Big Lots bashing

[Caldor1999]

i cant stand there tv adds they drive me crazy and they seem so cheep even cheeper then Wal mart lol but they are better then them

[Jag67]

their stores are disgusting. One just opened near us last year and it already looks like it's 20 years old

[truviking05]

I don't know...I've only been in one of my local stores once or twice, but each time I've felt a strange need to walk on tiptoe in that place, lol. This is a store that was a Phar-Mor since who knows when until 1993 or so and then became a Books-a-Million, and finally Big Lots around 1999 or 2000. The floor is so dirty looking and you can see weird bubbles (like from water damage) coming up from the floor.

[Crawford]

The Big Lots in Seekonk Mass is in one half of the former Bradlees. You can see plenty of label scars inside, especially around the rest rooms. Not too bad of a store, yes they are messy and some items have been there so long they are covered in dust. How hard is it for help to occasionaly run a duster over them? I worked in retail and my managers would have fits over dusty mechandise

[store215]

I was only in a Big Lots store in Florida a few years back (I never heard of the chain before then) and it wasn't impressive. Very dirty, in a creepy shopping center that was mostly empty, and not too many name brand products. (Although I have read on other message boards, they now sell things such as small Sony Flat TV'S)

Big Lots is closing down over 150 of their stores this year.

[SomeBeach]

There is a very nice Big Lots around me, it takes up a former supermarket space. It's very spacious, well kept, clean, and it doesn't have the "cheap junky" feeling that some Big Lots do.

[david121]

I've gotten some good prices on games for my computer and crap, and misc electronic junk... but the store in watertown is a complete dump. It opened around 1996/7 after Great American relocated to State Street.

[C. Fontaine]

I agree, I bought some furniture that was originally at Pier 1 Imports for almost nothing a few months back.  But I have noticed many of their store are a mess.  I went to the one in Hollywood, FL on Hallandale Blvd, and that place is a dump.

[scottw73]

They do have some good prices,  but you have to look carefully at what you are purchasing, because some of the products (electronics, appliances, hardware) are "reconditioned" or "factory serviced" even though the prices are cheap I would rather go to walmart, target or some other place and pay a little more for the same product that is brand new.

[Hddfan135]

There is a big lots that opened near the orange derby plaza (The dying one with the defunct K-mart)
And the store, like the one Jag67 mentioned, also opened not to long ago, and is falling apart.

[GothicPrincess]

I worked for Big Lots in Greensburg, PA for a year and a half. I started out selling furniture, which is wonderful to buy there. You can get an Ashley sofa for 400 dollars that elsewhere is at least 800. Bedroom sets that sell for 2300 dollars at Roomfull Express is only 1700 dollars at Big Lots. My store was a grocery store at one point, because in the stock room was a smaller room that had things written on the wall and the floors reminded me of the meat department in Shop N Save when I worked there. Plus it had the swinging doors that were blocked off from the store area. The store was dirty and dated looking, and I found a few OddLots carts mixed in with the Big Lots carts. Most of the people in my store were nice, but I was fired because I walked out one day. They tried taking me out of furniture after I fought to get back in after knee surgery, so I left. The next day I was informed that I didn't have a job anymore. Whatever lol I was just handed a paper from Staples, so I'll try to get a job there now...

[powersbt]

Originally posted by GothicPrincess
I worked for Big Lots in Greensburg, PA for a year and a half. I started out selling furniture, which is wonderful to buy there. You can get an Ashley sofa for 400 dollars that elsewhere is at least 800. Bedroom sets that sell for 2300 dollars at Roomfull Express is only 1700 dollars at Big Lots. My store was a grocery store at one point, because in the stock room was a smaller room that had things written on the wall and the floors reminded me of the meat department in Shop N Save when I worked there. Plus it had the swinging doors that were blocked off from the store area. The store was dirty and dated looking, and I found a few OddLots carts mixed in with the Big Lots carts. Most of the people in my store were nice, but I was fired because I walked out one day. They tried taking me out of furniture after I fought to get back in after knee surgery, so I left. The next day I was informed that I didn't have a job anymore. Whatever lol I was just handed a paper from Staples, so I'll try to get a job there now...

