big lots ever again. My neighbir is a nice guy that migrated from Eurooe and he is kind and gentle.

[@0008loser]

Hmmmm

[@UmmYeahOk]

Welcome to the US, where you need expensive insurance to get any kind of medical treatment. Can’t go to work due to medical? You lose your insurance.

[@Tulku]

While she passed away in December 1999, I remember how happy my grandma was telling me about her Big Lots Hauls. She absolutely loved that place.

[@karenelizabeth1590]

The bizarre thing with Big Lots is that I knew things were going bad when their stores became newer and cleaner. The good days was when their stores were dirty and ugly. The total opposite of how that usually works.

[@Avo7bProject]

It was a strange hybrid. They did refurbish the interior of the stores, hung fresh signage. But in my market they kept the same get-O locations with tired parking lots needing restriping and paving. You don't go to a 30 year old shopping center expecting to walk into a fresh store.

[@GOPRepubliklan]

Right? The best ones were old supermarkets. Mine was a 1970's Kroger and they changed NOTHING but the sign. The inside smelled like grandpa's basement.

[@legotimus8453]

Bizarre? You know what else is bizarre? Jojo’s Bizarre Adventures. You’ve made a Jojo reference

[@jonfreeman9682]

They kept cost low with minimal staff and renovations and it worked but that's not enough to keep customers coming back. Competition is really stiff now.

[@samanthafortier1763]

I remember Big Lots being a disorganized mess as a kid and hadn't gone in a long time and was caught off guard when I went into one as an adult

[@JoshTigerheart]

One of my favorite things of Big Lots was, weirdly, back when I played an old MMORPG called City of Heroes. That game had various bonus editions, expansions, and so on while also charging $15 a month to play, a standard fee at the time. I discovered Big Lots had old editions that you couldn't find anymore for $5-10 each. And those codes worked once per version and included a month. So I was paying the monthly fee for cheaper and getting bonus goodies that were otherwise unobtainable. It was fun having old veterans of the game wondering how the hell me, a newish player, just got special edition cape that hadn't been available for two years,

[@TheMichigami]

obligatory poke from a current player to let you know if you don't already that servers for the game exist again as free-to-play if you ever want to look it up. bunch of different people run em some with custom code upgrades for modern machines and updates of new costumes and new issues/content.

[@thatShadowKat]

Dang I remember that game. Was good fun back then.

[@candidgamera]

Paragon City for life!

[@JoshTigerheart]

@@TheMichigami Thanks, but I've known and played on 'em. I don't play 'em a ton because something about the control scheme hates my wrists these days, but it makes me happy that I can jump in and every now and then for a bit. CoH still does some things better than many games today, like all the craziness with powersets.

[@emmettturner9452]

@@JoshTigerheart I was forced to sell my big box PC collection after a tornado a few years ago and some of the most expensive titles still had a Big Lots sticker on it (4~6 bucks, typically). In the end, the large majority of a few hundred titles came from Big Lots including games that normally came in smaller boxes… where Big Lots presumably bought the warehouse club closeouts (Sam’s Club obviously didn’t want you returning them to Walmart without a receipt so they had to be different). It was crazy watching many titles sell for hundreds with my Big Lots price still displayed on the front.!

[@patrickaker4380]

Worked there for 7 years from 2009 to 2016 in store management. Place was ran like it was 1980s retail. Middle corporate management acting like they were untouchable and basically they treated the ground level employees like they were disposable. That is why I left when I did. Could see the writing on the wall back then.

[@mikaross4671]

I worked there from 2016-2017. They definitely acted like their employees were numbers on a whiteboard. When some of the best employees left, especially in furniture sales, I could see the slow descent of them shop.

[@gamesmovienation3516]

I worked from 2015 to 2016 and just In 1 year alone I could see that it wasn’t doing well. Our furniture was always overcrowded and we had to get rid of so much of it that it was such a waste and was losing the company money. We literally had to destroy the furniture so that no one else could have it when we threw it out. Alot of our products in store kept getting marked down so that people would buy it because no one would buy it at normal rate and overall other stores were selling the product way cheaper then big lots was. My co workers were great I never had an issue with them it was great to have a positive team but beyond that everything else had a problem

[@kh4nsu]

Worked there from 2009 to 2017 as a furniture sales manager. It constantly got worse and their push to make people sign up for their in-house lines of credit made me feel predatory just suggesting it. One of the managers loan an employee money to buy food from their own, personal, bank account and when the district level management heard about it they moved the manager across the city. The same manager they forced into work during what should have been her vacation and while she was there 14 hours per day her husband died at home before they got to go on their vacation. Disgusting.

