DERBY – Valley shoppers have a new place to get “good stuff cheap.”
That’s the promise of “Ollie’s Bargain Outlet,” a discount chain that held a grand opening April 2 at their new store in the Big Y Plaza at 656 New Haven Ave.
It is the sixth store in Connecticut for the business, which opened in 1982 in Pennsylvania and is now in more than 30 U.S. states.
The chain offers closeout merchandise and excess inventory from other stores at a discounted price. The stores sell a variety of merchandise, from brand name cookware to garden supplies.
The Derby location is 25,000 square-feet. The previous tenant was American Freight. Other businesses that share space in the plaza include Big Y, Dollar Tree, CVS, Tipsy Tomato, and Supercuts.
Eric van der Valk, the company’s president and CEO, was on hand for the April 2 official opening in Derby.
“We think there are a ton of customers here who appreciate bargain shopping and appreciate low prices on products they need like food and candy and laundry detergent, and maybe products they don’t need but maybe they want,” van der Valk said.
It’s been a tough time for brick and mortar retailers thanks to online shopping, the COVID-19 pandemic, inflation and, more recently, tariffs. However, van der Valk said tariffs have benefited Ollie’s through the creation of excess inventory.
“Tariffs actually can be somewhat good for us,” van der Valk said. “Tariffs are disruptive to the buying environment when retailers and suppliers and manufacturers of products have a very hard time determining how to price their products, and that disruption creates excess inventory and creates opportunities for us to buy.”
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He said Ollie’s is forecasting it will hit $3 billion in sales this year.
John Ferko, of Shelton, was the first shopper in line Thursday for the official grand opening. He arrived around 8 a.m. and was one of the lucky first 100 shoppers to snag a T-shirt and gift card.
“It’s a good place, I like bargains, and they have good toys for the grandkids, and that’s good with Easter right around the corner,” Ferko said.
Lindsay Daniels, of Shelton, said she was happy to see the bargain chain come to the Valley.
“I love bargains and sales, and this is the first time I heard about them,” Daniels said. “I heard they’re amazing and they really do have good stuff cheap.”
Ollie’s is named for one of its co-founders, Oliver “Ollie” Rosenberg, who financed the first store that opened in Pennsylvania in 1982, according to the company’s website. Ollie’s was partly modeled after a now defunct New England discount retailer, Building #19, which went bankrupt in 2013.
Rosenberg’s likeness, an older gent with disheveled white hair and often sporting a Hawaiian shirt, is used in Olle’s colorful advertising as a cartoon caricature.
The Ollie’s mascot was on hand for Thursday’s grand opening, and posed with Derby Mayor Joe DiMartino. DiMartino said he got a good deal on a Dyson vacuum for one of his daughters.
“Having a store like Ollie’s in the city is a great thing,” DiMartino said. “They have brand names and cheap prices, and in today’s economy, that’s a huge thing for the Valley.”