How long were you with Shop n Save?? Were you ever there through the Hannaford era??

[GothicPrincess]

I only worked for 2 months for Shop N Save in Latrobe, PA. This was June-August 1999.

[videogamer75]

To me, big lots is basically a dollar store that charges higher than a dollar.

[dmx10101]

I like shopping at Big Lots, you can find good deals there. The stores aren't that messy, though they could be a little neater.

[nims57]

Originally posted by MBZ321
I was only in a Big Lots store in Florida a few years back (I never heard of the chain before then) and it wasn't impressive. Very dirty, in a creepy shopping center that was mostly empty, and not too many name brand products. (Although I have read on other message boards, they now sell things such as small Sony Flat TV'S)

Big Lots is closing down over 150 of their stores this year.

How was this center creepy? What town?

[Marc82]

The one in Bristol, CT isn't that bad. It's a former Waldbaum's Foodmart. The only gross part is the bathroom. Saturday Nights they hold an Classic Car Show in Big Lot's Plaza. I went there one Saturday night with a buddy of mine and we both had to use the bathroom. We went inside the men's room of Big Lots and both stalls were clogged with human waste!!!!!!!!!!! *vomits* We high-tailed it out of there and used the much cleaner facilities at the Sears Hardware Store and the other end of the plaza.

[zonemad96]

Most of the food they sell is expired or taste like crap and didn't sell which is why it ended up their and as far everything else they sell a lot of it sits on the shelf for months and it all can be found at other stores like walmart for the same or lower price. It's the type of store you go in and find one or two good things and that's about it. The furniture they sell (not at all stores) is pretty good quality but that's about it.

[MikeRa]

2 of the Big Lots in Philadelphia started as another store.  The Big Lots at Philadelphia Mills/Franklin Mills started as 1/2 of Hechinger Home Improvements.  The Big Lots at Bustelton Avenue started as 1/2 of Super Fresh Food Market/Super Fresh Super Store.

[Hudsons81]

2 of the Big Lots in Philadelphia started as another store.  The Big Lots at Philadelphia Mills/Franklin Mills started as 1/2 of Hechinger Home Improvements.  The Big Lots at Bustelton Avenue started as 1/2 of Super Fresh Food Market/Super Fresh Super Store.

Likewise, the Big Lots in Southgate, Michigan started as a Kroger greenhouse that later became Family Foodland in 1986 before closing circa 1998. It was vacant for about a year or two before Big Lots moved in.

[Ameskid]

I'm not sure about "nasty" as others have said above, but Big Lots stores around here just look really awful in general. They're very clearly patch-jobs of former stores that Big Lots didn't feel like investing enough in to renovate.

Every Big Lots I have been to sends the message that the company does not care about their stores.

[BillyGr]

I'm not sure about "nasty" as others have said above, but Big Lots stores around here just look really awful in general. They're very clearly patch-jobs of former stores that Big Lots didn't feel like investing enough in to renovate.

Every Big Lots I have been to sends the message that the company does not care about their stores.

Or perhaps that they would rather not spend the money to re-do them and thus have to charge you more?  Since they are dealing with a lot of close outs and offering cheaper deals, that would make some sense.

[Bdubs]

The Big Lots in Norwich is really nice. It's in part of a former Ames/Caldor, however the building was practically torn down and rebuilt.
The Big Lots in the former Foodmart in Middletown was also totally gutted and renovated. It doesn't look half bad.

[Ameskid]

I'm not sure about "nasty" as others have said above, but Big Lots stores around here just look really awful in general. They're very clearly patch-jobs of former stores that Big Lots didn't feel like investing enough in to renovate.

Every Big Lots I have been to sends the message that the company does not care about their stores.

Or perhaps that they would rather not spend the money to re-do them and thus have to charge you more?  Since they are dealing with a lot of close outs and offering cheaper deals, that would make some sense.

Stores like Ollie's offer even cheaper prices on closeouts and are still able to add some flair to their stores.