Big Lots 2014 Annual Report Download - page 3

2014 was a very good year for our Company, our
associates, and our shareholders. Our team made
meaningful and lasting improvements to our
business strategy and our corporate culture, and did
so while delivering to you on our full year financial
commitments. We improved the consistency of our
performance, and we’ve established the solid
foundation we set out to deliver with our SPP
(Strategic Planning Process) to position the Company
for long-term success for many years to come. In
short, we did what we said we were going to do.
And while I will be the first to tell you we are still “at
the beginning of the beginning,” it is important for
me to take a moment to thank – and congratulate –
all of our associates in our stores, our distribution
centers, and the office here in Columbus. We are one
team with one goal, and 2014 – with cross-functional
engagement from all levels of the organization – is
a great example of how we win together.
2015 is the next step in our journey, and we’re
prepared to raise our game. There will be no
resting on last year’s performance, and there is no
room for complacency… we will lead with Curiosity,
Courage, Confidence, and Consistency. The team
is focused on the critical initiatives within our
three-pillar framework:
Jennifer Pillar
The Jennifer pillar represents the sales portion of
our strategy and includes Merchandising, Marketing,
and Store Execution – or the 3-legged stool. Our
leadership team clearly understands and has
demonstrated the importance of consistency of
comparable store sales growth … 2014 was the first
year of 4 consecutive quarters of positive comps
in the last 8 years. Each leg of the stool has made
meaningful strides, but we remain “at the beginning
of the beginning.”
Merchandising: Our “edit to amplify” merchandising
strategy emphasizes the winnable, ownable
merchandise categories of Food, Consumables,
Furniture, Soft Home, and Seasonal. Jennifer has
asked for more consistency in our merchandise
offering, and we have responded. We’ve expanded
our assortment of replenishable products – or
never-outs – particularly in Food and completed
our rollout of coolers and freezers and SNAP
eligible stores this year. We expanded our Easy
Leasing program to more locations and made
available more of our product assortment. And
we’ve engrained new disciplines in the merchant
organization around the principles of Quality,
Brand, Fashion, and Value (or QBFV). Our team is
relentlessly focused on improving the QBFV and
merchandise presentation of our product. With 2015,
we have moved into the second phase of “edit to
amplify” which is SKU or choice optimization, or
a focus on narrower assortments (choices), while
providing more depth available for sale in the best
of the best items.
Marketing: The next key element of our SPP and
the Jennifer pillar is Marketing. Our team continues
to break new ground for our business as we reach
Jennifer through more channels than ever before.
2014 was highlighted with award-winning television
and online video campaigns including “Hostess
the Thrift is Back.” We achieved our goal of 1 million
Facebook fans and significantly expanded our
followings on Twitter, Instagram, and Pinterest.
Remember, our company had virtually no social
media presence 18 months ago, so 2014 was a
major step forward. We expanded our reach from a
Dear Shareholders,
David J. Campisi
Chief Executive Officer and President
| Big Lots, Inc. 2014 Annual Report |