[@kh4nsu]

@@gamesmovienation3516 Ha - I forgot about the days out by the dumpster using a sledgehammer and handsaw to destroy sofas so they wouldn't be picked from the trash and so they'd fit in the actual dumpster since the trash companies wouldnt pick the sofas laying outside of the trash can up. Ohhh then we started started pouring all the leaking detergant and stuff from the trucks on the trash to ruin it, I don't see how the EPA didn't care about that one. Also had to rent like 8 storage containers to keep furniture inside of out back because the stores aren't large enough to house all that inventory in the back. So many summer days unloading trailers trying to get to the upholstry we needed. Putting new sofas out in the snow because the type the customer bought was in the middle of the container. Each time we pulled the snow covered ones back in the dirt on the floor mixed with the snow caused the packaging to be covered in mud.

[@Merlin_From_Shrek_3]

That's literally all retail lmao

[@emmettturner9452]

The chain Ollie’s Bargain Outlet is what Big Lots once was… so much so, I’m genuinely surprised you didn’t mention it when bringing up their competition. Ollie’s has been growing and opening stores across the country. Around here we also have a chain called Bargain Hunt but they are half close-outs, half salvage store (Amazon returns and such).

[@karenelizabeth1590]

Yeah, Big Lots used to be a literally dirty store that sold tons of sketchy stuff at an real deep discount. It was great! Then one day they built a new clean Big Lots selling new clean stuff for crappy prices. They really did let just Ollie's eat their lunch.

[@christopherthibeault7502]

@@karenelizabeth1590 Literal dirt? I've seen that look at the Big Lots I know of. Years later in this decade, well after the 2,000's, I went to the same one. It was far cleaner but, even if it was more inviting, I didn't find anything interesting enough to linger.

[@alanvillafana7524]

I told someone that recenctly! going to Ollie's is what big lots used to be.

[@WedgeBob]

Yep, here's someone else that lives literally BLOCKS from an Ollie's. I have to agree, it DOES seem Ollie's might be where people have been going more and more now.

[@claireconover]

is ollies a big company? I only saw one for the first time last month…

[@passholder_trav]

I also think Big Lots got ridiculously expensive. BL used to be that store you’d run into real quick to buy a comparable if not the same brand product for a fraction of the price. That’s just not the case anymore. Many of their items are now overpriced especially for those “comparable brands.”

[@Elliottblancher]

Even Temu has comparable brand stuff for much cheaper

[@Avo7bProject]

Yeah, I started realizing that for the same price I could buy the same items, with more recently shipped dates, at another big box. Just because BL cleaned up the stores and hung brighter lighting, wasn't enough reason to walk through a furniture section and check out their canned goods and candy.

[@jonfreeman9682]

They're still priced competitively but not the cheapest. Still a really good value but so are many other places as well. Retail competition is so stiff now even in furniture you can't make huge margins anymore. I think they can still survive but they gotta get cost under control.

[@jonfreeman9682]

They're still priced competitively but not the cheapest. Still a really good value but so are many other places as well. Retail competition is so stiff now even in furniture you can't make huge margins anymore. I think they can still survive but they gotta get cost under control.

[@FrankTimms-cs5hl]

I found comparing prices at BL & Ocean state job lots the prices on some products were higher compared to other stores. I ended up going to the Walmart across the street because they had the same product for less-sometimes even half the price.

[@princemidus8211]

Big lots is that store that has a bunch of stuff, but I never need an item and think “I’m sure big lots has this in stock” It’s like a store for impulse buyers

[@paytonsantillanes2581]

lol just look at where they put up shop, they know this for sure. The only notable time I remember needing big lots was for a cheap full size mattress

[@standdownrobots_ihaveoldglory]

They used to have enough reliable categories & they do have a store brand - we used to shop there pretty often for interesting snacks & drinks, plus they had some good outlet salvage & great prices on makeup & skincare. But the inventory in so many sections just crashed & burned about 5-8 yrs ago. Same with the local salvage grocery store, they went from 2 locations to .75 (closed most of the freezer & a huge section), even with a population boom including a huge number of low income families. The consumer base is there but I am guessing prices went up on salvage in general & the main stores tried harder to sell things before they took a loss. For years, stores like these did well where I live, but now the inventory is so pitiful & Big Lots mostly has the same prices as WalMart or WinCo, or even higher, on standard items. I did stock up on nuts for baking tho, they have great prices and selection on nuts & dried fruit

[@emmettturner9452]

Plastic storage bins, perhaps.

[@gamingweasel4633]

I've never shopped there, and even after this video, I still don't know what I'd go there for specifically, except maybe furniture.

[@dianadialga3955]

I disagree, they had quality furniture where I lived so I would go and check out their couches and stuff. It definitely doesn’t surprise me that they were trying to become a furniture store, they were pretty good at it.

