A sign announcing the future site of Ollie’s Bargain Outlets is pictured in Lakewood. The company had its best year on record despite the COVID-19 pandemic. P-J photo by Eric Tichy

Ollie’s Bargain Outlets, soon to open in Lakewood, has just had the best year in the company’s history.

Ollie’s surpassed $1.8 billion in sales despite the COVID-19 pandemic. Fourth quarter net sales increased 22.1% to $515.8 million. The company ended the fourth quarter with 388 stores in 25 states and opened 46 new stores in 2020. Ollie’s expects to spend $40 to $50 million on capital spending in the coming year, primarily on new stores, information technology projects and store level initiatives.

“We are targeting 50 store openings this year, including three to four relocations and are planning to introduce the Ollie’s brand to three new states, Kansas, Missouri, and Vermont,” said John Swygert, Ollie’s CEO, in a March conference call with investors. “So far this year we’ve opened seven stores, including one relocation and we’re very pleased with the early results. We have a tremendous runway for growth with the potential to expand our store base to over 1,050 We feel good about the significant white space and the availability of high-quality sites. The value-driven consumers clearly is not going away and by most measures value is gaining in importance. With this in mind, we feel very confident in our runway for growth.”

The financial picture isn’t all sunshine and roses, according to Jay Stasz, senior vice president and chief financial officer. The company isn’t providing 2021 guidance for investor analysts, in part because of the uncertainty due to COVID-19 and its impacts on the economy. The timing and duration of stimulus spending and evolving consumer behavior caused by the pandemic is making financial forecasts difficult.

“We are anticipating some headwinds in gross margin due to ongoing supply chain pressures impacting all retailers, such as increased important trucking costs,” he said. “We expect a headwind of approximately 20 basis points to 30 basis points for the year, taking us from our typical target of 40% gross margin to 39.7% to 39.8% for the year. In addition to these increased costs, we are currently seeing increased port congestion, which could create delays in certain imported product categories. However, as always disruption of this nature may lead to opportunities down the road.”

Swygert told investor analysts there aren’t many items Ollie’s officials can’t procure for their shelves, except for residential pool chlorine.

“I would tell you right now most all of our categories are showing a lot of promise,” Swygert said. “I am seeing a lot of deal flow in the HBA front. A lot of deal flow in the housewares front, bed and bath is real strong. Sporting goods has been real good. Everything’s — the only area I would tell you — if you had to say worse or a shortage or a challenge it’s one item, its pool chlorine. Pool chlorine is not easy to get and there’s a chlorine shortage nationally that we’re all going to have to deal with. Other than that, we don’t feel any pressure on any other category in the entire business.”