Big Lots supervisors earn above-average pay, BLS data shows

First-line supervisors of retail sales workers sit at the point where Big Lots’ corporate expectations meet the store floor. The Bureau of Labor Statistics says the job covers direct supervision and coordination of retail sales workers, with duties that can also include purchasing, budgeting, accounting and personnel work, and it pegs the occupation’s national mean wage at $25.01 an hour, or $52,030 a year, with a median of $22.47.

That pay matters because the role is not just about watching the front end. In a discount retail setting like Big Lots, supervisors are the people translating policy into coverage, cash handling, inventory procedures and customer service when the day gets messy. The BLS estimated 1,087,890 first-line supervisors of retail sales workers nationwide in May 2023, and general merchandise retailers rank among the largest employers of them.

Big Lots’ own jobs page shows how central that layer is to the company’s ladder. The site lists store team members, cashiers, assistant managers, store managers and district managers, and says opportunities are available in more than 220 stores across 17 states. For workers trying to move up, first-line supervision is the bridge between hourly retail work and broader store leadership, where reliability, clear communication and coaching become part of the job, not just a nice extra.

The pressure on that job has only grown as Big Lots has worked through a severe corporate reset. The company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on Sept. 9, 2024, saying low-income shoppers had cut back on furniture and home decor and that high interest rates and a sluggish housing market were weakening demand. At the time, Big Lots said it operated about 1,300 stores, generated $4.7 billion in 2023 revenue and employed more than 27,000 people.

Closure plans followed quickly. Court reports said Big Lots intended to close roughly 250 more stores by mid-January 2025 after nearly 300 were already in closing sales. A bankruptcy court later approved a sale of 200 to 400 stores to Variety Wholesalers, a deal that was described as preserving about 5,000 to 10,000 jobs. Variety Wholesalers began reopening Big Lots stores in April 2025 and had brought back 219 locations by June 2025.

For supervisors, that history puts a premium on the basics that keep a store running: assigning tasks, keeping the sales floor covered, watching labor and payroll needs, and handling the human side of the job when staffing, freight or customer tensions spike. In Big Lots’ current setup, that is where the work gets done.