Heroes in Business - David Campisi President and CEO of Big Lots is interviewed by David Cogan of Eliances Heroes

Episode Date: September 6, 2024

David Campisi President and CEO of Big Lots is interviewed by David Cogan of Eliances Heroes radio amfm iHeart Podcastone. Big Lots has a lot of heart and made a 50 Million dollar donation to create a behavioral health facility dedicated to the treatment and research of children and adolescents from across the country with behavioral health conditions. The Company has been around for 50plus years in the non-traditional discount retail industry. Campisi also has held prominent positions at Khols, Fred Meyer, and May Department stores.

Up in the sky, look, it's captivating, it's energizing, it's Alliances Heroes. Alliances is the destination for entrepreneurs, investors, CEOs, inventors, leaders, celebrities, and startups. We're our heroes in business aligned. leaders, celebrities, and startups. We're our heroes in business aligned. Now, here's your host flying in, David Kogan, founder of Eliance's. That's right. It's David Kogan, and we've got another incredible morning, morning like no other. But this lineup, just listen, before I introduce our first guest of the morning, let me tell you the rest of the lineup. We've got, yep, the inventor of Dippin' Dots and Fortune 500 Company. Later on, we'll have the president of Communication Concepts. And we'll be ending the show with Angie. Now, yeah, you probably know Angie,

right? From Angie's List. Well, many heroes we have on our show are at the top of their career and talk about our next hero. Let me give you some clues as to who it is. Fortune 500 company, $5 billion, that's billion in annual sales, and has the word big in the name of the company. Ah, we're getting some texts here. That's right. It's the chief executive officer and president of Big Lots International, David Campisi. David, you have one of the most fun stores.

I love how the merchandise is always changing and you've got great deals. Tell me though, what was it like the first day sitting in your office chair as the new CEO of Big Lots and what was going through your mind running a $5 billion company? Honestly, David, what was going through my mind was, can I fix this business? And I'm here to tell you and happy to say that the team and I have Big Lots moving in the right direction and currently reported our 10th consecutive quarter of positive comp store sales increases, which is how retailers measure their health. And things are really good.

And what would you say are two to the three of the big things that you did that were able to turn it around and be so successful? Well, first thing is we built a world-class team. Because you can't be successful without people. And we've got great people here in our corporate office and 37,000 people out across the country in 47 states. And then, obviously, as a merchant, you put disciplines and processes in place and gave our people the tools to be successful. And it's been a really, really wonderful opportunity to change a culture from where it was to what it is today, which is just a fantastic thing. And I love going to your stores. My family loves going to your stores. My kids love going through the toy aisle. And what's great is that you also do a tremendous amount for the community.

this amount for the community. In fact, tell us about this number that I keep hearing. It's the 50, as in 50 million. Yes. On August 31st, we announced to all of our associates across the country that a decision was made by myself and my executive team to make a $50 million gift to Nationwide Children's Hospital here in Columbus, Ohio. Many people don't know this, but Nationwide Children's Hospital is the largest children's hospital today by number of beds in the United States and serves all 50 states. All children from all over have been there. We made this decision because the hospital made a decision to be the first ever to build a behavioral health pavilion, something that is so critically important for our children. It's an unfortunate situation in our country, the stigma attached to mental illness or behavioral health, and people aren't allowed to talk about it.

It's shamed and so on. So Big Lots made a big decision that we were going to gift the hospital $50 million to support behavioral health. And with that came the first ever Big Lots Behavioral Health League and will be built and opened by 2020 to serve children across the country and give them a place to stay when they have issues, whether it's autism or eating disorders or suicidal, whatever it may be. And we want to be the company of choice and be the first to say, you know what, everyone, it's time. It's time to talk about these issues and not be ashamed. And candidly, none of us did it for naming rights recognition. And honestly,

we didn't even know until the Friday before the 31st that it's the single largest corporate gift for mental health or behavioral health ever. So we're very proud of that as a company, and our people are very excited. I mean, it is very generous of what you're doing. In fact, too, as our producer was just telling me, that one in five children ages 13 to 18 have or will have a serious mental illness. So, I mean, is this shocking to you, too? Well, that's where it started. You know, I joined their board last fall, and the head of behavioral health, Dr. Axelson, gave us those statistics at a meeting. And honestly, I was totally shocked and quite honestly, very

embarrassed because I have a daughter getting her graduate degree at the University of Denver in this field to do this work. And I've been giving her a hard time for many years about you're going to be poor your whole life. Well, after I walked out of that meeting, I called her first and told her, I apologize to her because you know what, people who do this kind of work are special. I apologize to her because, you know what, people who do this kind of work are special. And, yeah, the statistics are staggering, and there's many other stats out there that just, it's just sad. But the biggest piece of this is now here in Ohio, you know, the social workers and the therapists are actually going to have a pavilion where there's research being done, and there's hospital beds for the kids that they know they shouldn't send home, and they do because there's no place for them.

So, again, our hope is that the rest of the country will stand up and other corporate citizens and other children's hospitals and recognize this issue. And for once and for all, we all start to talk about it. Excellent, excellent. And you're listening to Alliance's Heroes. Be a hero. We've got David Campisi. He's the CEO and President of Big

Lots International. Go to where entrepreneurs align. That's E-L-I-A-N-C-E-S dot com and you're listening to David Kogan with the Alliance's Show. I've got to ask you though, David, if we switch spots for a day and I was in your shoes, what would I find

the most unique or surprising for a day and I was in your shoes, what would I find the most unique or surprising for that day? That's a great question. You know, our mission statement is surprises in every aisle every day. So, you know, being a CEO, you know, the common thing they always say is it's lonely at the top, but you know what? It's actually a great company with great culture. And I think you would just have a lot of fun and you would learn a lot. Now you mentioned, yeah, and you also, too, you mentioned your daughter in the interview and stuff. What would you have to say to our children out there that would like to perhaps be in the retail industry and experience it

and grow and make a contribution like you have, what kind of tips would you provide your daughter to be able to do? Well, it's a great question. I have a daughter in Seattle who's working really hard to become a buyer at Nordstrom in their corporate office, but I tell both my girls, you know, I talk about the four C's all the time, and the most important thing getting out there is be curious, stay curious, and you're going to be successful and have the courage and the confidence to take that step

forward and be consistent, you know, and those are the four C's. But it really starts with you have to work very hard at being curious. And the people that are curious in life are very successful and not necessarily just financially, but just in the health and well-being and who they are, understanding, seeing themselves from the balcony. You know, it's a very important thing for all of us to do and all of our young kids. Yeah, and I think it's incredible. I mean, you have you're at the top of your game.

You've headed up other companies like Sports Authority. You've been the chairman there. You've worked at other companies like Kohl. You've been the chairman there. You've worked at other companies like Holes, Fred Meyer, made department stores. We've got a little less than about 40 seconds here and stuff. But I've got to ask you, what was your first role getting involved within the retail end? It's a great story. We don't have enough time, but I'll tell you. Many years ago, I'm going to go back 40 years ago in Omaha, Nebraska,

I took a part-time job selling shirts and ties in a department store. And I was very curious where this stuff came from. And I just kept asking questions and asking questions. And the next thing you know, I was a buyer and I just continued to work my way up the ladder over that 40-year time frame. Absolutely incredible. Well, David, you lead a company, Big Lots International. You do so much for the community. You're changing and affecting the lives of so many with your contribution to the behavioral heart. You do it with a heart. That's big. It's huge.

Your company is dedicated to enriching the lives of others and helping those in need. That's right. Follow the four C's. And when we return, we're going to have the inventor of Dippin' Dots, David Kogan with E-Liances.