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| Today's post highlights Rankin County, MS, retail. |
The past several years have brought along many retail bankruptcies and closures. Sadly, many of the chains I liked to frequent have fallen victim to these circumstances. Last November I posted about Dirt Cheap going out of business; while that brand was never one I held in particularly high regard, I had come to like it more recently simply because all of the other options felt like they had already disappeared. While chains like TJMaxx, Burlington, and Ross are still prevalent, my excitement comes from browsing stores with changing and/or closeout merchandise that aren't quite as heavy on apparel. Among my favorites to have bitten the dust are Tuesday Morning, Gordmans, Pier 1 Imports, and most recently and perhaps most hurtfully, Bargain Hunt (post coming soon). And, of course, we mustn't forget Big Lots, the subject of today's post.
By now, you probably all know the Big Lots story. Originally a closeout chain, over the past decade or two they kept changing their business model -- eliminating closeouts, focusing on home decor, going all-in on furniture, bringing back closeouts -- ultimately confusing and alienating their customer base. After closing stores throughout 2023 and 2024, the company ended up filing for bankruptcy last September, with plans to sell itself to Nexus Capital Management. To add insult to injury, though, the deal fell through, and the company was forced to liquidate all locations.
Part of Big Lots's misfortune also came from over-expanding its store base; during the multiple closure rounds, states such as California were hit especially hard, with Big Lots never having performed quite in line with expectations. Here in Mississippi, on the other hand, Big Lots stayed relatively status quo until the chainwide liquidation. A store on County Line Road in Jackson closed in 2023, but otherwise, the Hattiesburg store was the only one selected for closure prior to the end -- and that's most likely because it literally shared a wall with competitor Ollie's Bargain Outlet! Remaining stores in Southaven, Tupelo, Greenwood, Pearl, Clinton, Vicksburg, Laurel, D'Iberville, Gulfport, Ocean Springs, and Pascagoula all stayed open until the bankruptcy announcement.
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| An old photo of the store in Greenwood, MS, from July 2018. |
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| Like the logo on the outside of the store, the handbaskets and carts inside were similarly aged. |
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| A photo of the Greenwood store during the liquidation sale (courtesy The Greenwood Commonwealth). That vintage truck out front fits in perfectly! |
A lot of recent retail bankruptcies have ended up with the brands coming back in some form, typically as online "zombie retailers." Interestingly, though, Big Lots's comeback story is the exact opposite: just after Christmas 2024, Big Lots entered a deal to sell its intellectual property and up to 400 store locations to Variety Wholesalers, the parent company of Roses and other similar chains. Variety is famously pro-brick-and-mortar and largely unchanging; you might recall this quote from my post last year on the Roses Express in Byhalia: "What’s noticeable about Roses, though, is how little it is changing. There is no e-commerce. No acquisitions since 2003. No newly constructed stores, only rehabs. No customer-loyalty program. Same CEO and same chief operating officer since 2006. The company headquarters is in the same downtown Henderson space where P.H. Rose opened his third store."
In many ways, the acquisition of the Big Lots brand may well be the biggest change to happen at Variety Wholesalers in many years. Variety has wasted no time in taking over selected Big Lots store leases and preparing them to reopen; while a full chainwide "grand opening" celebration will be held this fall, stores have begun holding soft openings across the country, with the first batch opening just last week, on April 10, 2025. In a press release, Lisa Seigies, Variety's president and CEO, said, "We're thrilled to bring the Big Lots! brand back to life by offering more deals than ever, lots of famous brands and a new apparel department for the entire family. We’re opening stores quickly so we can serve the community. We know the stores won’t be perfect to start, but each week we’ll add more new products as we build towards the grand opening celebration in the fall. Every time a customer visits Big Lots! we want them to find something new and exciting!"
Understandably, perhaps the biggest question to come out of this deal is just how similar the new Big Lots under Variety would be to the old Big Lots of yore (even if the old Big Lots, too, experienced many format changes over the years). The addition of apparel, as noted above, speaks to a decidedly more Roses-esque experience, but Variety also promised selections of furniture and closeout merchandise, two core categories of the original Big Lots.
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| Website screengrab, March 2025 |
No doubt a reflection of its status with only one 2024 closure prior to the chainwide liquidation, Mississippi was lucky enough to host two of the first nine Big Lots 2.0 stores to reopen, in Tupelo and in Pearl. The others are listed above, and below you'll find some lists of all projected stores and reopening dates from a source on Reddit. (It appears Southaven is also set to reopen about a month from now, if these dates and locations hold true.)
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| Courtesy Reddit |
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| Courtesy Reddit |
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| Courtesy Reddit |
After the County Line store's closure in 2023, the Pearl Big Lots became my local store, so I was excited to be able to see what Variety's Big Lots is like so early into its existence. I visited the store two days later on April 12th, and below is what I found.
