9 Things First Time Ollie's Shoppers Should Know

Perhaps the whimsical, vintage cartoon aesthetic of the logo didn't have you squealing into the parking lot, but chances are reasonably high that you've at least heard something about Ollie's that has piqued your interest by now. A chain based on utterly frill-less warehouse bargain hunting, Ollie's is a carnival of overstock, irregular products, and clearance items that range in price from slightly discounted to practically free.

Ollie's has been an East Coast institution since the 1980s and is expanding steadily westward, now boasting 637 stores from Texas to Vermont. There's an old-school charm to the place that makes walking through the doors feel a bit like entering a lost era, and the price tags do their best to maintain that illusion. Inside, you'll find everything from kitchen gadgets to cat trees, with an ever-changing collection of candy, clothes, rugs, patio furniture, tools, and books between. A specific focus on name-brand items distinguishes the chain from dollar stores and Temu, while their complete rejection of online shopping sets them apart from everyone else. Even in the 21st century, Ollie's is solely brick-and-mortar, relying on newspaper-style flyers and a loyalty program app (that you can't even join without visiting a store) for marketing.

If this is all sounding tantalizingly alien to you, don your finest fanny pack and allow us to usher you into your Ollie's era. Here's what you need to know before you go.

Approach a trip to Ollie's like you would thrifting on a Sunday. Nobody is on their way somewhere else, there's no express line for shoppers with 10 items or less, and, if you're rushing down the aisles, you'll likely find yourself developing the shopping cart equivalent of road rage. An affliction which certainly won't be alleviated if someone in front of you in line is signing up for the Ollie's Army loyalty program (it takes a few minutes).

This isn't a store, it's an experience, and the thrill is in the hunt just as much as in the treasure. While there is a general organization to the place — books in one area, food in another — you never know what might be lurking under the shelves of picture hangers, or just around the corner from the solar stake lights. An outing here is an activity to be taken at a leisurely pace. Otherwise, in addition to earning the ire of your Ollie's Army comrades, you risk missing incomparable deals on stuff you didn't know you needed.

Ollie's carries a decent amount of dry goods, candy, kitchen staples, seasonings, oils, snack foods, and canned items. In fact, over 30% of their sales are consumables. Most of these are simply overstock of name-brand products, but it's always good to check expiration dates, as you might occasionally find yourself with an outdated (or nearly outdated) item.

Out-of-season holiday treats abound, and while Easter Peeps in October might occasionally be a bit tougher than their spring chicken counterparts, they aren't likely to be hazardous. This is the case with most of Ollie's dated foodstuffs; it's probably not spoiled, but rather (at worst) approaching or just past its "Best-By" date and maybe not quite as enjoyable as a fresher package. This is not to say that Ollie's shelves are full of stale grocery store rejects; the vast majority of what the chain stocks is actually indistinguishable from the MSRP versions once out of the package, and not flirting dangerously with expiration at all. It's just something to keep an eye out for. And if you're concerned about cutting corners on pantry items, rest assured that even chefs opt for the cheaper ingredients sometimes, and they tend to be the kind of items Ollie's stocks. 

It bears repeating: Ollie's is an in-store experience. This corporeality is something to love and embrace in our relentlessly online lives; you literally cannot buy anything at all on the website. Nothing. What's truly remarkable is that while most other stores are seeing physical foot traffic trend lower, Ollie's is growing. A lot. In 2024, net sales were up 25.6% from 2020 (to over 2 billion dollars), and they opened 50 new stores.

Yes, there is a website. And yes, you can find images of their newspaper-style, comic strip-inspired ads there, but there's no comprehensive inventory list available. There's also no guarantee that what shows up on the site is still in stock; foot traffic and mailing list subscribers are likely to have caught wind of the specials long before you clicked your way over, and Ollie's Army members often get an early heads up on the big monthly deals. In other words, you can't keyboard warrior your way into this club. You have to physically put yourself there. And you're rewarded for doing so.

Ollie's Army is the chain's free loyalty program, and it's a pretty solid one, but you have to visit a store and receive a card in order to join (noticing the trend here?). Once you've become a card-carrying cadet, you can head on over to the "recruitment office" on the website and build a profile, where you'll receive discounts that stack with the already low prices, a 15% "enlistment bonus," early flyer access, and invites to special sales events.

There's a weirdly endearing MASH-style comic book military vibe to the whole thing that makes it significantly more entertaining than your Target card. Seasoned as we might believe ourselves to be, and as much as we like to consider ourselves immune to marketing gimmicks and the easy trap of herd mentality, it's pretty hard to feign cold indifference to this one. Does it feel like an elite club? A cultural family? A secret society? No. But if it doesn't make you smile a little bit, you might need to touch grass for a while.

