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-   -   Ollie's Bargain Outlet (https://forum.dvdtalk.com/dvd-bargains/570739-ollies-bargain-outlet.html)

jimac51 03-12-10 04:24 AM

Ollie's Bargain Outlet
 
With just a couple of posts under my belt,I find a need to start a thread about Ollie's Bargain Outlets. I know that one was started up last summer,and if moderators want to combine the threads,that's OK with me. I thought a new thread would bring in some new posts.Ollie's is an overstock place,like a giant unwieldy Big Lots. They really do bid for stuff and have some $$$ clout. Based in Harrisburg,Pa.,there are about 80 locations in 8 states,primarily Northeast from New York to the Carolinas. At one time they had money ties to Dollar Tree,though that may have changed.
Anyway,they do get various DVD lots,usually priced 4.99. They will sometimes have a bunch towards the front of the store,but check the back of their book department for more. They have done the "previously viewed" routine and those titles eventually get mixed in with everything else. Occasionally they feature specific titles for an ad:last Christmas saw tons of "Elf" and a few "A Christmas Story",two titles which get the 24hr marathon treatment on cable TV, for 4.99;"Christmas Story"blew out quickly. While there may be piles of "The Love Guru" like other places,a recent visit found the two disc version of "Some Like It Hot" and the single disc regular version of "Coraline" in the mix.
They do stock refurb hardware. I saw a blu-ray player there for under $100,but I'm still not ready to buy. One fantastic buy years ago was basically all of Amazon.com's electronic returns;some of this stuff was just returned for packaging dings. They were selling digital cameras out of cartons made for rug displays for maybe 75% off original price. Those were the days...
This operation seems to leave stuff that doesn't sell on the floor forever(some stores have tons of James Bond VHS titles for 1.99 or more)without markdowns.Some stores are neater than others. As you might expect,the trashed stores do the most business and get the goodies. In the early days,smaller deals tended to stray only a few miles from the Harrisburg headquarters and sometimes these deals(all types of merchandise)were pretty outrageous.
Overall,these stores are really packed with stuff and bad times mean even more stuff coming into these joints. And face it,without Wal-Mart and box stores' ability to order manufacturers around,these places wouldn't exist. Hope nothing falls on you during a visit,keep the kiddies away from the cinder block displays just waiting to collapse and watch when food is stacked directly on the floor,but hope you find a deal or two. Bring the charge card,because if it seems like a good deal,it won't be there next time.

jimac51 08-08-10 04:22 PM

Re: Ollie's Bargain Outlet
 
A long time between visits. A pretty big display of 4.99 DVDs at the entrance. Lots of stuff that has been there for a while. These prices are too high. These are $3 discs at best,and since they've been there so long,a good 4/!0 would be wise. Slap Shot 3? Ugh. However,in the dross,there were ,more than a few copies of the stand alone feature length films $4.99. All four titles. They list for $30 bucks(way too high)and amazon discounts them to about $22 each. So 4/20 ain't bad. I picked up "Into the Wild Green Wonder",based on potential extras and will pick up the rest if this one proves its worth. Another good deal,"Man on Wire",the documentary about the guy who walked a tightwire over the World Trade Center buildings,a truly amazing and honest story with more real footage of the original events,not just talking heads. "man on Wire",probably because they see no value on documentaries(though Michael Moore's "Fahrenheit 9/11,is in the $4.99 mix,probably because it was purchased with lots of other titles from a major studio).
Another find:the DVD Rom of Rolling Stone magazine,claiming every issue,every page (the music ads from the early days,a glory time for rock music, are what interest me most) from 1967-2007. Still having installation problems,so maybe the $3.99 price may still be too much if my computer doesn't like to run it.
As Ollies gets bigger-they may have 100 stores and going deeper south into North Carolina,they get more expensive. The deals having to be made for such a large operation have to be massive and not as much fun as the old days.The nearby Tilghman St., Allentown store,for example,was one of the first ten and has been there well over 15 years. Back in the day,books were a buck lots of times,cereal for a buck, and commercial 9X12 carpets were about $20. I remember working there around 2000 and blowing out 6-10 pallets of 5,000 BTU reconditioned Fedders air conditioners for $79 the first hour of an ad.

kd5 08-08-10 06:13 PM

Re: Ollie's Bargain Outlet
 
I saw several DVDs at our local Ollie's today that I already have, a few I might've bought if they hadn't slapped a $4.99 price sticker on them (The Cell for $4.99???), they were $3 DVDs, at least IMHO. I walked out empty-handed. -kd5-

brandnewtaco 08-17-10 12:26 AM

Re: Ollie's Bargain Outlet
 
Looked through some dvd's at Ollie's tonight and ended up picking up the dark knight two-disc mask edition

brandnewtaco 08-23-10 11:33 PM

Re: Ollie's Bargain Outlet
 
Found this at an Ollie's in New Castle, Pa.

The Rat Pack Ultimate Collection

Would have posted the link to amazon but haven't made enough posts.

UPC# 883929010912


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