Big Lots 2009 Annual Report Download - page 117

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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” except as used in the reports of our independent registered public accounting firm
included in Item 8 of this Annual Report for Form 10-K (“Form 10-K”)), is the nation’s largest broadline
closeout retailer (see the discussion below under the caption “Closeout Retailing”). At January 30, 2010, we
operated a total of 1,361 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 2010 (“2010”) is comprised of
the 52 weeks that began on January 31, 2010 and will end on January 29, 2011. Fiscal year 2009 (“2009”) was
comprised of the 52 weeks that began on February 1, 2009 and ended on January 30, 2010. Fiscal year 2008
(“2008”) was 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.
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 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 2009, 2008, and 2007.
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 that we believe provides 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