NORTH KINGSTOWN – Ocean State Job Lot on Wednesday announced plans to acquire 15 Big Lots locations in eight states.
In a press release, the discount retail chain, which has 159 stores across the Northeast, said it plans to open as many as 22 new stores this year, including the former Big Lots locations, in New Jersey, Maryland, Delaware, Pennsylvania and New York, with additional stores slated in Massachusetts, Maine and Vermont.
The terms of the purchases are still being finalized.
“This is an exciting chapter for us,” said Marc Perlman, Ocean State Job Lot CEO and principal owner. “Expanding into new markets has long been part of our strategic plan, but like everything else we do, it needs to be done with value in mind. We look forward to introducing our unique brand, friendly service and extraordinary savings to customers in each of these new communities.”
The company said it plans to hire up to 70 positions in each store, including store leadership; supervisory; and full-time, part-time and seasonal associates at each new location.
In recent years, the North Kingston-based company has been buying up and repurposing retail sites, including five former Christmas Tree Shops properties and 12 former Toys R Us stores.
Last December, Ocean State Job Lot announced plans to open its eighth store in Bristol County, Mass., after purchasing the Cumberland Crossing shopping center for $12.5 million. The month prior, Ocean State Job Lot opened a store in Warwick at the former Christmas Tree Shop at 300 Quaker Lane.
In August of 2024, Big Lots announced it was closing
315 stores, including its location at 179 Highland Ave. in Seekonk.
I
n September, the company filed for bankruptcy and was purchased in January by Boston-based Gordon Brothers, an investment group, in a deal that included at least 200 of its remaining 1,392 stores being taken over by North Carolina-based Variety Wholesalers Inc.
And last month, Ollie's Bargain Outlet announced it had acquired 40 former Big Lots store leases from Gordon Brothers, subject to bankruptcy court approval, bringing its total to 63.
The lease is still available for the only remaining Rhode Island-based Big Lots location in Warwick, which expires in August 2029. As well as for 16 stores in Massachusetts, including the Big Lots stores in Swansea and Attleboro, according to the most recent online brochure.
Requests for comment to Gordon Brothers were not immediately returned.
An Ocean State Job Lot spokesperson said the company is still on track to open stores this year in North Attleborough and Webster, Mass., but it has no plans to pursue the former Big Lots site in Warwick.
(UPDATE: Adds information about Job Lot stores opening in Massachusetts later this year in the 13th paragraph.)
Christopher Allen is a PBN staff writer. You may contact him at Allen@PBN.com.
