Ocean State Job Lot

This is a smaller OSJL in the area. It is close to my house and I like to go there during off hours because the aisles get crampy. They do sell discounted brand name makeup which is always fun. Located besides Marshalls, it’s a great spot. Tip: sign up for Internet coupons.

So I went back to Ocean State… i had a million things in my arms… a young lady by the name of Sarah took the initiative to help me… when she saw i was in need of a carriage.
She was so courteous and extremely helpful… I’ve been dissatisfied with service in store in the past… this was great service recovery …
She made me feel like a valued customers… again…she was willing to make things easier…
She is a Gem… thank you Sarah…

The makeup is all dried up and the food sometimes it expires but the cleaning products and the laundry detergent and sprays are always good I don’t really think it’s that cheap as everybody says it is

I tell everyone that Ocean State Job Lot is one of my favorite things about New England that I discovered (after moving here several years ago). Each of the three towns in MA I’ve lived in has had one, so that’s been great.
You never know what you’re going to find — that’s probably why they go by «home of adventure shopping».
It’s a quirky, low-​budget, bargain-​hunting kind of place. I once took a picture of some makeshift price signs that an employee had made out of paper plates and placed on the clothing racks. (Did they run out of sign holders?) Hilarious!
I buy anything and everything from light bulbs, writing supplies, and greeting cards to olive oil, spices, canned goods, and even occasionally, clothing.
The interior is nothing amazing, and the aisles are a bit narrow… sometimes you do have to wait a bit for an open register. Oy.
Beware of expiration dates as some of the product shipments are old. For example, the makeup products vary in quality and condition. You never know what you’re going to find.
But then… that’s why it’s the home of adventure shopping!
«Your adventure starts here!» :)

A fun place to browse and buy.
A varied selection of clothing, food, hardware, housewares, pet supplies, sunglasses and reading glasses, office supplies, toiletries, gardening supplies, etc. etc. You get the drift. Not a department store, more of a hit and miss place.
Prices are excellent. They buy overstocks and closeouts and remainders.
Yeah, the aisles are narrow as other folks have mentioned. You may have to wait in line but the savings are worth it IMO.
Plenty of parking in a big lot on busy Newport Avenue. They take credit cards.
Kinda like Building 19 except there is not Bldg 19 in Quincy. I think there is one in Weymouth.
Anyhoo, check out Ocean State Job Lot and see what you think!

Their grass seed. You get what you pay for. I have had it grow once but subsequent times did not have any luck, I wondered if i was doing something wrong. I mixed it in with Scotts lawn soil and raked it even, then watered… daily. Seeds remained seeds… no grass. Very disappointed.

I have been in this location a handful of times in the last few years and it never fails to disappoint. It’s dirty and disorganized and far too cluttered. The selection is kind of ‘meh’, but the prices are pretty great. The service has never been anything special, but my experience today, in which two cashiers started arguing with one another, with one yelling across several registers to the supervisor «Why did you put her over here with me?», takes the cake. I felt awful for the poor manager who had to play referee between two supposed adults. Tremendously unprofessional.

I guess I have to give it a 3 since I do come here on and off, but the one nearest to me appears to be the smallest in the chain.
Today I waltzed in and out, but as another reviewer stated, I have had to just drop stuff and leave it gets so choked.

I’ve always come here when I need something useful like masking tape and cleaning supplies. I used to live in North Quincy, so this place was pretty useful for knick knack-​y things like shower liners, curtain hooks, etc.
It is cheaper than Wal-​Mart and Home Depot. Lots of stuff that you can find here for better prices — and with more of a variety too.
The food. I wouldn’t buy the food items at job lot because it’s stale. I once bought crackers, and it was pretty stale tasting — I think it’s because areas of the store aren’t dusted well or just that the products aren’t that great.

Don’t go for food, go for those random things you didn’t know you needed. Seasonal items. Tape. Christmas wrapping paper. Weird stuff.
But I’ve always had really nice cashiers here. Like, really really nice and funny. So there’s that.

Really cheap stuff. Wouldn’t trust their food products though. Once bought something, the item was completely shattered and broken. The place isn’t very clean, but the items there are a bargain compared to WalMart or Target. Only thing I would not recommend to purchase are the food as some of them were tampered with.

The «OSJL» always has a selection of outdoor/​gardening supplies, and a great selection of Bob’s Red Mill grains and beans. Otherwise the merchandise is rotating, depending on what other salvage items are available. There are generally great deals on non-​perishable food items, household items and some clothing. The staff is polite and helpful. Beware the perishable food items (bread, nuts and the occasional cheese), as these items have often not been stored properly and are no longer any good.

I always dreamed of having outside space in the city where I could grow herbs and plant flower pots and have myself a little green thumb. When I finally got said outside space, I realized… DAMN that sh*t’s expensive! A trip to Home Depot for planters, soil, seeds, food, gloves, etc. will set you back at least a few hundred dollars!
On a whim we went to OSJL today and found that the prices of ALL of your gardening needs are like 70% less than Home Depot. Huge clay pots for $ 15, window boxes for $ 5, seeds are all half price, everything was dirt cheap.
Yes, it’s crowded and far too small to house everything they hold in the store, but where else can you find Burger King «french toast chips»? Seriously. I took a picture of that. So much randomness. Hit up OSJL before you go to Stop & Shop (right next door) and you’ll cross off a few things on your shopping list for half the price.

I like me some Job Lot. Yeah, there’s a whole lotta crap. but then you say to yourself. Oh, I think I need that piece of crap. I was looking for something just like that.
I mostly come here for the cooking tins. .50c for aluminum pans, the same ones Stop n Shop is trying to sell me for $ 3.
You just gotta look pass the mess and the unorganized aisles. It’s pretty A-​OK!