[@edwardw92]

In southern California, most of the Big Lots stores were converted from Pic ‘N’ Save (parent company of MacFrugals). But after the acquisition and the business model change, it no longer is the place to go for treasure hunting at a bargain price. I missed the days when you shop there for random stuffs, and since all merchandises are closeouts, you don’t see the same thing on the shelves every week.

[@arlenabrown1815]

I used to love Pic N Save! You couldn't get shoes or clothes from there though. Kids would make fun of you at school lol

[@phoebehill953]

My local Big Lots is going out of business. They call 10% off a huge clearance sale!

[@BradW-ye8cn]

Mine has various percentages off...most was 10-15% off before they were bought now most items are only 5% off

[@kathe_]

It goes down every week Quit whining

[@BradW-ye8cn]

@@kathe_ no it's not family dollar...their sales percentage actually has decreased since they found a buyer

[@chip6147]

@@BradW-ye8cn After the announcement that all stores were closing, BL canceled all current sale promotions and reverted to a store closing clearance cadence that started at 5% to 15%. Each week the discount increases depending on the category of merchandise. Example: Furniture sales promotions have commonly been around 20% off. Currently, the discounts are only 10%-15%, but will increase regularly until the stores close. The crazy thing is that furniture sales are very strong despite the lower discounts. FOMO is real (Fear Of Missing Out). Source: I'm a current furniture manager (lead) at a BL store.

[@ACoolKidsProduction]

In my experience, going out of business sales increase the percentage off the longer the sale goes on. The beginning is barely even discounted and a madhouse of customers, but there's lots of stuff to choose from. The end has great deals on the small amount of stuff that's left. The best is a sweet spot in between where you can find good deals on stuff you actually want, but you'll have to put more effort in searching for it than usual.

[@terrancing]

Almost every new video is relevant to my home town. Crumbl cookie moving in, big lots closing, even SHOPKO!! This man is bang on every time

[@MilwaukeeWoman]

Closeouts were my favorite part of the store. I worked there in the mid 90's and you could get really nice brand name towels that the department stores had discontinued for color trends changing. (I spent a lot of time folding towels there.) It pretty much just turned into Dollar General with furniture.

[@maxi-me]

I like to the corn chips that smelled like potpurri

[@PlatinumSkirmish]

I saw a Big Lots near me turn into a Spirit Halloween for the season and then never saw it turn back...

[@Somedroxy]

Spirit Halloween might as well be the spirit of Death when you see its banner fly over the sign of whatever store it’s taking over💀

[@kuebby]

You never turn back from Spirit.

[@corymorrison4488]

They took the spirit of big lots with them.

[@NJdaniels96]

Spooky

[@goosenotmaverick1156]

My closest yearly Spirit is a former Abercrombie and Fitch store in a struggling mall. 😂

[@mcmullen288]

Big lots (it was odd lots at first) used to be a great discount store back in the 90s, but lately everything there has all been like retail prices, nothing has been any cheaper than anywhere else.

[@GOPRepubliklan]

I remember Odd Lot's but I thought they coexisted with Big Lot's and Big Lot's sold the factory overruns where the factory screwed up and made too much products (the "BIG") and Odd Lot's sold the factory rejects of stupid products nobody bought elsewhere (the "ODD"). Or at least that's the way they presented it to me.

[@LaVidayElTristeFinal]

I went to a Big Lots in Ohio a few months ago and a shoplifter walked out with a bunch of stuff. The cashier told me shoplifting had become a common occurrence and there was nothing they could do about it. The layout of the store, the lack of employees and the leniency of law enforcement made shoplifting a significant problem in recent years. Not only shoplifting is a direct hit for the store, but also in the long run it deters regular customers. If you're waiting to pay and see someone else walk out with free stuff, you frankly feel like an idiot. Why am I paying when they just don't care if you do or not? It's a terrible customer experience.

[@AUTI5T1X]

And of course, private equity firms strike again 😒

[@SelecaoOfMidas]

This time, it looks like they thought better and decided to just go through bankruptcy and refocus.

[@kutter_ttl6786]

Private equity never got their hands on them. Even they saw how bad of a deal it would've been.

[@vladivosdog]

private equity firm = bankrupted company. An already established phenomenon.

[@mupty]

I laughed when I heard that in this video.

[@alanmaier]

I used to shop at Big Lots. We had a really nice one near me, so it was a nice place to shop. But they lost all reasons to shop there. Ollies is what Big lots used to be.

[@stevef4010]

Neither are much of a bargain anymore.

[@jonfreeman9682]

Sad they're both bankrupt now. I always try to support the smaller retailers but seems only the Walmarts Costco IKEA can survive.

