Big Lots 2008 Annual Report Download - page 70

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2
Real Estate
The following table compares the number of stores in operation at the beginning and end of each of the last five
fiscal years:
2008 2007 2006 2005 2004
Stores open at the beginning of the year ........... 1,353 1,375 1,401 1,502 1,430
Stores opened during the year ................... 21 7 11 73 103
Stores closed during the year .................... (35) (29) (37) (174) (31)
Stores open at the end of the year .............. 1,339 1,353 1,375 1,401 1,502
As part of our real estate strategy initiated in the latter half of 2005, we closed a number of underperforming
locations. Since that time, we have focused on improving profitability through managing our existing store
base as opposed to through opening a high number of new stores. Over the last three years, the commercial real
estate market demanded higher rent charges than our store operating model enabled us to pay and, as a result,
we signed fewer new leases and opened fewer new stores than in previous years. During the latter half of 2007,
the commercial real estate market began to soften and we believe we were able to favorably negotiate renewals
for certain store leases which previously may have resulted in store closures. During 2008 and heading into
2009, we have been able to successfully negotiate a number of new store leases as the availability of space has
improved and rental rates have begun to moderate. For additional information about our real estate strategy, see
the accompanying MD&A.
The following table details our stores by state at January 31, 2009:
Alabama ........ 28 Maine .......... 6 Ohio. . . . . . . . . . . . . 102
Arizona ......... 34 Maryland ........ 12 Oklahoma ........ 16
Arkansas ........ 9 Massachusetts .... 14 Oregon .......... 11
California ....... 176 Michigan ........ 39 Pennsylvania ...... 61
Colorado ........ 21 Minnesota ....... 5 Rhode Island ...... 1
Connecticut ...... 6 Mississippi ...... 15 South Carolina .... 29
Delaware ........ 3 Missouri ........ 23 Tennessee ........ 43
Florida .......... 103 Montana ........ 1 Texas ............ 113
Georgia ......... 57 Nebraska ........ 3 Utah ............. 10
Idaho ........... 5 Nevada ......... 12 Vermont ......... 4
Illinois .......... 34 New Hampshire .. 6 Virginia .......... 36
Indiana ......... 44 New Jersey ...... 13 Washington ....... 19
Iowa ............ 3 New Mexico ..... 13 West Virginia ..... 18
Kansas .......... 9 New York ....... 45 Wisconsin ........ 11
Kentucky ........ 40 North Carolina ... 61 Wyoming ......... 2
Louisiana ........ 22 North Dakota .... 1 Total stores ....... 1,339
Number of states .. 47
Of our 1,339 stores, 37% operate in four states: California, Texas, Ohio, and Florida, and net sales from stores in
these states represent 38% of our 2008 net sales.
Associates
At January 31, 2009, we had approximately 37,000 active associates comprised of 13,600 full-time and 23,400
part-time associates. Temporary associates hired during the fall and winter holiday selling season increased the
number of associates to a peak of 41,400 in 2008. Approximately 63% of the associates employed throughout the
year are employed on a part-time basis. We consider our relationship with our associates to be good, and we are
not a party to any labor agreements.