19, but ended on a bit of a sour note, closing at $14.49, a 9.4 percent decline for the year.
Still, this was a respectable performance in a bad year, and through three quarters, the company had net income of $72.8 million.
"When you have an economy in which people are concerned about their next paycheck, they go for low-cost goods," Huffman said. "Big Lots and Wal-Mart, they're perceived as low-cost providers and are two of the retail victors."
Wal-Mart shares finished the year up 18 percent.
Tim Johnson, Big Lots vice president of planning and investor relations, said, "Over the last 3 1/2 years, we've worked hard on efficiency and cost structure and how and when we open stores."
This helped Big Lots in a down economy and could position it to do well when the recovery begins.
"We believe we're better- positioned than most when we come out the other end," Johnson said.
Big losses
On the flip side, the shares of these locally based retailers were all down: Tween Brands by 84 percent; Abercrombie & Fitch by 71.2 percent; and Limited Brands by 47 percent.
Demand for the more high-end Abercrombie & Fitch and Limited products hasn't disappeared, Huffman said, it's just been postponed until better economic times.
"Eventually the consumers will come back and the profits will return," he said. "But not all retailers will make it to then; there will be more bankruptcies."
The downturn in the auto industry and overall manufacturing affected many local companies.
The stock price of Commercial Vehicle, a parts supplier for the truck industry, was down 93.6 percent and steel manufacturer Worthington Industries dropped 38.4 percent.
Gone, but not forgotten
The list of publicly traded central Ohio companies shrank by five in the past year.
The most recent loss was Nationwide Financial, which was bought back by Nationwide Mutual Insurance on Wednesday for $52.25 a share. Nationwide Mutual is not publicly traded.
Dominion Homes went private, merging with a group composed of Silver Point Capital, Angelo Gordon & Co. and BRC Properties Inc.
Max & Erma's Restaurants was sold to G&R Acquisitions Inc. of Pittsburgh for $10 million. But it is business as usual for the Columbus dining institution.
Westerville insurer ProCentury Corp. was purchased by Michigan-based Meadowbrook Insurance Group Inc. for $272.6 million.
Air-cargo shipper AirNet Systems Inc. was bought by H.I.G. Capital of Miami for $28.7 million. Later in the year, AirNet announced it will move its primary hub and operations from central Ohio to Chicago.
swartenberg@dispatch.com
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