Pic "N" Save is back

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steps
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Pic "N" Save is back

Post by steps »

Noticed a new Pic "N" Save now known as Pic "N" Save Bargains, is going to open soon. This one is on located near the Pico Rivera/Whittier boarder. There is a location in Anaheim that has been open for around 6 months now.

It doesn't look like this has any affiliation to BigLots who bought parent company MacFrugals in 2002.

Did BigLots sell the rights or is this a case of what Grocery Outlet did with the Lucky trademark?
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storewanderer
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Re: Pic "N" Save is back

Post by storewanderer »

Does not appear to have anything to do with Big Lots.

https://pnsbargains.com/pages/about-us

Will be interesting to see how this works out. Given all the supply chain challenges, what a time to start something like this. But there may be a lot of late/delayed shipments out there in the water that some retailers opt to just reject and bounce off to formats like this. It seems like the closeout segment is always able to find inventory.
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Re: Pic "N" Save is back

Post by rwsandiego »

A friend and I used to make a weekly pilgrimage to two Pic 'n' Save stores in San Diego, one of which was a two-level store in a former JC Penney. It was always fun to treasure-hunt. Big Lots was fun at first, but then they became just another discount store (with dreadful parking and sub-optimal locations) and there was no longer a reason to shop there.

As @storewanderer said, there is always closeout merchandise to be had. There used to be a closeout food store just north of Milwaukee that we called the "train wreck" store because they specialized in salvage merchandise. They were always packed with inventory. Can't tell you how many exotic food items I bought there for pennies on the dollar. It was worth making the trip from Chicago just for the adventure.

Best of luck to Mark J Miller, founder of the new Pic 'n' Save Bargains!
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Re: Pic "N" Save is back

Post by storewanderer »

rwsandiego wrote: January 14th, 2022, 9:23 am A friend and I used to make a weekly pilgrimage to two Pic 'n' Save stores in San Diego, one of which was a two-level store in a former JC Penney. It was always fun to treasure-hunt. Big Lots was fun at first, but then they became just another discount store (with dreadful parking and sub-optimal locations) and there was no longer a reason to shop there.

As @storewanderer said, there is always closeout merchandise to be had. There used to be a closeout food store just north of Milwaukee that we called the "train wreck" store because they specialized in salvage merchandise. They were always packed with inventory. Can't tell you how many exotic food items I bought there for pennies on the dollar. It was worth making the trip from Chicago just for the adventure.

Best of luck to Mark J Miller, founder of the new Pic 'n' Save Bargains!
Big Lots claims they are doing very well lately, and says is going on an expansion kick and plans to open 300 new stores. I saw this article a couple days ago, and actually had to double check the date and even cross checked who the CEO was at present against who was quoted in the article, because I couldn't believe it. The Big Lots Stores I see are a mess, undermerchandised, and seem to be doing very little business. They keep sending me $5 off $15 purchase and I struggle to find anything worthwhile in there to even buy. Pricing is well above Wal Mart and Dollar General which I consider to be comparable venues, and mix is not even close. Not sure if a few furniture sales are masking their consumables program having some pretty serious issues or what.
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Re: Pic "N" Save is back

Post by pseudo3d »

The inside of the store suggests a definite love for defunct retail...

https://www.google.com/maps/@34.0736727 ... 946!8i1713

As for Big Lots, I do remember the first time it arrived in town (c. 1996-2005) then opened up again in 2009 in part of a former Goody's Family Clothing a few miles away.

I just remember that it had some interesting items (though not worth the price) and some of the worst choices in in-store muzak I've ever heard.
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Re: Pic "N" Save is back

Post by rwsandiego »

pseudo3d wrote: January 15th, 2022, 7:12 pm The inside of the store suggests a definite love for defunct retail...

https://www.google.com/maps/@34.0736727 ... 946!8i1713

,,,
It seems we have two Pic 'n' Saves. The one referenced in @pseudo3d's picture is in Ontario, CA and is called "Pic 'n' Save Bargains and Close-Out." It has the following website:

https://pic-n-save-bargains-and-close-o ... ness.site/

Their address is 921 N Milliken Avenue in Ontario, which, according to Google Maps, is sandwiched between a Staples and a Sams Club.

They appear to be unrelated to "Pic 'n' Save Bargains" in Anaheim, CA (the one in @pseudo3d's original post), which has this website:

https://pnsbargains.com/pages/about-us

There is no mention of an Ontario store on the "Pic 'n' Save Bargains" website nor a mention of an Anaheim store on the "Pic 'n' Save Bargains and Close-Out" website.
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Re: Pic "N" Save is back

Post by storewanderer »

So it seems two unrelated entities have opened up two Pic N Save Stores with slightly different names... right at the same time...

This is awfully odd.

The one using the "bargains closeouts" language is similar to what the old chain used to use in its marketing.

Yet nobody seems to be bringing back MacFrugals. In Reno they appeared around 1993 using the MacFrugals name. The store changed a lot after Big Lots bought them out (even when they still ran it under the MacFrugals name); mix really declined and customer traffic fell off a cliff. MacFrugals was a very busy place before being bought out by Big Lots.
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Re: Pic "N" Save is back

Post by rwsandiego »

storewanderer wrote: January 15th, 2022, 10:15 pm So it seems two unrelated entities have opened up two Pic N Save Stores with slightly different names... right at the same time...

This is awfully odd.
It really is especially since the brand has been dead for so long.
storewanderer wrote: January 15th, 2022, 10:15 pm The one using the "bargains closeouts" language is similar to what the old chain used to use in its marketing.

Yet nobody seems to be bringing back MacFrugals. In Reno they appeared around 1993 using the MacFrugals name. The store changed a lot after Big Lots bought them out (even when they still ran it under the MacFrugals name); mix really declined and customer traffic fell off a cliff. MacFrugals was a very busy place before being bought out by Big Lots.
This is just a guess, but I'm not sure MacFrugal's was quite as iconic as Pick 'n' Save was in SoCal. People still talk about Pick 'n' Save. Don't get me wrong - I had fun shopping there. However, my life did not experience the same void that others did PNS became Big Lots.
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Re: Pic "N" Save is back

Post by storewanderer »

rwsandiego wrote: January 15th, 2022, 11:53 pm
This is just a guess, but I'm not sure MacFrugal's was quite as iconic as Pick 'n' Save was in SoCal. People still talk about Pick 'n' Save. Don't get me wrong - I had fun shopping there. However, my life did not experience the same void that others did PNS became Big Lots.
MacFrugal's seemed like one of those stores that attracted a lot of customers when it showed up but with this format of store there were other similar stores that showed up around the same time including the 98 Cents Only Store, then Dollar Tree who added many more locations around town, Grocery Outlet, etc. Also as I recall MacFrugal's opened right around the time when Phar Mor closed its Reno Store which was very popular so I think it may have picked some of those customers up.

I never knew PNS had such a following in SoCal.

I wonder if these two unrelated entities who decided to revive the name know each other or something. It is odd they did not at least try a joint website. They are probably competing for items through the same supply chains, though the items being sold by each also look different.
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Re: Pic "N" Save is back

Post by luckysaver »

I had a 7th grade history teacher (sadly he passed away from brain cancer a few years ago) who was obsessed with shopping at Pic n Save. He told me he was upset when heard all the SoCal stores converted to Big Lots.

Pic N Save and 99CentsOnly were the leading bargain stores when I was in grade school. This was before the rise of Dollar Tree/Family Dollar, Five Below, and other independent mom-and-pop dollar stores.

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