Ollie’s Bargain Outlet is expanding into the Berlin Turnpike and plans to open in Newington in March 2025.
The discount closeout retailer will be located at 3105 Berlin Turnpike, which was previously a Big Lots location.
“That area is a strong retail area, so it attracts many potential shoppers,” said Tom Kuypers, the senior vice president of marketing and advertising of Ollie’s Bargain Outlet, Inc. “The Big Lots locations are very similar to Ollie’s in terms of size and layout making them very attractive.”
Newington will be the fifth Ollie’s Bargain Outlet location in the state. New Hartford, Waterford, Manchester and Willimantic are the others. Willimantic most recently opened on Nov. 6. The 1589 West Main St location was previously an Ocean State Job Lot.
Kuypers said the company is “continuing to search for locations” around Connecticut. According to the company website, there are 557 Ollie’s stores in 31 states.
In an October news release, OIlie’s president Eric van der Valk said the company was the winning bidder in eight Big Lot locations.
“These stores line up very well with Ollie’s in terms of size of the stores, lease terms, customer demographics, and are located in communities in our existing trade areas,” van der Valk said. “With the ongoing nature of the Big Lots store closure process, we will maintain a fluid store opening program that optimizes productivity and pre-opening expenses between the recently acquired Big Lots locations and our existing real estate pipeline. In 2024, we are on track to open 50 new stores, less two planned closures, and are evaluating the impact of the acquired Big Lots leases on our future store openings and cadence for the first half of fiscal 2025.”
