Ocean State Job Lot to acquire more than a dozen Big Lots stores

(WHTM) — Nearly every Big Lots store has closed since the retailer filed for bankruptcy last year, but some are about to get a new life.

Discount retailer Ocean State Job Lot is preparing to acquire 15 former Big Lots stores across eight states. On Wednesday, the company said it is in the process of acquiring the empty storefronts.

Ocean State Job Lot says the new Big Lots locations are located in:

• Delaware: Dover and Seaford
• Maine: Auburn
• Maryland: Chester, Easton, and Elkton
• Massachusetts: Webster
• New Jersey: Somers Point, Barnegat, and Cape May
• New York: Dansville and Liverpool
• Pennsylvania: Harrisburg and Trexlertown
• Vermont: Morrisville

Ocean State Job Lot also plans to open another five to seven new stores. This growth in 2025 will bring Ocean State Job Lot to two new states: Maryland and Delaware.

The soon-to-be-acquired Big Lots locations, which range in size from 27,188 square feet to 43,021 square feet, are each slated to open by May or June of this year.

“This is an exciting chapter for us,” Marc Perlman, principal owner and CEO, Ocean State Job Lot said in a press release. “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.”

Ocean State Job Lot notes that they will hire up to 70 positions for each store which will include store leadership; supervisory; and full-time, part-time, and seasonal associates.

According to Ocean State Job Lot, they were first founded in 1977 and today boasts 159 locations in New England, New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania. Currently, the company has approximately 5,600 employees.

It isn’t Ocean State Job Lot’s first foray into expanding into abandoned stores. Last year, the retailer moved into former Christmas Tree Shops — all of which closed in 2023 after the company went out of business — and has 12 converted ex-Toys R Us stores into Job Lots locations since 2019.

They also aren’t the first to take over former Big Lots stores.

Earlier this month, Ollie’s Bargain Market acquired more than three dozen Big Lots store leases, adding to the roughly two dozen it had already obtained. Several Big Lots stores could also remain open under Variety Wholesalers, court documents show.