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Ollie's Bargain Outlet

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"Ollie's" redirects here. For other uses, see Ollie (disambiguation).
Ollie's Bargain Outlet Holdings, Inc.
Ollie's Bargain Outlet
Company typePublic
IndustryDiscount retail
FoundedJuly 29, 1982; 42 years ago (July 29, 1982) in Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania
Founders
  • Mort Bernstein
  • Harry Coverman
  • Mark Butler
  • Oliver "Ollie" Rosenberg
HeadquartersHarrisburg, Pennsylvania,
U.S.
Number of locations
558[1]
Area served
United States
Key people
[2]
ProductsGifts, housewares, food, flooring, books, toys, hardware, electronics, clothing, lawn and garden, health and beauty, sporting goods, pet supplies, automotive, seasonal
BrandsVarious
RevenueIncrease US$2.102 billion (2024)
Number of employees
11,241[3] (2024)
Websitewww.ollies.us Edit this at Wikidata

Ollie's Bargain Outlet is an American discount store chain. It was founded in Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania, in 1982 by Morton Bernstein, Mark Butler, Harry Coverman, and Oliver "Ollie" Rosenberg, the latter of whom is the namesake of the company. As of January 2025, the chain has 558 locations in 31 states. Its selection of merchandise comprises a variety of discounted items, mostly overstock or closeout merchandise that is purchased in bulk from other retailers and sold at discounted prices. Ollie's Bargain Outlet stores feature advertisements and signage with caricatures of Rosenberg, and the chain's slogan "good stuff cheap".

History

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A picture of an Ollie's Bargain Outlet store.
A former Circuit City that was turned into an Ollie's in Greensboro, North Carolina.

Ollie's Bargain Outlet was founded in 1982 in Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania. Merchandiser Mort Bernstein owned a lumber yard called Lawrence Millwork,[4] but was proving unsuccessful due to an unfavorable economy. While in Boston, Massachusetts, Bernstein visited Building 19, a local surplus store chain. Through connections with local business owners Harry Coverman and Mark Butler, Bernstein presented his concept to business owner Oliver "Ollie" Rosenberg, who also visited Building 19 for himself and agreed to assist the others in the venture.[5][4] He financed the opening of the first store and served as its namesake.[4][6] The first Ollie's Bargain Outlet opened for business on July 29, 1982, in a former Lawrence Millwork location on Carlisle Pike (US 11) in Mechanicsburg. The initial store sold surplus and overstock items.[4] The store began advertising itself with cartoon caricatures of Rosenberg drawn by various free-lance artists. These ads often feature handwritten lettering and puns or jokes, leading Rosenberg to compare them to a newspaper comic strip.[5]

By 1987, Ollie's Bargain Outlet had opened two more stores: one in Lower Paxton Township, Pennsylvania, and a third in York, Pennsylvania. At the time, Rosenberg noted that all three stores were achieving approximately $1,000,000 in annual sales, typically by selling overstock and closeout items, as well as items acquired from other companies that had filed for bankruptcy.[6] The Lower Paxton Township store relocated to a larger building in late 1988.[7] In 1990, Ollie's opened its fourth location, taking a former Channel Home Centers location on the west side of York in West Manchester Township.[8] This was followed two years later by a location in Brooklyn Park, Maryland, also in a former Channel Home Center. By this point, Coverman and Butler were respectively president and vice-president of the chain.[9] The sixth and seventh stores, respectively located in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, and Dundalk, Maryland, both opened in early 1993.[10] Rosenberg died of an aneurysm at age 75 on March 26, 1996.[11]

Despite Rosenberg's death, the chain continued to expand throughout Pennsylvania and Maryland, and opened its 20th location in Pottsville, Pennsylvania, in late 2000.[12] Further growth ensued throughout the beginning of the 21st century; by February 2005, the chain had opened its 36th store and was reporting annual sales of $150,000,000. At the time, Butler was both president and chief executive officer of the company.[13]

In 2008, the chain consolidated its four distribution warehouses into one located in York, Pennsylvania. In 2014, the chain opened its second distribution center in Commerce, Georgia.[14]

On July 16, 2015, Ollie's began trading on Nasdaq under the stock symbol OLLI.[15][16]