Admittedly, this is something that won't do much good until after your first visit, but preparing a bit in advance never hurts. No, you still won't be able to make purchases through the app or online, but with the Ollie's Army app, you can track your rewards points, check the latest flyer, and scroll through a selection of new deals. There's also a store locator, a personal offer section, and a digital version of your card, so when your physical iteration cracks under the pressure in your wallet, you can always pull the thing up on your phone.

With merchandise quantities often limited and business steadily ticking up for Ollie's, catching wind of a big buyout sale early provides an advantage that can be the difference between scoring a great deal and missing out entirely. Just make sure you get your "Bargain Battalion" card at checkout, or you'll be stuck at an impenetrable login screen.

Let's imagine you've finally made it. Your first Ollie's outing. You're prowling the aisles, bewildered, intrigued, and there, shimmering from the shadows on the lowest shelf, you find something irresistible. This is not a thing of need, no. This is an object of desire. You've never wanted this thing before, but now find yourself longing for it with every fiber of your being. Suddenly — for the first time — you remember your smart shopper training. You tell yourself you're going to be responsible and walk away before making a purchase. You think of how proud your spouse/parents/debt councilor/larger community will be. You wander off to see if there are any good deals on toothpaste, beaming slightly, all the while considering whether or not you'll return for the shiny thing.

Wrong. This is not the time nor the place for that kind of commercial caution. The inventory is inconsistent, and somebody else is bound to pounce on your indecision. Remember that this is a treasure hunt, so treat it accordingly. You wouldn't expect a thrift store to restock your perfect ceramic pot, and you shouldn't expect it from Ollie's either. If you find the thing, buy the thing, or accept that it wasn't meant to be, because chances are pretty good that if you walk away, you'll never see it again. At least not at that price.

While the specific inventory may change, Ollie's is fairly consistent in offering a variety of kitchenware, gadgets, and holiday foods. There is pretty much always an aisle of utensils, various spatulas and spoons, sponges, cheese graters, and colanders. As far as consumables are concerned, there tends to be a pretty even mix between pre-season and post-season items at a steal, alongside an unpredictable smorgasbord of random condiments, seasonings, dry goods, and jarred foods. In general, you'll want to more or less follow dollar store food shopping guidelines. It's mostly ingredients and snacks here, though, and they have been known to stock some harder-to-find items like Cadbury Mini Eggs in mid-winter for a dollar, or King-sized sleeves of Mallo Cups. 

Recent sales have included air fryers, Sharper Image sauce pans, and Halloween candy. If you're into growing your own, they seem to have a springtime tradition of stocking (surprisingly attractive) ceramic pots and soil, and the prices don't even flirt with the rates at your local nursery. You might even find vegetable and herb seeds there from time to time. Just beware of gimmicky and ultimately useless gardening products that tend to find their way onto discount shelves. They might be there for a reason.

Once you've adjusted to the organized chaos of the Ollie's atmosphere, it's fairly common for first-time shoppers to become intoxicated by the dizzying array of alarmingly affordable products. It starts with a few dollars on one thing, a few more on another, and like the first couple of raindrops of a hurricane, things tend to escalate from there. And really, who could blame you (other than joint bank account holders)? However, a bit of shopping cart caution — not to be confused with restraint — is in order.

Irregular items are mixed in with overstock, and there's not generally an indication of which is which. Most of the time, you'd be hard-pressed to figure out what, exactly, resulted in the manufacturer's rejection of a particular item, but sometimes it's a bit more obvious. Check everything for functionality, damage, or general weirdness. Ollie's is a place of joy, and you don't want to tarnish that by hauling yourself back to the store for a return. That said, Ollie's does accept returns within 30 days of purchase under their "No Hard Time Guarantee," but you MUST have your receipt.

While under the Ollie's time-warp spell, it's easy to get overwhelmed. You're swimming in a sea of 1990s prices and the sense of urgency, while manufactured, is actually real; when things disappear, they don't come back. You can easily be lulled into thinking it's an entire store of loss leaders. The danger here is that not everything is exactly the deal of the (previous) decade, and you might end up pouncing on an item that snuck in at a pretty normal retail price.

In general, Ollie's is on a mission to provide name-brand goods at generic prices. But be sure to look up the average going rate of items that aren't instantly recognizable as being uncommonly cheap. Yes, this will sort of break the spell, and in a way that's a shame. The spell is fun. The spell has no anxiety about the price of eggs or affordable housing. The spell doesn't even know what day it is. But spells are manipulative, and going too far down the path of illusion is a sure descent into delusion. So, while you're at it, go ahead and look up some reviews as well. Scoring a jug of olive oil for $3 is a lot less sweet when the general consensus is that it tastes like aromatic bitters.