<div id="readability-page-1"><div> <h2>Key Points</h2><ul><li>Consumers aren’t necessarily spending less, they’re spending smarter. Retailers like Ollie's Bargain Outlet are winning because they meet people where they are right now. </li><li>National Vision Holdings shows how the right customer mix and product strategy can drive consistent growth even in a shaky environment. </li><li>Grocery Outlet highlights that even good models need disciplined expansion to actually translate into shareholder returns.</li><li>10 stocks we like better than Ollie's Bargain Outlet ›</li></ul>Consumer spending has been uneven over the last year or so. I know my personal consumer spending has taken a dip. Groceries are pricier, and the cost of living keeps rising. The market has been choppy, and most retail stocks have reflected both.But not all of them. A few companies have spent the last year finding exactly the right product mix and format for a consumer who is both spending more carefully and shopping more frequently.Will AI create the world's first trillionaire? Our team just released a report on the one little-known company, called an &#34;Indispensable Monopoly&#34; providing the critical technology Nvidia and Intel both need. Continue »Here are three names that are actually working right now, and the case for why it's not just luck.<img src="https://imageproxy.pbkrs.com/https://g.foolcdn.com/image//query-dXJsPWh0dHBzOi8vZy5mb29sY2RuLmNvbS9lZGl0b3JpYWwvaW1hZ2VzLzg2NDk2OC9nZXR0eWltYWdlcy0xNDEwMTE2MTY3LmpwZyZ3PTcwMA?x-oss-process=image/auto-orient,1/interlace,1/resize,w_1440,h_1440/quality,q_95/format,jpg" width="700" height="466" original-src="https://imageproxy.pbkrs.com/https://g.foolcdn.com/image//query-dXJsPWh0dHBzOi8vZy5mb29sY2RuLmNvbS9lZGl0b3JpYWwvaW1hZ2VzLzg2NDk2OC9nZXR0eWltYWdlcy0xNDEwMTE2MTY3LmpwZyZ3PTcwMA"/>Image source: Getty Images. <h2>1. Ollie's Bargain Outlet is having the best year in its history</h2>I don't use the phrase &#34;best year in its history&#34; loosely. Ollie's Bargain Outlet (NASDAQ: OLLI) opened a record 86 stores in fiscal 2025. Net sales grew 16.6%. Comparable store sales grew. Its loyalty program (Ollie's Army) crossed 17 million members, up 12% year over year. And then Ollie's turned around and guided for another 75 store openings in fiscal 2026, with projected net sales approaching $3 billion. That's serious expansion from a company that still has enormous white space in the United States.The reason Ollie's works right now isn't complicated. It sells closeout merchandise, which consists of name-brand goods that manufacturers and retailers need to move, at prices up to 70% below traditional retail. When tariffs disrupt supply chains and force businesses to liquidate excess inventory, that's more merchandise flowing into Ollie's buying channel, not less.The company's CEO has said publicly that the closure of Bargain Hunt and Big Lots' dramatic store count reduction are direct tailwinds. Competitors are disappearing while Ollie's is accelerating. The risk with Ollie's is execution at scale. Opening 75-plus stores a year is a significant challenge in logistics and hiring. And Ollie's is not a cheap stock relative to its earnings. But the unit economics are strong, the model is clearly working, and the macro environment is sending more customers its way.<h2>2. National Vision Holdings is on a 12-quarter win streak</h2>National Vision Holdings (NASDAQ: EYE) runs more than 1,200 optical retail stores across 38 states. It isn't glamorous. But the company has now posted 12 consecutive quarters of positive comparable store sales growth, and fiscal 2025 was its strongest year in recent memory. Revenue grew 9%, adjusted operating income surged 56%, and the company's margins expanded meaningfully. What changed? Management shifted its focus toward higher-value, luxury customer segments. These are people with managed care vision insurance, progressive lens users, and external prescription holders. These are customers who visit more frequently, spend more per visit, and are less price-sensitive than the chain's traditional base.The company also introduced smart eyewear -- specifically, Ray-Ban Meta glasses -- and reported that the rollout exceeded expectations. Vision is a healthcare adjacent category that doesn't go away in recessions. People still need to see.National Vision is guiding for $2.03 billion to $2.09 billion in revenue for fiscal 2026, with further margin expansion. That's a company in the middle of a genuine operational transformation, not just riding a favorable quarter. <h2>3. Grocery Outlet is resetting -- it's good for long-term buyers</h2>Grocery Outlet (NASDAQ: GO) is the complicated one on this list. Sort of on the flipside of Ollie's, the company closed 36 underperforming stores in early 2026, acknowledged it expanded too fast, and its CEO used the word &#34;unacceptable&#34; about fourth-quarter results. The stock has fallen dramatically from its highs. But here's what I think is being missed: Grocery Outlet's model, opportunistic purchasing of surplus and excess food inventory, becomes more, not less, attractive in a tariff and supply chain disruption environment. The company grew full-year net sales 7.3% and opened 42 net new stores in 2025. It's now pruning the underperformers and reallocating resources. This is not a buy-the-recovery-story for everyone. The execution risk is real and the CEO has earned some skepticism. But for an investor with patience and tolerance for near-term noise, Grocery Outlet's core model is sound, and the reset may prove to be the best thing that ever happened to this company.<h2>Should you buy stock in Ollie's Bargain Outlet right now?</h2> Before you buy stock in Ollie's Bargain Outlet, consider this: The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the 10 best stocks for investors to buy now… and Ollie's Bargain Outlet wasn’t one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years. Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $581,304!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $1,215,992!* Now, it’s worth noting Stock Advisor’s total average return is 1,016% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 197% for the S&amp;P 500. Don't miss the latest top 10 list, available with Stock Advisor, and join an investing community built by individual investors for individual investors. See the 10 stocks » *Stock Advisor returns as of April 18, 2026. Micah Zimmerman has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool recommends Ollie's Bargain Outlet. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc. </div></div>

OLLI

Three retail stocks are thriving despite market struggles: Ollie's Bargain Outlet, National Vision Holdings, and Grocery Outlet. Ollie's has had a record year with significant store openings and sales growth, benefiting from a unique product mix. National Vision has seen 12 consecutive quarters of growth by targeting higher-value customers and expanding its product offerings. Grocery Outlet is undergoing a reset after closing underperforming stores but remains attractive due to its opportunistic purchasing model. These companies are adapting to changing consumer behaviors and market conditions, presenting potential investment opportunities.

3 Retail Stocks That Are Thriving While the Rest of the Market Struggles