Big Lots closing up to 170 stores

Puget Sound Business Journal ^ | 10/07/05

[BurbankKarl]

Big Lots Inc. is closing 126 underperforming stores and all 41 of its freestanding furniture outlets.

Big Lots (NYSE: BLI), which operates 14 stores in Western Washington, didn't say which ones would close, though many are expected to be in small or rural markets.

The closures are part of a restructuring process that will cost the Columbus, Ohio-based closeout retailer $60 million this year. The charges will cut Big Lots' 2005 profit by around 35 cents a share.

Because of the charges, Big Lots said can no longer make a guess at its 2005 profit. The company said last February it expected to earn between 54 cents and 60 cents a share in the current fiscal year, which ends in January.

The changes follow a disappointing 2004. Big Lots reported a profit of $25.7 million in 2004, or 22 cents a share; down from a profit of $81.2 million, or 69 cents a share, in 2003.

The restructuring program will look at Big Lots' fixed costs, which rose in recent years as the company undertook an extensive remodeling project. It will also examine merchandising, purchasing, and identify new markets in which to open stores.

Big Lots disclosed the charges along with its September sales figures. The company's same-store sales rose 2.9 percent in September and are up 1.5 percent in the first nine months of the year. Same-store sales measure receipts from stores open at least a year, and are considered a good measure of a retailer's condition.

[BurbankKarl]

paging williegreen

[FreePaul]

...closing up to 170 stores...

Pretty meaningless until someone tells us how many stores they had before they started closing. I know they've closed stores here.

[jsmith48]

I'm not really surprised, the only times I've ever gone in there all they have is junk.

[dc-zoo]

So now they'll be the "Not So Big Lots"?

[BurbankKarl]

1500 stores total

[Caipirabob]

I'm not really surprised, the only times I've ever gone in there all they have is junk.

That was my impression. It was like a Chinese MFG warehouse closeout. All the junk that would barely stay in one piece while you carried it out the door.

They should have paid you to haul the stuff.

[conservative in nyc]

...with plans to open up 500 more stores over the next 5 years. Probably expanding too quickly and need to tweak their business model.

Or maybe their stores just stink and deserve to go out of business. Not too many of them around here, so I can't say.

[ShadowDancer]

Good. Those places smell as bad as they look.

[Armedanddangerous]

I used to really like going to Big Lots. They always had something interesting, and you could get a huge bag of really good popcorn for a buck.

But when they remodeled, it was like they hired Stevie Wonder to do the job. Nothing in the store made sense, and it was hard to find the stuff you used to be able to track down easily.

I think our store is staying open, but some in the northern part of West Virginia are shutting down.

[Boundless]

> I'm not really surprised, the only times I've ever
> gone in there all they have is junk

Like eBay, BL sometimes has undervalued closeout items,
but it's a crapshoot.

I've been expecting this for some time. A couple of years
ago BL started carrying BigLots-branded items. This said
two things:
1. Their normal supply of real closeouts, overstocks,
remainders and liquidation merchandize was running low, and
2. Because the BL-branded stuff was overpriced junk,
they think their customers are idiots.

[Dark Skies]

Big Lots has awfully thin margins and low return on equity.

"Management Effectiveness:"

Return on Assets (ttm): 2.03%
Return on Equity (ttm): 2.43%

"Income Statement:"

Revenue (ttm): 4.51B
Revenue Per Share (ttm): 39.976
Qtrly Revenue Growth (yoy): 5.60%
Gross Profit (ttm): 1.78B
EBITDA (ttm): 162.15M
Net Income Avl to Common (ttm): 25.84M

source:Big Lots financial info

[Pure Country]

Didn't they start out as Odd Lots and then the new ones became Big Lots and then they all changed. When I used to go to the store in Ohio, it was Odd Lots and then out here it was Big Lots and the bags even had both names on them--that's if my memory serves me correctly. My kids tell me that I'm old............They're right, but don't tell them.

[BurbankKarl]

Oh man, this is hilarious...

>>>But when they remodeled, it was like they hired Stevie Wonder to do the job. Nothing in the store made sense, and it was hard to find the stuff you used to be able to track down easily.

[KarlInOhio]

But when they remodeled, it was like they hired Stevie Wonder to do the job. Nothing in the store made sense, and it was hard to find the stuff you used to be able to track down easily.

That's so you have to walk through the entire store looking for what you want and pick up other stuff while wandering. The grocery store I shop at reorganizes about every three years and I swear that's the only reason why.

[Paradox]

A few years ago, I read an article about stores like Big Lots, which said that during times of economic hardship, those kinds of stores prosper because people are stingier with their money. So maybe the economy is not as bad as the Democrats/MSM are telling me?

[conservative in nyc]

Your memory is perfect. They started as Odd Lots in 1982, bought a few other discount chains, and converted all the remaining stores to Big Lots in 2001-2002.

They've made mistakes in the past, like buying KB Toys only to sell it four years later.

[Dysart]

I was in one of these outlets down the street from my home ( I had some time on my hands) and was browsing their "furniture" dept, and spotted what appeared to be a very nice mahogany chest for $299. Upon closer inspection, it was actually plastic! I thought it was a joke, or maybe just a display replica, but no, it was the real deal. I found the fact that people were tripping over each in there almost as astonishing as the crap they were pedaling.

[Popman]

Time to buy some shares

[visualops]

Walmart does the same thing.


The Big Lots here are pretty good- lots of inexpensive food items, linens are a good buy, and they are a bonanza at holiday times.