‘I Shopped At Big Lots. It Felt Like Stepping Back In Time’ #adessonews

Big Lots is facing some big problems.

The discount retail chain filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on Monday after postponing its earnings report. It’s also planning to shutter 295 of its roughly 1,400 stores, according to a filing in Delaware’s bankruptcy court.

Big Lots cited high interest rates and inflation among the factors that have held back its sales in a statement announcing the Chapter 11 filing. Many of its customers have cut back spending on home decor and other non-essential purchases that make up most of what Big Lots stocks, the company added.

To see what shopping at the chain is like these days, Business Insider reporter Alex Bitter went to a Big Lots store in the Washington, DC, area. Here’s what he found:

[This Big Lots is located in a strip mall in exurban Maryland. Alex Bitter/Business Insider]

This Big Lots location is one of a few that will remain open in the DC area. The company plans to close at least a dozen stores in the region, according to lists that it has provided over the past two months.

Big Lots has long marketed itself as a place to find great deals. The company has said that it buys products cheaply from suppliers and other retailers, which enables them to keep prices low. That seems like a model that should be working at a time like this. Big Lots did not respond to a request for comment from Business Insider.

[These bags of potting soil and hardwood pellets were right outside the entrance of the Big Lots store. Alex Bitter/Business Insider]

The first thing Bitter noticed were these bags of potting soil and wood pellets for smoking meat.

He visited this store in mid-September, so it definitely wasn’t peak planting or grilling season anymore.

[A cooler with a selection of chilled beverages was the first thing I saw when I walked into Big Lots. Alex Bitter/Business Insider]

This Big Lots store had several aisles of shelf-stable grocery items, from chips to cake mixes.

Big Lots acquires many products from closeouts, which happen when the retailer’s suppliers get rid of something at a sizable discount.

That strategy extends to food, which Big Lots acquires “for a variety of different reasons, including other retailers canceling orders or going out of business, production overruns, or marketing or packaging changes,” the company wrote in its latest annual filing with the SEC.

[Big Lots sells consumable products under its own brand. Alex Bitter/Business Insider]

Big Lots also had a selection of cleaning and personal care products, such as this store-brand toilet paper.

Bitter found it interesting that a store focused so much on selling closeout merchandise also has so many products under its own brand. Besides this toilet paper, he also found Big Lots-branded paper plates, markers, and puppy training pads.

[Bed frames and mattresses at Big Lots. Alex Bitter/Business Insider]

There was also a decent selection of furniture, from bed frames and mattresses.

Signs on the mattresses advertised Big Lots’ own credit card, which offer interest-free payments on big purchases.

[Most areas of the Big Lots store were well-stocked, but not this one. Alex Bitter/Business Insider]

Even though this store isn’t closing, Bitter spied some empty shelves.

These shelves were next to a selection of plastic storage containers and other home goods.

[A selection of DVD movies at Big lots, each priced at $5. Alex Bitter/Business Insider]

Some of the products at this Big Lots store were from a different era. Bitter found this selection of DVD movies, including “Inception,” released in 2010, and “War Dogs,” which came out in 2016.

It’s been at least a decade since he saw this many DVDs in one place.

[A selection of furniture at Big Lots. Alex Bitter/Business Insider]

It wasn’t just the products: Shopping at Big Lots felt like stepping back in time.

Maybe it was just the rows of fluorescent lighting on the ceiling, but this Big Lots store felt like something out of the 1990s.

To read more of Bitter’s shopping experience at Big Lots, head to Business Insider.

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