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Big
Lots
What's in the store one day may not be
there the next, and the store may not get further shipments of the
items. Most of the merchandise in the stores are closeouts and
overstocks. 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.
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.
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. (The
NYSE ticker symbol CNS is currently used by Cohen & Steers, Inc.). By
the end of 2002, Big Lots Inc. completed a nationwide conversion to the
single 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, however they still
operate Big Lots Furniture in many Big Lots stores.
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.
Source: Wikipedia - News Reports
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