Big Lots 2015 Annual Report Download - page 81
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Please find page 81 of the 2015 Big Lots annual report below. You can navigate through the pages in the report by either clicking on the pages listed below, or by using the keyword search tool below to find specific information within the annual report.-
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The following table details our U.S. stores by state at January 30, 2016:
Alabama 29 Maine 6Ohio 96
Arizona 39 Maryland 26 Oklahoma 18
Arkansas 12 Massachusetts 21 Oregon 15
California 159 Michigan 45 Pennsylvania 69
Colorado 19 Minnesota 7Rhode Island 1
Connecticut 13 Mississippi 14 South Carolina 33
Delaware 5 Missouri 25 Tennessee 47
Florida 103 Montana 3Texas 116
Georgia 54 Nebraska 3Utah 9
Idaho 6 Nevada 13 Vermont 4
Illinois 34 New Hampshire 7Virginia 40
Indiana 45 New Jersey 28 Washington 28
Iowa 3 New Mexico 12 West Virginia 17
Kansas 8 New York 63 Wisconsin 12
Kentucky 40 North Carolina 74 Wyoming 2
Louisiana 24 North Dakota 1District of Columbia 1
Total stores 1,449
Number of states 47
Of our 1,449 stores, 33% operate in four states: California, Texas, Ohio, and Florida, and net sales from stores in these states
represented 35% of our 2015 net sales. We have a concentration in these states based on their size, population, and customer
base.
Associates
At January 30, 2016, we had approximately 35,900 active associates comprised of 11,400 full-time and 24,500
associates. Approximately 68% of the associates employed throughout the year are employed on a part-time basis. Temporary
associates hired for the holiday selling season increased the number of associates to a peak of approximately 39,900 in 2015.
We consider our relationship with our associates to be good, and we are not a party to any labor agreements.
Competition
We operate in the highly competitive retail industry. We face strong sales competition from other general merchandise,
discount, food, furniture, arts and crafts, and dollar store retailers, which operate in traditional brick and mortar stores and/or
online. Additionally, we compete with a number of companies for retail site locations, to attract and retain quality employees,
and to acquire our broad merchandising assortment from vendors.
Purchasing
Our goal is to provide great savings to our customers through value-based merchandise offerings. In 2014, we implemented a
merchandising strategy to improve the consistency of the value-based merchandise available in our stores by reducing our
reliance on sourcing closeout offerings in certain merchandise categories. In particular, we expanded our planned purchases in
our Food, Soft Home, and Furniture merchandise categories, which provide an assortment of merchandise that our customers
expect us to consistently offer in our stores at a significant value savings.