[@mikaross4671]

When i first moved from NYC to VA, my job was at Big lots. It was walking distance from my house, so I didnt have to drive. The customers were mostly regulars who came in to see what new items we might have. It was really nice and I liked talking to them. There were people hired specifically for the furniture side and that's definitely were we made the most money, selling sofas and patio sets. I used to shop there too, because the food was the same as Safeway or Food lion, but always at least 20% or more off. RIP to my bootleg pop tarts. It's really sad the store I used to work at says it's permanently closed, despite being in a great location and always busy.

[@christopherthibeault7502]

I know how it feels. You don't think the gravy train will end when everything else around it seems perfectly fine, so you have to wonder what was going on behind the scenes. Buying back stock just because furniture sales went up one year was horribly shortsighted.

[@IISimpleII]

Small lots 😔

[@KTBClub777]

Coming soon......Empty lots

[@FrankTimms-cs5hl]

Or Ollie’s “grand opening”

[@TheBigdog868]

Big lots was an impulse buy store. When the economy goes down, impulse buying goes down.

[@kidzemp]

I swear I've been watching these like clockwork for years.

[@purplekenzie2194]

❤

[@SimuLord]

This channel's been a staple of my Wednesday lunchtime since I took this job in March of 2022. It's my "halftime show" for the workweek.

[@kidzemp]

@SimuLord i feel you. Years ago I was looking for videos of Kmart to just see my childhood and came across his and it was like the second video and then every video was a store or restaurant I liked then I was hooked.

[@honeysunday]

@@SimuLord real

[@jwhite11qb]

It’s my get into the car, and listen to this man explain to me what I already read about😂😂😂😂

[@elitezenv4702]

My local Big Lots is going through it's Permanently Closing sale as we speak

[@TrashQueenAndKing]

What happened is that they had brand names, but no closeout prices

[@AndrewAMartin]

And even worse, no-name brands at name-brand prices...

[@matao87]

I agree with furniture as a reason for the decline. The stores I went into were over half furniture that was poorly made and over priced. Also, very few closeouts or bargains anymore, just regular goods that were not priced competitively with amazon and Walmart.

[@ironrain1x]

I got to be honest, I thought big lots was always a furniture store which is why I never bothered going through the door

[@ACoolKidsProduction]

Came to the comments to talk about how bad the furniture had gotten, surprised that I had to scroll this far to find it. Discussion thread I read about them closing had lots of people saying it as well. We bought an outdoor storage box from them 2.5 years ago and it broke a little while I was assembling it and then disintegrated completely by the end of the summer.

[@ian3580]

@@ACoolKidsProduction an outdoor storage box is not what would be considered 'furniture' in this video or this discussion.

[@ACoolKidsProduction]

@@ian3580 Thank you, Donnie.

[@michaelmartin4816]

Here in Richmond, Va we saw signs that Big Lots was closing back in October. Then about 2 or 3 weeks later there were signs saying that they weren't closing & were staying open. Then a week ago my wife saw a sign while we were out saying they were closing. I thought that perhaps it was an older sign that hadn't been removed but the next day when we drove by the store, sure enough, there were signs back out saying they were closing! I had to laugh because it's like skit in a movie or show not knowing whether they're staying or going! Waiting for next month when they'll have signs back out saying that they're staying open again!

[@nancy4don]

I used to frequent the one in Meadowdale Shopping Center when I lived in that area. It was a glorious, piled-too-high mess that I frequented on my days off. I don't think I ever went there without leaving with several things. Is it still open?

[@exoticblitzz1482]

you’ve been an entertaining and consistent KZbinr since i subscribed in 2020. keep it up!

[@sierra565]

They started selling junk that was way overpriced. Especially when more of the discretionary decor spending is going towards places like Marshalls, TJ Maxx, and etc. Which has higher quality products for the prices Big Lots tried to sell junk. This coming from someone who grew up shopping at Big Lots, and using it to ease the pain of losing K-Mart during holiday shopping with my parents. But the last two Christmases, we didn't even get anything from Big Lots during Christmas, which is kinda a huge indicator of their offerings being not worth considering. The only thing I dread is no longer having a show room or hub for cheaper, more affordable furniture...

[@Markimark151]

Big Lots used to be really good until last decade, they started raising their prices and got rid of many popular merchandise like food items and even video games! They shouldn’t have pushed into furniture, that was their biggest mistake! Also lot of their stores were becoming outdated and in bad locations that were on the brink of closure, they were in the same strip mall with a former Rite Aid store as our local Big Lots.

[@blademaster12349]

Glad you talked about this one! My Big Lots just closed down and funny enough, it was right next to another closeout company, Ollie's! I hope you talk about that one next, because I think I would enjoy hearing the backstory to it.

[@Kanbei11]

I don't understand why all these fancy business folk don't understand that the pandemic boom was not here to stay. Even I, some random chump on KZbin, could guess that

[@DudeManDude-ot5fv]

The rich live in their own reality.

