Big Lots faces value retail shift as brands invest in storytelling

Gap’s move to bring in Michael Francis as Old Navy’s chief customer officer showed how much weight value retailers now put on the customer experience, not just the ticket price. Gap said Francis also became head of marketing shared services for Gap Inc., will report to Old Navy President and CEO Haio Barbeito, and had already been advising Old Navy before taking the role.

Francis brings a mix of retail and entertainment experience that is rare in discount-focused merchandising. He has held leadership roles at Target, DreamWorks Animation, J.C. Penney and Walmart advisory work, a background that suggests Old Navy wants sharper storytelling as it keeps pushing for traffic and loyalty. The hire also lines up with an internal need: Gap has been managing Old Navy as one of its most important growth engines, with the brand posting $2.0 billion in first-quarter fiscal 2025 net sales, up 3% year over year, and comparable sales up 3% for a ninth straight quarter of market-share gains.

That matters for Big Lots because the value aisle has changed. The category is no longer won only with markdowns and clearance endcaps. It is won with a clear message, orderly stores, and a shopping trip that feels easy enough to repeat. Big Lots learned how unforgiving that environment can be after filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on September 9, 2024 and entering into a sale agreement with Nexus Capital Management LP for substantially all of its assets and business operations. Court records on the restructuring case showed a bid deadline of October 28, 2024 and an auction date of October 30, 2024, steps that came as the chain moved into a going-out-of-business process after the restructuring plan collapsed.

The fallout spread widely. Hundreds of stores were caught in the closure process, and WARN layoff notices went out across multiple states as the company wound down. For workers, that meant uncertainty not just about paychecks, but about how quickly a store could move from regular operations to liquidation mode.

Old Navy’s numbers show why the customer-experience playbook still has traction. Gap said the brand’s third-quarter fiscal 2025 net sales reached $2.3 billion, up 5% year over year, with comparable sales up 6%. In fiscal 2024’s fourth quarter, Old Navy posted $2.2 billion in net sales, down 3%, but comparable sales rose 3%. By November 2025, Gap said the company had delivered positive comparable sales for seven consecutive quarters.

For Big Lots employees and former employees, the message is blunt. Value retail is still about price, but the chains that survive are treating brand identity, marketing, presentation and store execution as core operating work. Francis’ hire suggests that in today’s bargain market, recovery depends on telling shoppers why a store matters, not only on what is on sale.