Consolidated Stores Corporation, now called “Big Lots”, was founded in the year 1967. The company is known for its retail business. Sol Shenk, the company’s creator, is regarded as one of the industry’s true innovators. Let’s know ‘What did Big Lots used to be called?’
“Consolidated Stores Corporation” was the previous name of Big Lots. Big Lots is the United States leading closeout store. It sells everything from furniture to groceries. In 45 states, the company has approximately more than a thousand closeout outlets. The company has worked under different brand names from time to time such as Pic ‘N’, Odd Lots, and Big Lots Furniture. As of 22, the company has decided to rebrand all of its stores as Big Lots.
What did Big Lots used to be called? – let’s know.
History
The origin of the brand Big Lots or Consolidated Stores Corporation (CSC) may be traced back to the year 1967. Its first store Odd Lots was established in Ohio by its founder Sol Shenk. In the year 1982, a drug store company named Revco purchased CSC in an attempt to avoid a takeover.
Revco, after a few years, quickly lost interest in its primary drug store activities, and profits plummeted, leading the company to sell CSC. CSC then appeared as an independent corporation on the American Stock Exchange. The very next year, it began trading on NY Stock Exchange.
In the 1900s, CSC obtained Toy Liquidators which resulted in the addition of 82 outlets across more than 35 states in the US. In the same decade, it also bought KB Toys to grow its toy business in the country. These two stores were bought by private equity firms in the 21st century.
CSC decided to operate under the name Big Lots in the year 2001 and changed its identifier in the stock exchange to BLI. By the start of 2003, all of its stores officially started operating under the name Big Lots. It purchased Mac Frugals and Pic ‘N’ and switched their name to Big Lots. Big Lots recently evolved by adding hundreds of thousands of new outlets in the country.
Value Provisions by Big Lots
Big Lots has a long history of offering exceptional quality products and services to its clients, as evidenced by its popularity and expertise in the home goods industry. Big Lots delivers a diverse variety of items to clients, like furniture, technology appliances, toys, recreational goods, and eatables, guaranteeing that it will suit the demands of a diverse group of people.
It provides consumers with high-quality goods at decent pricing. This quality makes it a rival company to many other large retailers. It also has a nationwide outreach with more than a thousand stores across the US. It has a huge client base since it is accessible by ordinary people in their local areas.
Big Lots provides a variety of bonuses, concessions, and incentives to its consumers, enabling them to buy items at lower costs. It has worked hard over the previous decades to develop its customer service. Its staff works directly with buyers to make sure that their requirements are fulfilled. It also has a platform that handles complaints, warranty claims, and defective items.
Why did CSC Rebrand all its Stores to Big Lots?
In the 20th century, Consolidated Stores Corporation operated under different names. One of these names was Big Lots which was popular among the general public. As a result, the corporation took benefit of its fame to increase its overall profits by rebranding all of its stores under the name Big Lots.
By combining every one of its outlets under the Big Lots umbrella, the corporation was able to streamline its promotional efforts. Big Lots can now concentrate their whole marketing expenditure on a single name, instead of creating various marketing projects for different retail venues.
In addition to rebranding, the corporation intended to improve the company’s image in an attempt to appeal to a more wealthy demographic of bargain hunters. The rebranding is the first stage towards establishing a compelling business.
Other Changes
At the start of the 21st century, the company started different advertising campaigns for promotion. It upgraded its merchandising system which was another important shift. The outlets were formerly unstructured; things were placed on displays for no apparent purpose and under no apparent heading, and the delivery system required improvement.
By growing its delivery facilities, it was able to fill outlets with more goods, giving buyers a bargain-hunting retail experience. Big Lots hoped that it would encourage buyers to return weekly to their outlets. Therefore, merchandize trucks were employed to deliver weekly to each outlet.
The efforts behind its advertising campaign benefitted Big Lots tremendously. Big Lots also worked towards finding predictable aspects of customers’ purchasing experience. It found that customers required specific products to be supplied on regular basis.
Big Lots has now built a processing system that lets its customers track which items will be delivered to their nearest outlets in the week. The company has also invested a significant sum of resources in instructing and coaching its employees so that they may deliver excellent customer service.
Summing it up
Big Lots was known as Consolidated Stores Corporation before it rebranded all its outlets under the name Big Lots. This rebranding decision was made because of Big Lots’s popularity among the general public.
Frequently Asked Questions
In which year did the company decide to rebrand all its outlets into a single name?
The company decide to rebrand all its outlets into a single name in 2001.
What is the current official name of Big Lots?
Big Lots Stores, Inc. is the company’s name.
Who is the president of Big Lots as of 2022?
Bruce Thorn is the current president of Big Lots.