[@Kanbei11]

@DudeManDude-ot5fv ain't that the truth, and we end up paying for that reality

[@JesusMartinez-rr2ry]

Just yesterday, my mom was driving me back home, and I just saw the local Big Lots now have a big "Closing" banner in the black and yellow combo associated with closing stores.

[@a.m.1539]

I've been working at Big lots for over 3 years now and we got the call from our managers 6 days before Christmas that all the stores are closing. For a while now working at the stores had a decent amount of frustration but ever since the closing announcement almost all of my coworkers have been really frustrated through the amount of changes the closings have brought. Sadly none of us know if our store is still staying so we've just been waiting for a least some new info. It really sucks a lot of us will lose our jobs soon but at least some people will be able to keep them

[@The_Alexandra_B]

We just got a Big Lots in 2018 but whenever I went in, I felt prices weren’t competitive and were often higher than other stores. Even now with them closing, I went in and bought two plastic totes at a 10% discount. I saw basically the same thing for the same price at Aldi today.

[@quaide78]

There are so many discount furniture retailers with higher quality items than Big Lots. Big Lots was bottom of the barrel when it came to furniture. Big Lots was great when they had the closeouts. It enticed customers to see what new items were on sale.

[@BirgensmithGaming]

Truthfully I disagree. I think the furniture is great at a unbeatable price.

[@Budget-Soda]

Big lots furniture is actually better quality than Wal-Mart’s

[@ian3580]

We bought our first couch there before we were married, and it was our main couch for a long time, then moved to a second bedroom......it got a lot of use over 20 years and was good quality.

[@michealarwood7488]

My mom worked there for the last 10 years. The way the locations in my area were ran this wasn't surprising at all. One got taken out by a tornado, they started rebuilding it for maybe 2 months then closed it completely. My mom's store was promised not to be one closing just to be told 2 weeks later they'll be closing. Her manager was discriminated against for medical issues and corporate was useless. The regional manager would watch the employees over the cameras and many other issues. She worked in furniture the most and sold tons but the managers they chose for it almost sank it completely even after the pandemic. From the top down corporate to store mangers it was all dropping. Not to mention the amount of stealing. They got flooded with stock especially at the end and the backrooms filled completely and became a hazard and the furniture area was taken over by more of the random stock. Just a complete mess. It used to be great for her but it just kept falling until last year where it just toppled over. Edit: There was even a movie filmed in the parking lot of my mom's big lots with Dennis Quaid and Nick Offerman and production asked permission to film inside the store and for some reason cooperate denied that. I believe the production offered to pay the store and employees for all the time used and if anyone was used as extras etc.

[@Micah_Not_Micha]

🫡💯 Happy New Year, Company Man!

[@companyman114]

Happy new year!!

[@thegoodtony3339]

Hey just a reminder that I’ve still seen every video posted up until now. I’m gonna watch this one tomorrow at work. I knew you’d post about this as soon as I heard about the shut down. Thanx for the consistency

[@MrInFlight]

I’m from Southern California so I remember them to be Pic N Save stores. I remember when they were turned into Big Lots as a kid. I always remember the products to be mid and sometimes over priced. You could find some bargain prices though. I’m not surprised by the recent struggles.

[@enigmaticpro]

I really appreciate the amount of research and analysis that you put into your videos, but I also truly love your voice! So I end up watching ALL your videos, regardless of whether or not I am initially interested in the topic.😂 thank you!

[@zemthemattress3443]

Big Lots was where i got my first shower caddy, curtains, and trash bins when i first moved out. They also had some good and cheap electronics back in the day.

[@CrippledWheelzComedy]

I'm a small creator and I know how hard it is to put videos together. I just want to say I love how well put together and researched your videos are. You do a phenomenal job and this has quickly become one of my favorite channels!

[@vonVile]

This is why my Big Lots closed down. I hadn't been there for at least a year because they never updated their movies section. I decided to go on Christmas Eve only to discover it's just an empty lot.

[@pensivepenguin3000]

It just really struck me how brilliant this channel is from a business perspective. Even some of the best KZbinrs start running low on new topics to cover, but there will always be new companies succeeding and others failing

[@SheldonAdama17]

The last time I set foot in a Big Lots was like 6-7 years ago, I bought $20 worth of car accessories IIRC and that was that. For the stuff I want, between Walmart/Target/Amazon I can always find it - Big Lots always struck me as lower tier and not as consistent.

[@Magic_Ice]

There has been a Big Lots that is 5 minutes away from me for over 10 years and I have never once went to it.

