One of the top last-minute shopping destinations this holiday season wasn’t Walmart or Target but a discount retailer that describes itself as “semi-lovely” and its regulars as an “army.”
Ollie’s Bargain Outlet notched the biggest foot-traffic increase on Super Saturday, the last Saturday before Christmas, according to location data firm Placer.ai. Ollie’s saw footfall at its stores increase nearly 21% over the same day in 2024, Placer found.
Other retailers that saw big Super Saturday foot traffic were Bath & Body Works at 11%, Ross at 9%, and Dollar General at 8%, Placer.ai found.
The findings show that last-minute shoppers gravitated to retailers that market themselves as offering good value for money, particularly ones focused on low prices, such as dollar stores, as well as off-price retailers like Ollie’s, which sources excess or closeout inventory from manufacturers or other retailers to keep prices low.
“Value-based offerings like off-price retailers continue to be a favorite for shoppers looking for last-minute items,” Elizabeth LaFontaine, Director of Research at Placer.ai, said of the data.
With 645 stores, Pennsylvania-based Ollie’s isn’t the biggest name on Placer.ai’s list. But it is one of the fastest-growing names in retail.
Ollie’s opened 86 new stores in 2025, all of which were open in time for the holiday shopping season, CEO Eric van der Valk said on a company earnings call earlier this month. Some of those were locations that previously housed Big Lots stores before that chain filed for bankruptcy and shed many of its stores.
Ollie’s plans to grow its store count by at least 10% each year until it hits 1,300 stores, more than double its current footprint, van der Valk said on the earnings call.
Net sales for the retailer’s third quarter, which ended on November 1, rose almost 19%.
Ollie’s website describes its stores as “no frills, semi-lovely” stores that use a “treasure-hunt” strategy to attract customers.
That approach was on display during a visit to one Ollie’s store in Wisconsin earlier this year. Business Insider observed handwritten signs promoting deals as well as merchandise in shipping boxes on the sales floor — a strategy that other retailers, such as Aldi, use as a cost-saving measure instead of fully unpacking items onto shelves.
The chain stocks a range of goods, from toothpaste and breakfast cereal to toaster ovens.
The chain’s free loyalty program, “Ollie’s Army,” provides discounts as well as access to members-only “Ollie’s Army Night” shopping events. The retailer held one such event during the holiday shopping season that included a discount of at least 15% on everything in the store.
“Customers are looking for value, manufacturers need ways to manage their supply chain, and the retail sector is consolidating,” CEO van der Valk said on this month’s earnings call. “Ollie’s benefits from these powerful secular trends.”
Do you have a story to share about Ollie’s Bargain Outlet or another retailer? Contact Alex Bitter at [email protected].
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