Ollie's Bargain Outlet — Local services in Manheim Township

I'd like to start out here by saying it was a very tough choice between 2 and 3 stars for good ol' Ollie's. After a handful of visits over the past year or so, the most recent being yesterday, the experience has been pretty consistently subpar. The charm and allure of Ollie's is in its magnificent cheesiness; however, there are some lacking standards that are detracting from the shopping experience.

One of the biggest issues is the store's presentation. Yes, closeout/overstock stores are usually a little haphazard by nature, but the disorganization at Ollie's is excessive enough to make it seem dirty. Loose items are stored in old, ripped cardboard boxes with prices scrawled on the outside. There are many displays made up entirely of these boxes. Products get easily mixed this way, which can lead to confusion, or even wind up on the floor. For example, on my visit yesterday there were 6 or 7 Christmas tree bulbs scattered on the floor of a perimeter aisle.

Another apparent problem is the condition of the products themselves. Being a "Bargain Outlet" nobody expects top-notch quality, but so many of the items here clearly had the packaging torn open, and some looked like they may have been used. I bought an iron that was packaged in a re-taped box (I got one of the few that were still intact), has writing on the safety stickers, and is of questionable functionality. I don't know if Ollie's purposely sells items in this state or if people come in and tear up the packaging, play with the product inside for a little while, then vaguely place it back and go on their merry way. Seriously. It's a little unsettling.

All in all though, Ollie's is a...let's say...specialized kind of store, so all this^ being said, it is excellent for a large dose of weirdness and corniness. It is so garish that it is truly exquisite.The employees are always friendly in my experience, so that's good too. I'll most definitely be going back, having a weird fascination with things that are so bad they're good. So, I'm sorry to give you only 2/5 stars, Ollie's, but just know that 2/5 stars is why we all...

Terrible experience with "check out" due to poor management, organization and planning. On a busy Saturday with xmas shoppers this store needed a supervisor at the front. We just left register 1 about 5 minutes ago without buying a whole cart of goods. We spend a good amount of time picking items shopping most of the store. We waited behind 3 others shoppers at register 2. It was a fairly long wait so a young lady did come up to help, bless her, so we moved over to register 1. The register was frozen she asked someone for help there no one out of 4 could help. They called for help from "a manager" THREE TIMES. After this unpleasant wait WE WERE NEGLECTED FURTHER: Register 2 while intercoming for help took others Out of line BEHIND US, someone came up opened a register? Yet no one took us to check out . WHILE SEVERAL OTHER CUSTOMERS WERE CHECKED OUT AT REGISTER 2 OR IN that LINE WHILE WE STOOD PATIENTLY WAITING. I was not willing to go stand in yet another line to give you money. I did not make a scene because it was not the young ladies fault. 1. Manager or someone who knows how to troubleshoot and manage needs to be up front. 2. If someone has been patiently waiting and problem you could not check out to no fault of our own YOU TAKE US TO CHECK OUT AT DIFFERENT REGISTER. THE CUSTOMERS IN CHECK OUT 2 CAME AFTER WE HAD...

Just left Ollies’s by Park City Mall. I can’t recall having a worse shopping experience ever! Staff was wondering around not helping anyone. I was struggling with rugs and overheard a staff person say “I’m trying to get out of here. If you want help you can go to the front to ask someone to come back here”...nice! I ended up helping a woman because no one was around. When we finally got our rugs loaded up and got to the front, there was one register open. I was approximately #7 in line. The line continued to grow, wrapping around the front isle and back a side isle. Everyone was getting frustrated and some even left their basket of items and walked out. I called the store on my cell and asked for the manager. The man asked who was calling. I said “a customer in line with about 30 other people and one register open. We need help!” It was about 10 minutes before anyone came up. Fortunately he was very nice. I will not be back to this location. The Mechanicsburg store is so much better. Friendly staff, clean floors, organized shelves. The manager there obviously knows something that the Lancaster manager does...