[@alexandru5369]

Yep think I've went too two in my life. Seemed , maybe not depressing, but just somber

[@mandroid5678]

Yeah, I don't go to stores to "browse" through a bunch of random shi*. This isn't 2003.

[@jaredhicks5655]

​@mandroid5678 you're right, its not 2003, and you're not going to get a cookie for shopping online like you're ahead of the curve. You want a cookie, put your big boy pants on and interface with people in meatspace

[@Arh870]

For me it’s because they stopped what made them unique and became like every other general goods store. Instead of great bargains on closeout items, making the store feel like a treasure hunt, it became like a larger Dollar General. And the closeouts they have had haven’t been priced at a good price,

[@one_million_hamsters]

Your intro song at 1.5x speed is a banger

[@RblxTixs]

Omg your right that a banger 💥

[@smittywerbenjagermanjensen752]

Thank You 🤘

[@_armoredglasscannon2520]

Lmao

[@RedSpade37]

Wow, that's neat! I want a full version now haha

[@rockoorbe2002]

I used to frequent one here in Odessa TX. But i noticed how gradually the quality of service declined. Even the cashiers acted very indifferent towards the customers. And the shelves were a mess. So i stopped going. Im not even aware if this particular store is going to stay open.

[@RobertBrowning-js5dc]

This is my first experience with Company Man, and I am very impressed with your content. I have been a Big Lots shopper since they first opened a store in Lynchburg, VA, my hometown, in the early 80s (maybe...time flies...) I used to get stuff there and take it back to my home here in Dallas until Big Lots opened stores here. I have seen the changes in recent years, and I've not shopped there nearly so much lately. Thankfully, they gave a 15% Veteran's discount, which I always appreciated. I wonder if they still do that now with the bankruptcy? Thank you for this great information. I've read some of the comments, and I can see why many folks love this site. Well done!!!

[@johnnyhala]

When I was a kid my mom would sometimes spend up to two hours in Big Lots. I effing hate Big Lots.

[@ducky19991]

This is exactly how I remember and view Big Lots.

[@ICUall666]

Your mom needs help

[@Ioncandi]

That's how my son feels about Target. His sperm donor would take him there every weekend. He hates that store.

[@sawbonesquad4876]

@@ducky19991 same. I never have set foot in one as an adult because my mom went there with me so often and so long lol

[@sor3999]

I, too, have memories of being dragged by mom as she went shopping and being bored to death. Can't afford a sitter.

[@Euphoricbleeding]

My man is on Point! On Time! Will never stop loving this channel!!

[@christianfortner]

5:50 I think you hit the nail on the head. I used to work at Big Lots and I loved working there, though I never had even set foot in one of their stores before. Even while working there, I could never really think of a reason someone would ALWAYS shop at Big Lots as opposed to Walmart or something.

[@kenmore01]

Back in the '80s in San Diego, they used to be called Pic 'n Save. Then they all changed to Big lots. I always thought Pic 'n Save was a much better name.

[@drdex6880]

I was a sales manager for big lots! I sold furniture for them!! My department was 3k sq ft..the store was 30k sq ft...I was doing over 30% of the stores budget and had 10% of the retail space! Then someone had a brilliant idea to do away with the sales manager position and get cashiers to sell the furniture! I believe furniture was then doing 15% of the stores budget!! I was making 60k a yr w bonus and was doing a million dollars in sales!: they paid cashiers 20k a yr and were doing around 400k in sales!! Thats why they are out of business!! Also they leased every store..if they bought the stores they would have a ton of equity in the properties!! I'm not surprised they are going under!!

[@ceddycedchin]

It's uphill for Big Lots vs. Amazon, Costco, Walmart, Dollar Stores & supermarkets. Hard to think of a way they can survive long-term. Good luck.

[@visceratrocar]

About time. I worked there for 2 months in college. I was forced to work minimum 3 hours overtime every day and never left before midnight. They called me every day off to come in despite knowing I was a student in college. The managers would yell at me (literally) in front of customers. Once I was told to always card people for alcohol regardless of visual age and I'm like okay. An elderly lady was offended and complained to the manager who told me to card everyone. The next manager came in and the first thing she did on shift was to yell at me AGAIN. For no reason. If I stood still for a minute or so to gather my thoughts after clearing a long line of customers I was yelled at for "not working." Retail jobs suck in general, but Big Lots went out of their way to be worse than WalMart. Right after I quit there was a huge class action lawsuit regarding stolen wages and unpaid forced overtime. I'm not sad to see them close. They exploited and abused their employees at every opportunity. It was a waste of my time and I never put it on my resume.

[@ryang5441]

Last time I was in a big lots, I saw prices 30-50% higher for similar items than other non-discount stores. Walked in, and walked right back out.

[@ryanhenry5445]

Ollie's Bargain Outlet has kicked the crap out of Big Lots in the Midwest. I'd like to see a profile of Ollie's.

