Big Lots 2008 Annual Report Download - page 69

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PART I
ITEM 1. BUSINESS
The Company
Big Lots, Inc., an Ohio corporation, through its wholly owned subsidiaries (collectively referred to herein as
“we,” “us,” and “our”), is the nation’s largest broadline closeout retailer (see below for a discussion of closeout
retailing). At January 31, 2009, we operated a total of 1,339 stores in 47 states. Our goal is to strengthen and
build upon our leadership position in broadline closeout retailing by providing our customers with great savings
on brand-name closeouts and other value-priced merchandise. You can locate us on the Internet at www.biglots.
com. The contents of our websites are not part of this report.
Similar to many other retailers, our fiscal year ends on the Saturday nearest to January 31, which results in
some fiscal years comprised of 52 weeks and some comprised of 53 weeks. Unless otherwise stated, references
to years in this report relate to fiscal years rather than calendar years. Fiscal year 2009 (“2009”) is comprised
of the 52 weeks that began on February 1, 2009 and will end on January 30, 2010. Fiscal year 2008 (“2008”)
is comprised of the 52 weeks that began on February 3, 2008 and ended on January 31, 2009. Fiscal year 2007
(“2007”) was comprised of the 52 weeks that began on February 4, 2007 and ended on February 2, 2008. Fiscal
year 2006 (“2006”) was comprised of the 53 weeks that began on January 29, 2006 and ended on February 3,
2007. Fiscal year 2005 (“2005”) was comprised of the 52 weeks that began on January 30, 2005 and ended on
January 28, 2006.
We manage our business on the basis of one segment: broadline closeout retailing. Please refer to the
consolidated financial statements and related notes in this Annual Report on Form 10-K (“Form 10-K”) for
our financial information. We evaluate and report overall sales and merchandise performance based on the
following key merchandising categories: Consumables, Home, Furniture, Hardlines, Seasonal, and Other. The
Consumables category includes the food, health and beauty, plastics, paper, chemical, and pet departments. The
Home category includes the domestics, stationery, and home decorative departments. The Furniture category
includes the upholstery, mattresses, ready-to-assemble, and case goods departments. Case goods consist of
bedroom, dining room, and occasional furniture. The Hardlines category includes the electronics, appliances,
tools, and home maintenance departments. The Seasonal category includes the lawn & garden, Christmas,
summer, and other holiday departments. The Other category includes the toy, jewelry, infant accessories, and
apparel departments. Other also includes the results of certain large closeout deals that are typically acquired
through our alternate product sourcing operations. See note 12 to the accompanying consolidated financial
statements for the net sales results of these categories for 2008, 2007, and 2006.
In May 2001, Big Lots, Inc. was incorporated in Ohio and was the surviving entity in a merger with Consolidated
Stores Corporation, a Delaware corporation. By virtue of the merger, Big Lots, Inc. succeeded to all the business,
properties, assets, and liabilities of Consolidated Stores Corporation.
Our principal executive offices are located at 300 Phillipi Road, Columbus, Ohio 43228, and our telephone
number is [phone]. All of our operations were located within the United States of America at the end of
each of the last three years.
Closeout Retailing
Closeout retailers purchase merchandise that generally results from production overruns, packaging changes,
discontinued products, liquidations, or returns. As a result, closeout retailers generally can purchase most
merchandise at lower costs and offer most merchandise at lower prices than those paid and offered by traditional
discount retailers. We attempt to maximize the amount of closeout merchandise available in our stores and to
offer merchandise with great value to our customers. We work closely with our vendors to obtain name brand
merchandise that is easily recognizable by our customers. In addition to closeout merchandise, we stock many
products on a consistent basis at our stores. This merchandise may not always be the same brand or may be
off-brand because we attempt to provide our customers with merchandise at a price that represents a great value.
For net sales by merchandise category and as a percent of total net sales, see the 2008 Compared To 2007 and
2007 Compared To 2006 sections of Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results
of Operations (“MD&A”).