For 20 years, Bargains in a Box has been a discount shoppers paradise — selling everything from toothpaste and electronics to bug spray and area rugs — often out of large cardboard bins but shoppers will have to find somewhere else to dig for treasures. The retailer plans to close its last store on Sunday.
Family-owned parent company The Bazaar Inc. decided to close Bargains in a Box to focus on its wholesale overstock business, said Bazaar CEO Bradley Nardick. He's the grandson of founder Norman Nardick, who founded The Bazaar in 1960.
“We have loved serving the community the way we have,” Nardick said. “But at some point you have to decide who you want to be.”
After clearance sales and closures this month at the Villa Park and Bellwood store, the River Grove outlet will also shutter for good this weekend.
The Bazaar will continue to buy and sell overstock goods to other retailers worldwide, such as Big Lots, Lot-Less, 99 cent stores and mom-and-pop shops.
Nardick said various factors made running an independent retail store more challenging in recent years, including higher rents and stiff competition, not to mention a global pandemic.
“The discount environment is thriving, actually. Consumers are hungry for good value,” he said. But Bargains in a Box was “competing with the great discounters in the country in a retail market where our brand recognition is one millionth of theirs.”
‘Buried treasure’
Since the 1990s, countless shoppers have scored eye-popping deals on a range of goods found in giant cardboard boxes and on warehouse-style shelves.
“We fill up boxes with all of our bargain deals and you search through finding what you want. It’s like looking for buried treasure,” said the retailer's website.
In its final days, customers at the River Grove store could be seen rummaging through bins full of pirate hats, high-heeled shoes and insect repellent.
Shoppers on Yelp raved about their kaleidoscopic finds at Bargains in a Box. One wrote: “Shaving cream, cereal, area rugs, coffee pots, spray cleaners, water pistols, never-seen-before brands of candy bars, luggage, spatulas, televisions, razors, scrubbing pads, ant poison, roasting pans, water filters ... I could literally go on another dozen lines but I think you get the idea.”
Others also described the store’s quirky atmosphere. “Rather than a shopping cart, you pull a cardboard box with a nylon rope as a handle. I've never seen anything like it and I love it. It's like a thrift store except everything is new and there isn't any smelly clothing.”
A Yelp reviewer even posted a poem: “A store that has everything random/ This ain't part of American corporation stardom/Yet BIAB is literally a bargain kingdom.”
First store in River Grove
The Bazaar had humble beginnings starting as a 1,500-square-foot warehouse then expanding to a 400,000-square-foot warehouse and office in River Grove, about 30 minutes west of Chicago, according to its website. It started out selling to flea markets and small retailers then grew its partnerships with household brands.
The Bazaar works with big manufacturers, such as Colgate-Palmolive Co., Hershey and Mattel, to source overstock items, and it has a couple hundred vendors, Nardick said.
More than 20 years ago, The Bazaar decided to try selling directly to customers and opened its first Bargains in a Box in River Grove. “For a while it worked,” Nardick said.
At its peak, Bargains in a Box operated eight stores in Chicago and the suburbs, employing about 100 people. In the past year, only a few stores remained. About 25 jobs will be cut when the retailer finally closes.
Nardick, 34, started working for The Bazaar in 2013 and remembers stocking shelves at Bargains in a Box when he was a kid. As an adult, he worked at the store in a general manager-like role.
He has vivid memories of the store’s Christmas sales taking place under huge tents set up in the parking lot. Customers would line up in the cold 30 minutes before the store opened for the chance to rush into the tents and snatch up the best bargains.
“It was an absolute frenzy at that time. It was like a treasure hunt,” Nardick said. “In retail, you learn so much about teamwork and customer service and solving problems in real time. I have a ton of great memories."
This story has been updated to correctly reflect Bellwood.