[@rager-69]

In SoCal, we had Pick N Save. Apparently, Pick N Save became McFrugal's, but I don't recall the name changing, but I do remember when they became Big Lots.

[@Xpurple]

The irony of this is I just recently got done decommissioning one of those stores :-)

[@beanzbeanzbeanz]

As soon as I saw the title I said "YES, COMPANY MAN! EXPLAIN IT TO ME!" I used to LOVE Big Lots. I caught a bus and a train to go to my favorite Big Lots one day...only to find that it had closed. I knew that was the beginning of the end. I'll miss you, Big Lots.

[@Manfromthenorth0551]

In my state the Big Lots have closed and in turn Ovean State Job Lots has moved in opening up 3 store in just a few months.

[@mjrodriguez8670]

I remember going to a Big Lots store. They had a variety of soaps, shampoo, soups, radios and pool accessories. It’s a shame for them to go out of business.

[@RedWaveTsunami]

I got my sectional sofa there and it’s great, during covid no other furniture was being delivered so there was a long wait. Big lots had them ready to go. We got it the same week!

[@Ioncandi]

Yes I ordered a chair at Bob's and never got it. Never got an update and once I got to the point where I didn't want to wait anymore went in and demanded my $ back. Don't know how they stayed in business for 2 years of the pandemic.

[@Avo7bProject]

I still have a futon frame that I bought at BL around 2003. They always had some furniture, and some of it was decent. But people aren't going to be shopping for furniture nearly as often as food and minor houseware.

[@jakecotroneo8649]

I am a retail executive for a living that works with many vendors/manufacturers that also sell big lots. The major issue is they got ‘to big’ and lost their way. 1. The shift from closeouts is as covid happened, manufacturers are producing less inventory therefore closeout quantities of an item are smaller. These amounts are usually to small for a 1000+ store chain. 2. The debt. The rapid expansion added debt to their balance sheet and made them to big (see point 1). when business downturned and rates rise they could not sustain their debt burden. They essentially turned into a ‘wal-mart lite’ without closeouts. Having merchandise At similar pricing to wal-mart, amazon, etc without as many essentials as a big box like wal-mart or convenience of amazon making them loose their edge. They got to big for themselves. Ollie’s is a success story in this space they should’ve modeled after. However Ollie’s is also expanding rapidly and facing similar challenges with closeouts. Interesting to see if their hot streak comes to a head soon.

[@billspangler2685]

Just in time inventory management also helped kill Big Lots. It dried up their supply chain considerably since there are so many other companies cutting waste and excess inventory purchasing.

[@CoachFromL4D2]

My mother-in-law works at a landfill and last year BigLots closed a store near her and because they're such a pain to store due to size and weight, they scrapped over 60k in adjustable beds. Brand new, in plastic, motors and massagers and all the extras. Managed to grab a queen size adjustable and mattress, Sealy brand. A lot of warehouses do this. It's just rare to benefit from it. One of those "perks" to working at landfill facilities.

[@cirodirosa6752]

Great Video.. Why is Ollie's doing well?

[@DeanyKong]

Kelly's Roast Beef just announced that they're being sold to a private equity firm. I'm looking forward to your "The Decline of Kelly's...What Happened?" video in 18 months :D

[@x1L0StTh3GAM3x]

Closeout %. Most customers didn't realize Big Lots was closeout product. I went back to buy more of the same product a year later and couldn't find it. I left empty handed

[@CEOdawg]

I'm basically the customer you were talking about in 2020 for Big Lots. In 2020, I bought a new bedroom set and patio furniture I got the patio furniture from Big Lots. I had never stepped foot in a Big Lots until that point. The next time I stepped into a Big Lots was in 2023, when I was looking for a belt on a trip in Pennsylvania because the one I had packed broke. It's not a store I would normally shop at.

[@Marinealver]

The one across the street from my worksite just shut down last year. Now it is No-Income Housing for the transients.

[@jetfan925]

Do you know where it is?

[@SimuLord]

There's probably a lesson in there that public policy wonks will completely miss about shelter space in their cities.

[@MsElizaRae]

No income housing 😂

[@robloxvids2233]

​@@SimuLordI looked - there isn't.

[@pdbouie]

Well, that was damn quick lol!!! Thanks, man! Been wondering what the hell was going on with this store. You the man! The Company Man! Thanks for all you do and Happy New Year!!

[@bubba966]

Only location I can think of that was around here is closed last time I drove by it. Too bad, I'd go grab movies on occasion. VERY interesting assortment of movies... lol

[@Zman82]

This is exactly what KZbin is supposed to be. This guy has been blowing up bigger and bigger and he's got great videos.