They don’t sell trash bins. Or catnip. I checked. But besides that they seem to sell just about everything. Let me know if there is anything else they do not sell, maybe I’ll penalize them for it in the star column.
It’s pretty much like building 19 only smaller and less funny. Oh yeah that’s another thing: in the past I have bought tree branches from Building 19, but Ocean State does not seem to sell tree branches. SHOPPER BEWARE.
They do sell mixing bowls and patio furniture and 12 packs of Polar Orange dry and dog beds and spatulas and bug spray. And rugs. Other stuff too. Very inexpensive if you know what i mean (it does not cost a lot of money).
It’s the last place i think of when I need to buy a specific thing, but when I wander in there for general browsing I realize how many specific things I need or have needed that they could provide. Basically the value-​store version of the nerdy best friend from an 80s movie. Actually, way better than that. Because, what can I say, I just hate nerds.

This is not the nicest OSJL that I’ve been too (the one in Dedham is much larger and cleaner), but it’s not that bad.
I like to take my son here on rainy days when we have nothing to do and just spend a little time looking around. I usually let him pick out some cheap-​o toy to get, which makes him happy.
My favorite «departments» (if you can call them that) are the hardware section, which has very cheap lightbulbs and other household odds and ends, and the food section. Gotta make sure to check the expiration dates, but other than that, the food here is usually great, and a good bargain.

I’m a big fan of the OSJL. Why pay over inflated prices for brand names at department stores when you can pay a fraction for practically the same thing here. Yeah, there is a lot of crappola here, and I certainly have walked out empty handed a number of times, but for the times I’ve been there and have discovered a diamond in the rough, it’s been completely worth it.
I like to pick up a lot of useful stuff here like tarps, bungie cords, painting/​cleaning supplies, spices, cooking utensils, and disposable aluminum pans.
One of my favorite recent purchases is a photography light tent, it should retail elsewhere for about $ 60, and I bought it here for $ 20!
My biggest complaint is that this place is dirty/​grimy. I realize this isn’t Neiman Marcus, it’s a discount retailer and thus your standards need to be a little bit lower, but they really need to work a bit more on keeping it up. Also, the store is very unorganized, the aisles are congested, whether it be from other shoppers or just having so much stuff there, the entrance is ridiculous because they have a ton clothing racks right up front that creates a bottle neck, and people stop to look at what they’ve got it creates a jam.
Second is that there always seems to be l4−5 people waiting in line at all times. Typically when I go I’m on my lunch break and I have a limited amount of time to work with. I appreciate that they do a heavy volume of business, and yes, sometimes you have to wait in line, and I could always come back after work when I’m not racing against the clock, but still, I think I should be able to get in, grab a few things I need, and out within ten or fifteen minutes.
As I said at the beginning, I’m a big fan of OSJL, and getting the biggest bang for my buck, so I won’t stop going any time soon!

This is another place that you can’t sleep on.
Go to Ocean State for any combination of the following (which I may or may not have purchased at one time or another):
–high-​end pet products that you see in the South End and ask yourself: who in the hell would buy this microfiber/​cashmere-​y dog paw wiper for $ 80? Exactly. It ends up at Ocean State, where you can score that same item for $ 3
–Bird seed to assuage your guilt for feeding/​not feeding the all and sundry birds that swing by your backyard occasionally and cluck disapprovingly that you’ve only filled up the feeder once
–Mailing envelopes that cost $ 5/​each at a CVS or Staples that you can get here for $ 3 for a pack of 10… now send that package to your sister that has been sitting in your closet since before Christmas
–Polar flavored water; cans of 6 for $ 1.50
–Bob’s grains – DO NOT pay full price at the store in the organic aisle – you can pick up quinoa, whole grain oats, etc. for about $ 2/​bag
I also enjoy reading the hand-​printed signs that are error free (because I’m an English teacher and it matters to me) and made with lots of love. People are brusque, but they are helpful and seem to enjoy what they do. If you have a question, they try to answer it and don’t act like you’re bugging them to death (even if you are).
One more thing: I’ve yet to get my act together, but allegedly the online coupons are an additional value. Around Christmas, one of the nice salespeople just rang up a coupon from the master book for me.
I’m stopping now. I usually find something I can’t live without whenever I remember to go to Ocean State. I am going to make it my destination rather than a place I go to if I remember. Take an open mind and no more than $ 10. That’s all you’re gonna need.

I just discovered this place on Sunday. Back at home, we have Big lots. Here we have the Ocean State Job Lot. I will never go to CVS again. Well, maybe only for womanly products.
This place got everything, it will be under $ 20 and its a bargain. I get really excited about a good bargain.
–really cool lunch containers $ 1.75
–spatula $ 1.25
–50 tea candles -$ 2.49
–pistasio nuts -$ 3.49
–two plastic cutting boards –1.25
–sunblock -$ 4. (same sold at CVS for $ 10.99)
I was happy and satisfied.
Yes, the place is a mess, but totally worth it. The aisles are crowded and you got to jump around. BUT they’ve got it all. And staff is really nice. Friendly and helpful. Yay!

Holy crap i used to go to the job lot like at least once a week. Never really had something in mind when Iwent, but i used to come out with bags of crap, and i loved every minute of it.
The food section was my fav because they always had hrd to find international foods, and no they were never rotten or out of date. It was just friggin awesome. Then my next stop was to the cookware/​housewares which was awesome. I mean this location is small so the relaly jam pack it full with crap so its hard to walk through, but its awesome.
We also used to get out pool chemicals from here as a bag of shock was only $ 1.99 as opposed tot he regular $ 4.99. Man, I really miss this place and wish there was one on the north shore.