Who Owns Big Lots?

Over the years, questions have stemmed up and resulted in a debate about who the valid owner of the American company, Big Lots, is. Formerly, the company was managed by American businessman Sol Shenk in 1967 before it became a public company.

When Did Big Lots Become A Public Company?

Big Lots Inc. became a public company in 1985 after being managed for 18 years under the administration of its founder, Sol Shenk. The company was rebranded as Consolidated Stores Corporation (CNS) and began operation on the American stock exchange as a public company in 1985.

In 2002, the company rebranded and changed its name to Big Lots, and the symbol likewise changed from CNS to BLI to amplify its reform. Later in 2006, the company began to trade publicly on New York Stock Exchange with its symbol changing from BIL to BIG. Today, the company still operates in this form.

Who Is The CEO Of Big Lots?

The company operates under the administration of Bruce K. Thorn. He was appointed CEO in 2018 and remains till today, in 2022. Prior to his Chief executive officer position at Big Lots, inc., Bruce was the president and COO of Tailored brand for 3 years — also, before that, he performed as the Executive Vice President at Petsmart from 2007 to 2015.

He has an excellent record of managerial roles in the past, thus, his success in expanding the company to over 1400 stores across 47 states in the USA, along with the well-grounded trust earned amongst their loyal customers as the best American retail marketplace.

Who Is Responsible For The Daily Operation At Big Lots?

The company is run by several levels of divisional staff who operate under close supervision of other executives in the company. According to CNN Business, the board of directors of Big Lots inc., are listed below;

Bruce K. Thorn – Chief executive officer and President of Big Lots inc. Jonathan E. Ramsden – Executive Vice President, Administrative and Chief financial officer.  Gurmeet Singh – Chief Technology Officer (CTO)Ronald A. Robins – Secretary and General CounselJack Pestello – Chief Merchandising Officer

Who Are Big Lots Stock Holders?

America’s largest retail store share is owned by shareholders tagged as mutual fund holders — formed by institutional stakeholders and individual stakeholders. According to statistics published by CNN Business, the top stakeholders of Big Lots inc. include:

BlackRock Fund Advisors; According to the publication, they own up to a 16. 24% stake with 4,958,764 shares valued at $223,392,318The Vanguard Group, Inc.  owns 13. 94% stake with 4,257,976 shares valued at $191,821,819 LSV Asset Management owns 6. 21% stake with 1,896,920 shares valued at $85,456,246Dimensional Fund Advisors LP owns 6. 10% stake with 1,863,114 shares valued at $83,933,286

The list got compiled in the order of highest stockholders to the least; there are about 10 of these stakeholders in number known.

Why Is Big Lots Such A Big Deal?

You may wonder why there is so much buzz around the Big Lots company — but, a brief history of fact will jolt you into the realization as to how it earned the big name.

An article published by Research for business, explains that Big Lots inc. is America’s largest retail marketplace. The company trades various classes of products such as toys, consumable products, gifts, seasonal products, furniture, household items, fashion accessories, and a wide range of others.

In 2022, the company has over 1400 stores across 47 states in the United States of America – positioning it as the largest close-out store in the country. In 2016, the company was said to have generated $5.19 billion in revenue, $235.7 million in operating income, $124.87 million in net income, and a total asset worth $1.67 billion.

The first Big Lots store, which currently holds the company’s headquarters, is situated in Columbus, Ohio. During its early expansion in 1994 when it was still Consolidated Stores Corp. The company acquired Toy liquidators as a means to immerse itself into the Toy business. In the following years after its acquisition, the company acquired MacFrugals ( Pic ‘N’ save ) stores for $995 million in 1997.

In subsequent years, they expanded their stores across several states in the country and continue to remain the No. 1 closeout retail store for everything and anything worth purchasing in the country.

Conclusion

Conclusively, Big Lots, which is regarded as America’s largest retail store, is a publicly owned company with its shares unevenly distributed amongst the shareholders. Albeit, no one holds an ownership title in the company, it runs under the supervision of top executives with Chief executive officer, Bruce K. Thorn. The company revolutionized from being a privately owned company to a public company traded on New York Stock Exchange — resulting in the change in ownership.

What stock exchange is Big Lots traded on?

Big Lots is traded on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE).

  1. What is the Opening/Closing time for Big Lots stores?

The Operating time seems to differ across their various stores. But usually, the stores are open between 8-9 am in the morning and close by 9 pm across all stores.

  1. How much do Big Lots pay their employees?

Big Lots pay their logistics associate $8.52 hourly while a sales rep can earn up to $15,000 annually. The pay for high-level staff differs.

  1. What are Big Lots?

Big Lots is a public owned retail outlet. Formerly known as Consolidated Stores Corp. Big Lots have 1400 stores across the country.