Okay, well first, let's be sure to quickly flash back just a little bit to show the store during its liquidation on February 23, 2025 (four days left) and its very quick turnaround to reopening, with a banner proclaiming "The Comeback Starts Soon!" visible on the storefront by April 6. It's a bit ironic that Variety is leaning so heavily into Big Lots's exclamation mark icon (the CEO's quote from above even affixes the mark to the chain's name), while at least two of the first stores to reopen still bear this old, pre-exclamation mark logo (Tupelo being in the same boat as Pearl here -- and given that Greenwood store from earlier too, it sure looks like Mississippi had a sizable concentration of the old logo)!
In addition to sharing a very dated logo, both Tupelo and Pearl also occupy old Wal-Mart buildings, and presumably the rent in these buildings is on the cheaper side of things -- a factor that I'd imagine greatly influenced Variety's decision to select these stores for reopening. In Pearl, Variety also operates a Roses store just a few miles down Hwy 80, which appears to have been there for a very long time, so I bet they are optimistic for further success now that they've taken over the Big Lots in town as well.
By April 10, the banner had switched from "The Comeback Starts Soon!" to "The Comeback Starts Now!", joined by a proud "NOW OPEN!" banner -- let's head inside!
Entering the store, my goal wasn't really to give a full tour, but rather just a glimpse of what to expect. After all, as the CEO herself said, the stores aren't meant to be perfect at first -- instead, they're meant to reopen as quickly as possible to provide the shopping option to the community, and employment to the associates. While I wasn't able to find an article about the Pearl store, in an article about the Tupelo store, the store manager said, "Oh, we were delighted because some of their [Variety's] first choices of employees were the older staff, so we have a lot that came back."
While fixture placement and general setup hasn't changed very drastically here in Pearl (aside from the addition of apparel, now occupying the entire left-hand wall of the store -- more on that later), the layout of departments within and amongst those fixtures has changed quite a bit. Food, which was always my personal biggest draw to Big Lots, used to occupy those aisles at the very front of the store, which you can see are now stocked with home decor, bedding, and the like. The front right corner is still home to seasonal, though, and further seasonal pallet drops line the right-hand actionway.
Many of the aisles felt very tight, although I don't believe any of the gondolas were actually moved -- they were just as tight beforehand. I don't, however, recall Big Lots selling things like spray paint or motor oil, which I believe are new additions under Roses.
Many aisles had handwritten pieces of paper like these taped to them, indicating the department to be placed on those aisles. I have read that Variety is not providing strict merchandising layouts to the reopening Big Lots stores, allowing stores to place items where and as they see fit. And again, as noted above, there are also going to be several imperfect, empty spaces as the stores regain their footing.
Something else that is definitely an obvious Variety addition: these very small packets of medicine tablets, some of them containing as few as just one singular pill. While I hadn't personally encountered these before (to my knowledge), I also can't say that I'm surprised they exist. They do make me sad, though. On one hand, I can understand customers who may not have the money to pay for larger quantities, but on the other, I feel like small-pack items like these are definitely price gouging on the manufacturer's part (if not the retailer's as well). It's the sort of thing that strikes me as similar to food sales at dollar stores: speaking of which...
The food department at the new Big Lots is perhaps one of the hardest fallen, having lost its aforementioned prime spot at the very front of the store in favor of this drastically smaller, visibly hidden location in the back right corner of the store (you can see above how these aisles are blocked from sight from the actionway by other aisles -- previously, this spot was home to cleaning products under Big Lots 1.0).
While some aisles (such as the one above) were clearly in flux, still waiting on more food shipments, others (not pictured) were stocked with the typical junky discount store fare -- overly sugary sodas and "juice" drinks, and boatloads of potato chips and cookies. Not saying Big Lots didn't sell those things before and also not necessarily trying to say they're bad... I'm just disappointed in a couple of ways. First, stores that position themselves as crucial food sources to neighborhoods with fewer available resources but then sell only stuff like this always irk me, as the food is inarguably not of the highest quality. That said, Big Lots has never positioned itself in that way, as a store for complete food shopping -- so perhaps that worry is gone, but now it's just replaced by disappointment in the fact that a place I used to enjoy browsing ever-changing closeout foods at, now simply has a standard selection of dollar store fare. Sigh.
That said, I did find a few signs of potential closeout merch creeping into the food selection -- the Hellman's Creamy Sriracha Mayo for sure, and perhaps also the international boxes of Ritz Crackers (on the right, compared to the typical American boxes on the left). I'm curious to see to what degree we'll see closeouts in Variety's Big Lots stores -- Variety has always historically counted closeouts among their merchandise sources, but I wonder if/am hopeful that the Big Lots stores in particular will feature perhaps a greater volume of closeouts than other Variety brands. I suppose only time will tell on that front.
These off-brand "butter ring" cookies are just one example of the typical discount store fare I was referring to earlier. I was at least amused by these, since they are marketed as "yes. no. maybe. cookies" -- apparently each one beholds an answer for whatever question the consumer may pose!
Some small electrics are located in aisles adjacent to the reduced food selection, as well as other standard kitchenware such as the above potholder/oven mitt/etc. set. I can't figure out why, but that design looks exactly like something I'd expect to find in a Variety Wholesalers store -- and similarly, I can't figure out why, but gosh do I like it! I almost bought it, except for the fact that I have plenty of oven mitts and potholders already...
