Pic 'N' Save Corporation (later MacFrugals) was at one time the second-largest closeout retail chain in the United States. Financial troubles caused the chain to close many stores in the late 1990s and early 2000s.

History

William Zimmerman founded Pic 'N' Save Corporation in 1950 in

Culver City, California Culver City is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 40,779. It is mostly surrounded by Los Angeles, but also shares a border with the unincorporated area of Ladera Heights, Californi ...

. By 1985, it operated 90 stores in

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

and six other U.S. states. In 1991, the company changed its name to MacFrugals. It later expanded to the

Southwest The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A '' compass rose'' is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west— ...

and the

South South is one of the cardinal directions or compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both west and east. Etymology The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Proto-Germanic ''*sunþa ...

, but left both markets in the late 1990s. In 1997,

Consolidated Stores Corporation Big Lots Stores, Inc. (stylized as Big Lots!) is an American discount retail chain, specializing in the sale of closeout and overstock merchandise. Founded in 1967 as Consolidated Stores, the chain is headquartered in Columbus, Ohio, and inc ...

bought out the remaining MacFrugals stores for $995 million (~$ in ) in stock. In 2002,

Big Lots Big Lots Stores, Inc. (stylized as Big Lots!) is an American discount retail chain, specializing in the sale of closeout and overstock merchandise. Founded in 1967 as Consolidated Stores, the chain is headquartered in Columbus, Ohio, and in ...

(formerly Consolidated Stores) converted them into the Big Lots brand.Mac Frugal's making switch, will be known as Big Lots
/ref> This company has no connection to the "Pic-N-Save" chain based in northeast Florida in the 1950s-1990s. in 2020, Pic ‘N’ Save was revived as a bargain store, as of 2023, it had two locations in United States; Anaheim and Whittier, CA. In 2024 the Anaheim location closed.

In popular culture

In the 1983 film ''

10 to Midnight ''10 to Midnight'' is a 1983 American neo noir-thriller film directed by J. Lee Thompson from a screenplay originally written by William Roberts. The film stars Charles Bronson in the lead role with a supporting cast that includes Lisa Eilbach ...

'', detectives Leo Kessler (

Charles Bronson Charles Bronson (born Charles Dennis Buchinsky; November 3, 1921 – August 30, 2003) was an American actor. He was known for his roles in action films and his "granite features and brawny physique". Bronson was born into extreme poverty in ...

) and McCann (

Andrew Stevens Andrew Stevens (born Herman Andrew Stephens; June 10, 1955) is an American executive, film producer, director and actor. Early life Stevens was born in Memphis, Tennessee, the only child of actress Stella Stevens and her former husband Noble ...

) are en route to inform the parents of a murder victim of their daughter's demise when they pass a Pic 'N' Save, next to a Thrifty Drug Store; this location was a
11341 National Boulevard
in Los Angeles. In ''

Troop Beverly Hills ''Troop Beverly Hills'' is a 1989 American adventure comedy film directed by Jeff Kanew and starring Shelley Long, Craig T. Nelson, Betty Thomas, Mary Gross, Stephanie Beacham, and Jenny Lewis in her film debut. The film features a host of ...

'' (1989) when Freddy discovers soon-to-be ex-wife Phyllis has just gone on a shopping spree using their joint credit cards, he tells her to have her fun now cause after the divorce she'll, "be shopping at the Pic 'N' Save." Pic 'N' Save's parking lot, store front, and signs were also featured in the 1998 film, ''

Slums of Beverly Hills ''Slums of Beverly Hills'' is a 1998 American comedy-drama film written and directed by Tamara Jenkins, and starring Natasha Lyonne, Alan Arkin, Marisa Tomei, David Krumholtz, Kevin Corrigan, Jessica Walter, and Carl Reiner. The story follow ...

''.

References

External links

Big Lots stays in the black
(2002)

(2001) Retail companies established in 1950 Retail companies disestablished in 2002 Defunct discount stores of the United States 1950 establishments in California 2002 disestablishments in California {{US-retail-company-stub