Chief Executive Officer, President & Director, Big Lots
Search every verified Bruce Thorn interview, podcast appearance, and on-the-record quote — each transcript cross-checked by AI and human review to confirm speaker identity. Bruce Thorn, CEO of Big Lots, has spoken publicly about his military service and its connection to his leadership. In September 2024, he described his time in the U.S. Army as "some of the best years of my life" and said the experience taught resilience. He stated that Big Lots' mission "to help people live big" aligns with supporting veterans, citing examples such as a veteran who lost a leg in combat finding camaraderie or a veteran with PTSD finding inner strength. In March 2024, Thorn was inducted into the Ohio Veterans Hall of Fame. In a video for the Hall of Fame, he recounted his service as an Airborne Ranger during the Gulf War, including an incident in northern Iraq where he ordered his platoon to fix bayonets to calm a crowd of rioters. He said he did not serve for recognition but to give back to America, and called the induction "extremely humbling." In 2021 earnings calls, Thorn discussed Big Lots' financial performance and strategy. He noted that the company was "positively impacted" by stimulus distributions in early 2021 and rewarded store and distribution center associates with cash bonuses. He highlighted growth in the company's own brands, stating that Broyhill generated $194 million in Q2 2021 sales and that Real Living had "ramped up quickly" to over $400 million in sales. Thorn also addressed supply chain challenges, including increased import costs and temporary factory closures in Asia due to COVID-19 restrictions, which he said weighed on gross margins. He expressed confidence in expanding the company's store count by "hundreds of stores" in coming years and noted that e-commerce demand grew 10 percent over Q2 2020.
“Some of the best years of my life were in the military, but the life in the military is an extreme life. You live a life of extremes; never have I hurt so much, never have I loved so much, never have I cared so much than my time in the military.”
“It takes resilience to serve our country and it takes resilience to heal from the trauma of war. This is an important cause because Big Lots aligns so much with our mission to help people live big.”
“I cannot think of a better example of living big than a veteran who's lost a leg in combat feeling a new sensation of camaraderie or a veteran with post-traumatic stress disorder finding a renewed sense of inner strength and self-worth.”
“"We don't just teach history at West Point. We make it."”
“"I think we need to fix bayonets to calm down the rioters."”
“The current environment continues to be challenging for our consumers. Inflation is at a 40-year high and consumer sentiment remains historically low. Household savings rates are below pre-pandemic levels as consumers have had to draw down on savings to fund current expenditures. Our customers being pinched and this pr...”
“By the end of 2023 our assortment will be two-thirds Bargains and treasures up from the high 40 percent range today. Bargains are expected to be one-third of the assortment up significantly from mid-single digit penetration in 2022. Bargains and treasures will bring more excitement to our assortment and will ultimately...”
“I am pleased with our second quarter performance as we continue to demonstrate strong growth versus 2019... Comparable sales for the second quarter increased 14 percent to 2019. Additionally we delivered diluted earnings per share of $1.09 within our guidance range despite ongoing supply chain and distribution headwind...”
“We are dealing with the now and navigating the dynamic and ever-changing complexities of the supply chain... Freight headwinds weighed on gross margin for the quarter and in addition our performance for the quarter was also impacted by labor challenges in two of our regional distribution centers.”
“This campaign (Be a Billionaire) is driving a two percent lift in transactions in the markets where we have rolled it out; new billionaires visiting Big Lots for the first time are driving 60 percent of these incremental transactions. The campaign has also increased brand awareness, consideration and purchase rates.”
“E‑commerce demand increased 10 percent over the second quarter of 2020 representing over 400 percent of growth to Q2 2019. Buy online pick up in store, curbside pickup, ship from store and same day delivery with Instacart have all been very successful and drove over 60 percent of our demand fulfillment; we are introduc...”
“Broyhill drove $194 million in Q2 sales, representing a $77 million increase versus Q2 2020; we remain thrilled with Broyhill's trajectory and continue to see strong growth ahead for the brand with over $400 million in year-to-date sales and continued acceleration to becoming a billion-dollar brand. Real Living has ram...”
“Prior to the recent global resurgence of COVID we were seeing increased import costs driven by a global increase in demand for ocean freight; over the past two months we have seen that dynamic exacerbated by the temporary shutdown of the port at Yantian, China and temporary factory and port closures elsewhere in Asia....”
“We are confident that there is white space to grow our store count by hundreds of stores in the coming years, with two to three times the net store growth in 2022 than the net increase of around 20 stores we expect to achieve this year. At the same time we expect to continue slowing our rate of closures as a result of...”
“I speak for all Big Lots leadership when I convey how indebted we are to the over thirty thousand Big Lots team members; we remain very excited about the huge white space opportunity ahead of us and know that investing in our customer, our people and our infrastructure will be critical to bringing that growth potential...”
Big Lots CEO Bruce Thorn is an exceptional leader who has significantly contributed to corporations, communities and causes in Ohio and throughout the country since serving in combat during the Gulf War. Watch him share his proudest moment as an Airborne Ranger, saving lives during a riot in Iraq. Read his bio and check out the more than 950 honorees at dvs.ohio.gov/hof. For a transcript of this video, see https://dvs.ohio.gov/static/youtube-t....
Big Lots, Inc. $BIG Q3 2022 Earnings Call.
Big Lots, inc (NYSE: BIG) Q2 2021 earnings call dated Aug. 27, 2021. Corporate Participants: Bruce Thorn — President and Chief ...
Access earnings conference call transcripts at: https://news.alphastreet.com/earnings-call-transcripts/ Earnings Calendar: ...
Access earnings conference call transcripts at: https://news.alphastreet.com/earnings... Earnings Calendar: https://news.alphastreet.com/earnings... Earnings Infographics: https://news.alphastreet.com/infograp... Listen on: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast... https://anchor.fm/earningspodcast/ https://open.spotify.com/show/67gyUX6... https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0... https://radiopublic.com/the-earnings-... Follow us on: / alphst_live / _alphastreet / alphastreetinc / alphastreet http://www.google.com/news/s/CAowj7D0Cg https://apple.news/TZOi1Q735Ty-T4dxal...…
Ladies and gentlemen good morning and welcome to the big lots third quarter conference call at this time all participants are in ...
Ladies and gentlemen good morning and welcome to the big lots second quarter conference call i would like to introduce today's ...
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