Paper products are located near the food department, not only in some aisles but also in these large pallet drops along the rear actionway. We also see a refrigerated unit, no doubt surviving from the original Big Lots, but as yet unstocked by Variety -- save for one lone bottle of water, which I'm not even sure was supposed to be in there, lol!
Further kitchenwares are located in aisles across from the rear actionway (in the main center part of the store), while along the back wall itself, the aisles give way to a small furniture selection -- which I must admit I was surprised by; do any other Variety stores sell furniture? The Tupelo store manager I quoted earlier mentioned "We still have some of the same furniture pieces as before from local vendors," as well as "It's a different selection now, more focused on apparel" -- and boy, ain't that the truth...
As you can see here, and as I also mentioned at the beginning of the pictures, the store's entire left-side wall is now dedicated solely to clothing, a merchandise category that Big Lots did sell before but certainly not in quantities like this. This section looks like you could have copied and pasted it straight out of a Roses, with the exception of the department signs -- thus far the only semblance of decor in the entire store -- which feature the Big Lots exclamation point. Furniture used to occupy the front half of this area, so it's not like the full space represents removed gondolas, but it's still quite a bit of shelf space eliminated. A small fitting room was added in the front left corner, way off in the distance.
I found this amusing -- in the men's department at the back, this fixture holding "men accessories" is very clearly recycled from "The Lot"! The other fixtures from "The Lot" were reused as part of women's apparel at the front, holding a small selection of purses and the like, but I didn't get a photo of that.
There have been references to imperfect stores and empty shelves this whole time, and here's a prime example of that: this aisle for "licensed bedding" has none to be found! Again, though, I'm sure the merchandise will continue to come in over time.
As you may have noticed (and no doubt a direct result of the lack of planograms), all of the merchandise is individually priced with price tag stickers; no shelf tags anymore at the new Big Lots. In addition, certain merchandise is in fact left over from the original Big Lots, and now at cheaper prices -- one example I saw being Clorox Fraganzia scent bead multi-packs, although unfortunately I wasn't able to get a picture due to another shopper in the way.
I was happy to see this original Big Lots "Thank You, Come Again!" sign still hanging at the front of the store, something Albertsons Florida Blog just last month mentioned is a rather rare decor piece! Of course, age-wise, this store's fleet of carts have got that sign beat, with several "Big Lots/Odd Lots" branded ones still rolling, just like we saw years earlier in Greenwood at the top of this post. (Per this image, it appears other stores that didn't have any surviving thank you signage received a new Variety-created example.)
Back outside, here are a couple parting shots of the exterior -- because this store got the subdivided part of the building with the old pylon entryway, it's definitely much more recognizable as a former Wal-Mart than its counterpart in Tupelo (which we'll see below). I wonder if Variety will ever change the logos on all of these older storefronts. Although here in Pearl, the logo at least matches something else on the property...
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| December 2022 |
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| February 2025 |
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| Courtesy Sourcing Journal |
Interestingly enough, it seems that I'm not the only one who has photographed the Pearl Big Lots post-reopening: in a series of Reddit posts (see here and here), a user has been sharing images of the reopened stores as a bit of a progress tracker and as a way to show others around the country what they can expect of the new Big Lots. The first post features images of other stores, but very heavily focused on Pearl, while the second post is entirely Pearl. You can see from those images, too, the changes in the store over just a few days (notably the department signage in apparel). Big Lots themselves posted some photos to Facebook of employee teams at the first nine reopened locations, and below, you'll see some images of the Tupelo store, just for grins.
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| Tupelo Big Lots, November 2024. Notice Closeout Man on the ad in the window (may he RIP a second time). |
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| Looks like the store used to have even more vintage signage -- check out the "Bargains - Close outs" from this old photo (courtesy Yelp). |
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| During liquidation, December 2024. Courtesy Biz Buzz with Dennis Seid on Facebook |
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| Pre-reopening. Courtesy Biz Buzz with Dennis Seid on Facebook |
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| Now open. Courtesy Daily Journal |
I'm very interested to see where this experiment leads, for both Big Lots and Variety. Variety seems like the type of operator to take very calculated risks, so I imagine there is a decently high expectation of guaranteed success. And in some ways, I can easily see that... but in others, at least based on what I've seen so far, it seems very clear that the new Big Lots is not much like the old. On a standalone basis, absent any expectations of continuity, I believe Big Lots under this new format can be just as successful as Roses or any other Variety brand, but I also think the key factor to be considered is to what degree consumers will compare the new to the old; will they need to be won over, or will they just accept the changes? Or will the chain gain a new customer base entirely -- and if so, how do they advertise it as a completely different retailer without sacrificing existing goodwill? For my personal tastes and shopping habits, I'd like to come back and check out the improvements and make a decision once the chainwide grand opening takes place this fall, but until then, I don't really have any desire to return. I'm curious to hear what you guys think as well, whether you have a reopening Big Lots near you or you're simply basing your opinions on what I've been able to show you in this post. Please feel free to leave your thoughts in the comments below.
Until next time, then, and as always -- thanks for reading, and have fun exploring the retail world wherever you are!
Retail Retell
