Big Lots

Wow! This place has a new manager and it shows!
The aisles are neat and clean and easy to shop! I was in and out in minutes!
Patricia, the associate at the register, is a delight, fast and friendly and so happy to help!
I will be back because there are some great Christmas trees that I want to get for the holidays!

We, my wife & I, have shopped several Big Lots Stores. This one & the Wayne Road, Westland stores we have visited regularly for several years. We have two shopping day routes & the two stores are within each one.
Corporate decides each store’s inventory. This store is strong on Toys, tools, furniture and Western Food items, weak on electronics. Whereas, the Wayne Road store is weak on toys, strong in electronics and both Western & foreign foods. We have made many good buys at both stores over the past decade, but since the economic downturn, we find the good deals are significantly fewer.
We like the staff, especially the long-​term cashiers. The Ypsilanti store has more regular, long term staff than any Big Lots I’ve shopped, except for the Lapeer Store, which is the largest and best stocked Big Lots I know of. The Ypsilanti store frequently has problems stocking shelves. Several times a year, we encountered so many full boxes on pallets that it was difficult to impossible to shop some areas. Despite Ypsilanti’s poor economy, it seems difficult for managers to hire and retain good general labor. Many times we encounter groups of male stockers chatting and horse playing. Something we never see at the Wayne Road store, which relies mostly on women to stock shelves
A particular long term cashier at the Ypsilanti store knows us. She is friendly and competent. She sees to it that regulars like us have the periodic 20% off entire purchase coupon.
The staff in general have good knowledge of what is in the store & they actively find items for customers. We have never been told (like customers often get at Ypsilanti Walmart, Meijer, or Dollar General) «whatever is on the shelf», when we ask about a particular item. Even shelf stockers seem happy to locate items for you.
Unfortunately, corporate doesn’t seem to be making the excellent buys they did prior to 2009. Instead, they seem to favor buying chain pharmacy inventory and then relying on marketing to con buyers into overpaying for the items. In this, marketing seems to be using the old furnature store «liquidator» con, «Out of business sale» with the implied «they loss is your gain» B.S. The catch behind this con folks involves playing on what these jaded people think is a public delite in benefiting from some retailers tragic loss.
One Michigan Ave, Ypsilanti furniture store owner profited from this «Out of business sale» con each spring & fall for several years.

If frequent shopper cars were available for Big Lots, my husband would have one. I think he shops here (often for candy in bulk) about once a week. I also like the Big Lots because it’s fun for people watching and you can occasionally get some good deals.
The whole idea behind Big Lots stores is that they buy the merchandise that didn’t move very well or that was overstocked at other stores and they sell it cheap. I find that the prices at Big Lots are sometimes only a couple pennies on the dollar cheaper than the local supermarket, and they’re not always the best deal in town. However, certain items can be a fantastic bargain. Many of my favorite breakfast cereals, for instance, retail for $ 4 or more per box, and I can often find them at Big Lots for $ 2.50.
The store also sells beauty products, kitchenwares, electronics, furniture and even a small selection of clothes. I recently picked up some basic thin summer t-​shirts and tank tops for $ 4 and $ 5 a piece there, and they’ve stood up to a few washings, so I consider that a good deal.
Additionally, we bought a couch from Big Lots that we really love. I don’t think all Big Lots stores offer delivery, but this particular location has an agreement with a local delivery service, and they came when they said they would and made the delivery for a reasonable price.
One minus is that the store often has ridiculously long checkout lines. Sometimes they have only one person checking in the whole store. Generally, the staff are pretty nice and are willing to call for a second register to be opened when there are five or six customers in line.