In December 2019, Ollie's announced that John Swygert would become president and CEO of the company following the death of Mark Butler on December 1, 2019. Swygert had previously been executive vice president and chief operating officer of Ollie's since January 2018.[17]

In March 2025, Ollie's purchased 63 store leases from its competitor Big Lots following that chain's closure, with the intent to convert those locations to Ollie's stores by the end of 2025.[18]

Operations

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The Ollie's Bargain Outlet business model involves purchasing merchandise directly from manufacturers and other retailers, in bulk and selling in smaller quantities to customers with the minimum operational and distribution costs; resulting in discounted products to be sold in Ollie's stores. The merchandise selection consists of a variety of manufacturer's overruns, overstocks and packaging changes, as well as selected other products. The company is especially focused on buying and selling closeouts.[4] The chain's slogan is "good stuff cheap".[6]

Other ventures

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In 2004, Ollie's Bargain Outlet became a sponsor of NASCAR driver Dave Blaney.[19]

The Ollie's Cares Charitable Foundation has been supporting a number of philanthropic causes, including the following national organizations regularly and in significant ways through store events and other means: Cal Ripken, Sr. Foundation, Kevin Harvick Foundation, Feeding America, Toys for Tots, and Children's Miracle Network. Ollie's Bargain Outlet raises more than $2 million a year for these organizations combined.

References

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  1. ^ "New Stores Coming Your Way!". Ollie's. Retrieved 2025-01-01.
  2. ^ "Management Team". Ollie's Bargain Outlet Holdings Inc. Retrieved April 15, 2024.
  3. ^ "Investor FAQs Ollie's Bargain Outlet Holdings Inc". Ollie's. Retrieved 2024-05-14.
  4. ^ a b c d e "Business briefs". The Evening News. July 27, 1982. p. 13. Retrieved March 27, 2025.
  5. ^ a b Mary Warner (May 24, 1987). "Real Ollie smiles like guy in the ad, but goofy? No way!". The Patriot-News. pp. G1. Retrieved March 27, 2025.
  6. ^ a b c John Luciew (August 2, 2017). "Ollie's Bargain Outlet inspiration: The real 'Ollie' and the woman who loved him". Penn Live. Retrieved 20 November 2017.
  7. ^ "Ollie's Bargain Outlet". The Evening News. September 22, 1988. pp. B7. Retrieved March 27, 2025.
  8. ^ L. A. Luebbert (October 2, 1990). "Ollie's to open store in West Manchester". York Daily Record. pp. 4B. Retrieved March 27, 2025.
  9. ^ Lorraine Mirabella (May 4, 1992). "No-frills, low prices are the fortes at quirky Ollie's". The Baltimore Sun. p. 6. Retrieved March 27, 2025.
  10. ^ Barbara Hough Roda (February 28, 1993). "Bargain retail chain moves to Parkview Plaza 'palace'". Sunday News. pp. D1. Retrieved March 27, 2025.
  11. ^ "Popular area businessman dies". The Patriot-News. March 27, 1996. pp. A1, A7. Retrieved March 27, 2025.
  12. ^ Stephen J. Pytak (October 5, 2000). "Ollie's opens 20th store". Pottsville Republican. p. 33. Retrieved March 27, 2025.
  13. ^ Tim Gulla (February 18, 2005). "Ollie's Bargain Outlet holds grand opening Thursday". Citizens' Voice. p. 43. Retrieved March 27, 2025.
  14. ^ Morgan, Jamie. "Ollie's Bargain Outlet". Scw-mag.com. Retrieved 2013-06-03.
  15. ^ Chad Umble (October 20, 2015). "The man behind the bargains". LNP Always Lancaster. pp. B2. Retrieved March 27, 2025.
  16. ^ "Ollie's IPO". NASDAQ Stock Exchange. Retrieved 2015-07-18.
  17. ^ Teresa Bonner (2019-12-10). "Ollie's Bargain Outlets names new president and CEO after leader's unexpected death". Penn Live. Retrieved December 24, 2019.
  18. ^ Durr, Matt (2025-03-13). "Bargain retailer buys leases for 63 former Big Lots stores, plans to reopen locations in 2025". mlive. Retrieved 2025-04-03.
  19. ^ "Blaney a bargain for Ollie's". York Daily Record. June 3, 2004. pp. 7B. Retrieved March 27, 2025.
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