I found a quarter in the grocery store parking lot, the other day. Sent me into a space of “either the economy is so good, people won’t stoop to pick up a quarter, or inflation is so bad, a quarter is the new penny.”
Or, maybe it’s just s quarter.
Posted on 07/11/2024 10:11:29 AM PDT by Ciaphas Cain
Big Lots is warning investors that it might not be around much longer.
The discount chain, in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), warned there was "substantial doubt about the Company’s ability to continue as a going concern." Big Lots has reported net losses and burned up its cash reserves in 2022, 2023 and the first quarter of 2024. In May, it reported a quarterly loss of $205 million, citing "a continued pullback in consumer spending by our core customers, particularly in high ticket discretionary items."
In the remainder of the year, Big Lots said, it plans to open three new stores, but will close between 35 and 40. (The company reported 1,392 locations at the start of 2024.) It did not disclose in the filing which locations were at risk of shutting down.
The company also said it has an increasing long-term debt load, which jumped $72.2 million, from $501.6 million in the first quarter of 2023 to $573.8 million in the first quarter of 2024.
(Excerpt) Read more at fortune.com ...
The Big Lot store in my area closed at least ten years ago. It was replaced by a Salvation Army store, but IT closed about two years ago. I’m told the owners of the property increased the rent beyond the Salvation Army’s ability to pay. The store remains vacant.
Dollar Tree, 99 Cent Stores, Big Lots....
All of the discount / surplus retailers going out of business.
Not a good sign. Is it that there isn’t as much overstock anymore, or the prices too high? People tired of cheaply made chinese crap? Both?
Here’s an AI answer .... FWIW ...
While inflation has pressured the companies’ low-income customer base and shoplifting has squeezed their profits, those factors alone can’t explain their difficulties. Years of strategic mistakes and underinvestment have plagued Family Dollar and 99 Cents Only, retail analysts say.Apr 11, 2024
Property taxes, insurance, interest. Maybe the government will make it into refugee housing.
It is never described as government’s fault in the explanations. Never.
I wonder how much of their problem is due to retail theft.
I guy I know manages a pharmacy in a sketchy part of town. He says he catches, on average, one shoplifter a day. And what about the ones he misses?
No violence, yet. But when that heats up, I suppose the business will close.
I found a quarter in the grocery store parking lot, the other day. Sent me into a space of “either the economy is so good, people won’t stoop to pick up a quarter, or inflation is so bad, a quarter is the new penny.”
Or, maybe it’s just s quarter.
Big Lots managers have complained for years about faraway corporate know-nothings dictating their stock. They have begged the company to let them decide what needs to be stocked and what need to be dumped, to no avail. Let the college educated know nothings in corporate drive the company to the ground. They deserve it.
Damn shame. I like the Big Lots store in our neighborhood. They employ a lot of seniors and give shoppers a good value for the money. They have been the anchor store of a strip mall for more than the 22 years since we moved here.
We live within walking distance of a Big Lots. Never see a crowd in there. We mainly by pet food and sundry items there, but we have bought some patio furniture and a gazebo from them.................
Yep. Like Sears. Remote middle managers destroyed it.
I like Big Lots. Our couch,love seat,and mattress we have all came from Big Lots. However a 70 dollar delivery fee is a bit high.
Starting several years ago, the amount of overstock has dropped dramatically. Suppliers don't want to get stuck with items after retailers cancel orders and retailers don't want to mark down items that don't sell well.
One other issue that's been a major factor is transportation, where costs are such that more Minimum Order Quantities (MOQs) are a full container load in order to avoid the costs associated with freight consolidators shipping Less than Truck Loads (LTL). A retailer will order 19 containers of the product and sell them at full price instead of ordering 20 containers and marking down the last of the items that don't sell, especially if the retailer is paying a 3rd party company to warehouse the items for them. The computer programs that calculate warehouse and store shelf costs are more and more accurate.
I regularly warn people, "If you see it and want it - buy it, because they're likely to be out of stock with no inbound orders the next time you check."
It’s the CEO begging for Private Equity scumbags to raid the company and provide him with a golden parachute.
I remember the good old days when Big Lots and others featured “overstock” and there were some great deals on cool things but I think that was in the early oughts. Now they feature contract-made Chinese goods that are thoroughly lacking distinction and exceptional value.
$1162
Reminds me of the old saying, “definition of an MBA: one who is often wrong but seldom in doubt”....
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