Big Lots home business "refreshingly exciting"

Home Textiles Today Staff -- Home Textiles Today, 3/2/2012 3:31:39 PM

Columbus, Ohio - Big Lots is expecting big things from home this year.
During the company's fourth-quarter conference call this morning, chairman, ceo and president Steve Fishman said the home business was "refreshingly exciting, and we have high expectations for that piece of the business. And actually, my expectation is that as the season goes on and the year goes on, we'll get better and better."
Home will pick up more space in the store later in the year, especially in the top-of-bed area.
The company reported Q4 2011 record net income as $114.7 million, or $1.75 per diluted share, compared with $110.1 million, or $1.46 per diluted share, for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2010.
Sales increased 10% to $1.67 billion. Sales for U.S. operations rose 7.5 percent to $1.63 billion. Comparable-store sales increased 3.4% for U.S. stores and the company opened 23 new U.S. stores in the quarter.
For fiscal 2011, ended Jan. 28, 2012, net income rose to $207.1 million, or $2.98 per diluted share. The company reported record total sales of $5.2 billion, an increase of 5%.
Big Lots opened 92 stores in the U.S. in fiscal 2011 and expanded into Canada via its acquisition of Liquidation World.