Linens & Lots - Big Lots Closing (Vero Beach & Colonial Plaza)

Big Lots- the overstock retailer that decided it didn't want to be an overstock retailer anymore- is a very unremarkable store. As regional competitors like Ollie's Bargain Outlet thrive and independent stores hawking Amazon returns explode across the nation, Big Lots has largely seemed ashamed of it's own business model. Instead of overstock bargains, Big Lots claimed it was now a "community discount store", and would increasingly refocus on furniture & home goods with the acquisition of furniture brand Broyhill in 2019. While they were quite proud of their new format, the so-called "Store of the Future", the chain-wide remodels didn't do much to actually improve their stores. The new stores were as disorganized as ever, just with a shiny coat of paint and half the salesfloor given over to mattresses and living room sets. 

In my experience, my local Big Lots was just dissapointing. I didn't visit much, and when I did, nothing in the store felt like a particularly good deal. Food items were limited, and for hard goods, everything felt cheap, in that very specific way that items made for 2nd-tier discount chains do. I couldn't think of a reason I'd ever want to go there over any other discount store. As put by Mary Meisenzahl for Business Insider "It's a store for everything, but a destination for nothing."

In light of these continued struggles, Big Lots filed for bankruptcy in September, and announced it was going to close several hundred stores amidst talks of a buyout to keep the company going. These two stores were part of these initial closure waves, though, perhaps unsurprisingly, as of December 19th, Big Lots announced that the buyout fell through and they would begin closing sales at all stores. Whether I'll be writing about and photographing my other area stores remains to be seen.

Vero Beach/Indian River Mall

Located as an outlot to the Indian River Mall, this Big Lots originally opened as a Linens n Things in August 2001, lasting just under 7 years before Linens N Things, themselves in the throes of bankruptcy, announced it's closure in May 2008 among 114 other stores.

I've never seen an original Linens N Things, but whatever the original interior was, not much has survived to Big Lots, as is standard. The store is a fairly generic white and black, with little decor except some slightly janky slogans along the rear wall. The photos here show the pretty disappointing "discounts" available through most of the closing sale- 5-30%, with one of the only things at 30% being some just barely in season Hallow- I mean "Harvest" decor. 

Christmas items, something Big Lots once espoused as a strong new market, were similarly discounted much further ahead of the holiday. However, I snapped a photo on my way out that summed up the more typical, pathetic 'sales'

Orlando/Colonial Plaza

By complete coincidence, the second Big Lots closing I stopped in at (purely because I was already in the area), is also a former Linens n Things! This location is slightly older, dating to 1997 with the redevelopment of Colonial Plaza that turned it from a winding, 1960s era enclosed mall to a then modern, hip "power center". While a few buildings survived from the mall era and were heavily reconfigured for big box tenants, this wasn't one of them. I can't find a definite closing date for this store, but Big Lots opened here in late 2009, so it's safe to say this LnT went down with the rest of the chain in bankruptcy.

This store was a bit more modern, and had a more prominent furniture section with some attempt at decor. Does anyone know if these weird grids have a name? They're a plague on modern retail interiors, and I have no idea what they're supposed to be. 

every single piece of furniture I own was either inherited, found on the curb, or purchased from a thrift store. the price of 'discount' furniture never fails to blow me away.

One of the many updates Big Lots did as they tried to move away from their chintzy, overstock past was to get proper, new, branded-for-them carts, rather than secondhand, patched out carts they had used in years past.It does look nicer, but it's far less interesting.

This just made me laugh. Florida does get a bit chilly during the winter (even if only for a few days at a time, about 3-4 times), and if your house had no heating, you might want a space heater. But this prominent, overstuffed display of them at a whopping 5% off just struck me as hilarious. Whoever mops up this store's leftovers once they lock the doors is gonna be staring down like 2 solid pallets of just these things. 

Overall, these quick visits to two closing Big Lots stores basically affirmed my previous thoughts on the chain. Bland, confused stores with middling discounts, and, worst of all, not that interesting to visit, with basically no remnants of the previous stores they've hermit-crabbed. I still wanted to get this post out here, but I've got some hopefully more interesting stuff in the pipeline. 

In semi-breaking Big Lots news- Mitch Modell, founder of the defunct sporting goods chain Modell Sports, announced that he intends to purchase both Big Lots and Party City, keeping both brands intact. His plans for Big Lots amount to basically a 180 on the company's last decade of attempted market shift, including eliminating furniture sales and a heavy focus on closeout and liquidation deals, with most items under $10. If his plan is accepted, he says he has 75 warehouses of stock ready-to-go, and wants to open a prototype by mid January.