Big Lots 2013 Annual Report Download - page 144

2
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 on Form 10-K (“Form 10-K”)), is the largest broadline closeout retailer in the United States of America (“U.S.”) (see
the discussion below under the caption “Closeout Retailing”). At February 1, 2014, we operated a total of 1,570 stores in the
U.S. and Canada. Our goal is to strengthen and build upon our leadership position in broadline closeout value 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
being comprised of 52 weeks and some being comprised of 53 weeks. Unless otherwise stated, references to years in this Form
10-K relate to fiscal years rather than to calendar years. The following table provides a summary of our fiscal year calendar
and the associated number of weeks in each fiscal year:
Fiscal Year Number of Weeks Year Begin Date Year E nd D a t e
2014 52 February 2, 2014 January 31, 2015
2013 52 February 3, 2013 February 1, 2014
2012 53 January 29, 2012 February 2, 2013
2011 52 January 30, 2011 January 28, 2012
2010 52 January 31, 2010 January 29, 2011
2009 52 February 1, 2009 January 30, 2010
We manage our retailing business on the basis of two segments: U.S. and Canada. Please refer to the consolidated financial
statements and related notes in this Form 10-K for our financial information.
On December 5, 2013, we announced our intention to wind down the operations of Big Lots Canada, Inc., the subsidiary
operating our Canadian segment, in the first quarter of 2014 (“Canadian Wind Down”). Please refer to note 13 of the
accompanying consolidated financial statements for our additional information regarding the wind down of our Canadian
segment.
In our U.S. segment, we evaluate and report overall sales and merchandise performance based on the following key
merchandising categories: Food, Consumables, Soft Home, Hard Home, Furniture & Home Décor, Seasonal, and Electronics
& Accessories. The Food category includes our beverage & grocery, candy & snacks, and specialty foods departments. The
Consumables category includes our health and beauty, plastics, paper, chemical, and pet departments. The Soft Home category
includes the fashion bedding, utility bedding, bath, window, decorative textile, and flooring departments. The Hard Home
category includes our small appliances, table top, food preparation, stationery, greeting cards, tools, paint, and home
maintenance departments. The Furniture & Home Décor category includes our upholstery, mattress, ready-to-assemble, case
goods, home décor, and frames departments. The Seasonal category includes our lawn & garden, summer, Christmas, toys,
books, sporting goods, and other holiday departments. The Electronics & Accessories category includes the electronics,
jewelry, apparel, hosiery, and infant accessories departments. See note 17 to the accompanying consolidated financial
statements for the net sales results of our segments and these categories for 2013, 2012, and 2011.
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. In July 2011, we acquired 100% of the outstanding shares of Liquidation
World Inc. (now known as Big Lots Canada, Inc.).
Our principal executive offices are located at 300 Phillipi Road, Columbus, Ohio 43228, and our telephone number is (614)
278‑6800.