[@rolfathan]

They focused way too much on consistency, and all I wanted to see from these places was closeouts. If I want consistency, I'm going to Target or Walmart. Two examples: Last time I went, they were selling a very small package of oreos, and lower quality, worse paint, one accessory Star Wars figures, made specifically to be cheap. When I was a kid, they sold a weird new cookie you had heard about, but it vanished before you could try it. Now it's less than half the price. And they sold the Crash Test Dummy figures, which weren't super popular, but I had tons of fun with them. They weren't weird discount versions of things, they were just more irrelevant to the modern trends. Absolutely fine if you want actual deals.

[@mrtree1368]

I went to big lots often . They had good deals on water , spices, snacks, cereal, cat food , and other house hold things plus you always get emails for 5 or 10 dollars off . There was always people shopping or a a couple people in line

[@jetman80pops]

Big Lots going from an all closeout store to only being a partially closeout store affected them. There's so much stuff in the local Big Lots that you can go to Walmart or Target and get cheaper. Maybe they stayed as an all closed out store it would have worked out better for them. Ollie's just shows that full closeout stores still work.

[@DaleMoorenotchip]

My family stopped going when they shifted away from closeouts and went with low quality regular items. Didn't know they ever switched back. Once a customer moves to another business they tend to not go back.

[@5MinuteFit]

Their furniture used to be a decent enough value for the price you'd pay and was good for small apartments, new starter homes, etc. But in the past few years prices on most of their furniture has almost double putting it around what you'd pay at more well known furniture stores so I know people that stopped shopping their. Also that uncertainty of knowing if the product you want will even be in stock is what stopped me from shopping their consistently due to almost every trip finding the no longer carried a grocery product I could only find there.

[@JL-sm6cg]

Homophones, dude. Learn them.

[@davehicks3271]

The store I worked at closed in December. Merry Christmas to us. lol. The district was cut once the new owners bought the company. So in my neck of the woods, it looks like sometime in February, Big Lots! is no more.

[@edwardkay288]

After successfully re-careering and getting fully employed in November 2013, my biggest shopping spree was Big Lots on Black Friday. There are very few times I have spent over $1,000 at a retail store at once, but this trip was definitely the first time!

[@SamBroadway]

How to stop shopping at Big lots in Galveston Texas back in 2018 because the store was constantly filthy.... Just disgustingly filthy.... But when they did their clothes out sale I walked my hiney into the door and got me some patio rugs for dirt cheap... I was a big fan of mcfrugals back in the 1990s and shop there on a regular basis... Nevertheless I was completely astonished when they posted a big banner on the front that said going out of business... Once again, another corporation gone... It's sad

[@usrevenge]

Big lots hasn't had good deals in forever I was more surprised it stayed in business. We have one next to my local grocery store and never had people going in.

[@GLHS592]

We always called it Big Lots of Crap. I've been in their stores a few times in my life and never saw one thing I needed or wanted. It was always junk.

[@kimberlyreynolds4646]

Big Lots used to be a place where you might find anything. I remember years ago buying vinyl tile flooring there. I don’t think I’d ever see something like that today. That was the fun in going. Treasure hunting if you will.

[@one_million_hamsters]

3:55 that's Yvette Nicole Brown! She's Shirley on Community!

[@squeallymaniac]

She is the WORST 🚮

[@chucknastyness]

I was coming to say this! Love her

[@frankrossi6972]

They spoofed it about a decade ago on "The Walking Dead" (similar logo, but "Big Spot"). The timing was apropos because around that time, our local Big Lots started feeling lifeless, as the bargain pricing slowly disappeared, as did foot traffic. It closed about three years ago.

[@realAlexanderHamilton]

I like to eat apple

[@ninjapistol14]

Thank you Mr. $10 bill

[@WiseAcres-i4d]

Apple Crumple?

[@km09.]

Watch your mouth

[@Jimmyjimjimjim]

I like turtles

[@mrimpossible4353]

I like to eat oranges.

[@moth.monster]

Ollie's Bargain Outlet is what Big Lots used to be. Wacky stuff at low prices. Love that place!

[@SudoYETI]

6:16 I have that exact couch.

[@angrybigfoot752]

How do you like it and what brand is it? It's a great looking couch

[@willy9572]

Love your videos friend, always very informative.

[@creepycrespi8180]

the big lots closed down and ollies is opening in their old location instead.

[@RustyRobinson-g5n]

I really appreciate your content 👍🇺🇸

[@ptylio6149]

Ur description is about Dave’s chicken

[@j887276]

Worked there as a teen in the furniture department, minimum wage pay sucked & no paid leave but it was a laid back job. Used to sell a HUGE amount of serta mattresses & living room sets.

[@BugsyFoga]

Certainly been awhile since I’ve entered a big lots