Big Lots

The service was awful! They had 4 cashiers and only 2 were operating. We asked one if them for help and she refused to and then proceeded to keep her conversation with the other cashier.

From time to time we head over to Big Lots to see what they might have. Hubby was in need for a bunch of photo frames for his office. This particular store you either get lucky or not. When we moved our daughter into her apartment we found so many great deals from throw pillows to brooms, mops, bath rugs, paper towel holders and other household items for a great price.
You never know what you might find here. It reminds me of a dollar store. Great for inexpensive items. Hubby was able to find some frames, not as many as he needed but hey they were a great price so he snagged them. Also, they usually have fabulous deals on bottled water by the case. Need gift bags or tissue great deals on that as well.
It is not the cleanest store but run in get what ya need and head out. This seems to work quite well for us. Service has always been good, no issues with that.

I had never really been a big fan of Big Lots stores, mainly because the ones I had visited in the past were messy and kind of dirty places where I never found anything useful. However, this location right on Coral Way is neat and organized, and I love it.
I’ve been here a couple times without realizing that there is another, bigger, parking lot right across from the store. So there’s the small one right out front that fills up quickly, but if you exit that one and look towards Coral Way, there’s a big lot that belongs to Big Lots as well (hehe, «big lot,» get it?).
Like other reviewers have said, wandering around Big Lots is probably the best approach. I like coming in for a few minutes and even if I don’t buy anything on that particular trip, I leave with a couple gift, craft, or decorating ideas.
I find the employees to be pretty helpful, if you have any questions about where something is, for example. Some of the things you find are exactly the same as you would get elsewhere (Target/​Walmart), so you can try to find a better deal. Of course, some of the stuff is more «you get what you pay for,» but sometimes that’s ok. I wanted some mini Christmas ornaments to make a centerpiece, and I got a big pack of 40 for $ 4. At Target, they were selling them in the discount section in the front, but there were only like 5 ornaments in each pack. Score one for Big Lots!
Right now, for the holidays, there’s a section in the front of Big Lots that has a lot of ready-​made-​gifts, like cocoa with smores, or coffee-​lovers packs. I think this is where it’s great to either pick a couple of these for those random people you’d like to give small gifts to, OR to get ideas on how you can make something similar yourself! (Sorry, Big Lots!)
My husband and I actually visited Big Lots on Black Friday and it was quite calm. We got tablets for $ 44, so that now we can pretend like we are in the 21^st century, downloading those things the kids call apps nowadays… This Big Lots really has a lot to offer, especially for those of us on a budget!

they have great prices on everything, but its quite messy and disorganized. On the few days I visited, i found that the toys/​pillow/​bedding/​clothing section looked like a tornado passed through.

Slowest checkout ever. And I mean EVER. It’s one lady in particular — I don’t think it’s humanly possible to scan items more slowly than she does. It’s rather infuriating.
Putting that aside, this store is tolerable. I mean, we bought our vacuum here and some beach chairs, and it’s fine for that sort of thing. It’s messy and the selection isn’t fabulous, but you can’t really have high expectations of a Big Lots, IMO. We still come here for household goods and certain items, cuz you can’t beat the prices. Worth stopping in if you’re willing to put up with a little inconvenience to score some bargains.

This is one of those stores that I like to pass through on occasion, just to see what they have in stock. Big Lots generally has a little bit of everything (home décor, seasonal and holiday items, toys, linens, hardware, automotive, office supplies, health and beauty supplies, some grocery items and lots of random stuff — some of their larger stores also have a furniture section), but it’s a closeout store, so if you see something you like and it’s priced to suit you, you’d better grab it now because they probably won’t have that same item if you return in a week.
As far as this particular Big Lots location, there is always plenty of parking in front. The store itself isn’t the most modern looking, sometimes the aisles are a bit cluttered with displays and it can take a while to check out as the lines are usually 3 or 4 people deep, but overall their prices and the fun of finding something random but useful when passing through can make it worth stopping here.
Kudos to our very own Hannah and Brett for the tip about the $ 10 folding outdoor chairs, perfect for tailgating!

This place never disappoints. It’s true that you shouldn’t go there looking for a specific item, but even if you don’t find exactly what you’re looking for, there’s a good chance you’ll find something similar. You have to pay attention, because not everything is a bargain. Some things are packaged to look like a deal, a la Costco. Just because it’s in a big package for $ 9.99 doesn’t mean it’s a bargain.
I like to go there to find offbeat food items. The other day we found some corn spaghetti. It’s very weird to eat spaghetti and meat balls that taste like it’s got tortillas in it!
The seasonal merchandise is almost always guaranteed to be shwag from China, but every once in awhile you can find some good old Made in the USA stuff.
Worth a visit.

Really great deals. Weird parking lot set-​up for those rainy days since the big lot is across the street. This place has tons of great home décor finds. I had some amazing paintings and left my cart unattended for literally 1 minute with those items and some more random stuff and someone straight swiped it. Um… yea, don’t leave your cart unattended for even a second. And of course, those paintings were the last ones: /​. Boo on people who have no style of their own and steal people’s home design ideas AND materials. Uh… thanks, guys…

This place is usually hit or miss. Either they’ll have everything on your list or none of it. The prices are insanely low on everything from detergents to patio furniture. If you see something you like, buy it now– it will not be here in a few days. They move a lot of merchandise and the store is always changing, so the best way to find great deals is to visit the store often. This location is not as big as some of the other Big Lots in town and is usually in disarray. If you are willing to look hard enough there is a bargain around every corner. I avoid the food/​pet food sections because most of the food is on the verge of expiring. For items like soap, detergent, candles, office supplies, storage containers, pet toys, household cleaners and toiletries you can’t beat their prices anywhere.

I love the crazy randomness that is Big Lots, and this Coral Way location is great. Yes, it’s messy and disorganized, but it’s fun to discover lots of really strange foods that never made it out there in the real world. It was a silly way to spend part of a recent Sunday afternoon. To be truthful, a bit of it is nostalgic for me, as my late father was a big fan of looking at the «weird crap» at Big Lots. Going there makes me feel closer to him somehow. But my skeptical boyfriend admitted he had a good time, too.
Our number 1 find? BOO BERRY CEREAL! Growing up, we both always wanted to get this cereal sooo badly. They always advertised it on TV in between Saturday morning cartoons, but we could never find it at grocery stores. They’d only have Count Chocula and Franken Berry. Thanks to Big Lots, one New York boy and one Texas girl finally got to realize this dream and try Boo Berry cereal together 25 years later.
Other random things we found and liked? Blueberry Muffin Tops cereal by Malt-​o-​Meal (tastes great mixed with the Boo Berry), super spicy wasabi rice crackers, and bubbly beer bread mix. They had food items that were sold for fundraisers only, for export to Latin America… and loads of stuff that were just plain weird but fun to look through. Most items were a dollar or two at most. The Nutrisystem food and packaging, by the way, is totally disgusting looking. They looked like MREs from the 80s!
We also had fun trying on really nerdy reading glasses (think Napoleon Dynamite) and playing with some of the toys. Pimped-​out Lincoln Navigator limos with chrome rims and gangsta sound effects, anyone?
We totally felt like little kids coming out of here.
On a more serious note, you can also find lots of normal household goods for really cheap. Most of the customers are here for those items. And who knows, you might find something you forgot you needed for really cheap too. Like… a funnel cake maker.