Hundreds line up to be the first to shop at new Ollie’s Bargain Outlet

Tom Jomisko of Ellenton showed up at 6:30 a.m. Wednesday and was the first in line for the grand opening of the first Ollie’s Bargain Outlet in Manatee County.

In time, an estimated 600 more shoppers lined up behind Jomisko for the 9 a.m. opening of the store with the motto “good stuff cheap.”

“The deal on the color TV,” Jomisko said of his reasons for rising so early.

Frank Crayton of Bradenton was second in line and also came for the 42-inch TV selling for $149.

The activity was unlike anything seen in years at Manatee Town Centre, a shopping center at 5201 33rd St. E. that had suffered after its anchor, a Sweetbay Supermarket, closed eight years ago.

“It was wasted space. I’m happy to have something else in here,” said first-time Ollie’s shopper Ann Ragucci of Bradenton.

What shoppers found Wednesday was a lot of, well, everything: food, apparel, books, flooring, towels, pots and pans, and more.

“It took a lot of work,” Chuck Aaron, Ollie’s co-team leader, said of preparations to open the store. “You start from the ground up. You build the shelves, then you fill the shelves.”

Wednesday’s opening was so successful that Ollie’s ran out of shopping carts.

“The opening has been great. Our normal opening is anywhere from 500 to 600 people in line. We actually broke 600 people in line today, so it’s been a great turnout. The customers are happy we are here. A lot of them know us from Harrisburg (Pennsylvania). They have relocated down here. It’s great to see them down here,” said Armando Perez, Ollie’s district manager.

Debbie Casey of Palmetto walked up to the checkout counter with her arms full of merchandise.

“So far, I like it. I’ll come back after the crowd dies down,” Casey said.

Ollie’s Bargain Outlet is one of America’s largest retailers of closeouts, excess inventory and salvage merchandise at 260 “semi-lovely” stores that “sell merchandise of all descriptions and some beyond description,” according to the company website.

The company also opened a location in Port Charlotte on Wednesday and soon will have 17 locations in Florida.

“Ollie’s buyers scour the world looking for closeouts, overstocks, package changes, manufacturer refurbished goods and irregulars,” according to the company’s website.

Among those experienced Ollie’s shoppers was Harold Eshleman of Bradenton.

“We used to go to their home store in Harrisburg. My wife has some things she wants to look at,” Eshleman said.

Store hours are 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday-Saturday and 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. Sunday.

For more information about Ollie’s, visit ollies.us.

This story was originally published October 4, 2017 at 12:01 PM with the headline "Hundreds line up to be the first to shop at new Ollie’s Bargain Outlet."