(PRLEAP.COM) Columbus, OH — William G. Kelley, former Chairman, President and CEO of Consolidated Stores Corporation, now named Big Lots, Inc., wishes to return to the company that he once led. Since his departure in 2000, Big Lots’ stock price has significantly declined.

Earlier this year, Big Lots announced its search for a new CEO after both its Chairman/CEO and its Vice Chairman/Chief Administrative Officer resigned.

Although Kelley has repeatedly contacted members of Big Lots’ board of directors in an effort to be added to the prospective director list, the board has denied him the nomination. Kelley has since written a letter to Big Lots’ largest shareholders requesting that he be given a spot as a write-in candidate on the company’s proxy.

“I’ll continue to make myself available in any way that I can, because I firmly believe that my intimate experience with the company would be useful at this critical time” Kelley said. “Every single vote matters in my quest to earn a seat on this board.”

During the decade of his leadership from 1990 to 2000, Kelley helped build Big Lots into a Fortune 500 company that achieved significant sales and earnings growth. If elected to the board, Kelley would focus on helping Big Lots increase its shareholder value, improving its balance sheet and boosting its revenues/operating income.

Big Lots’ annual shareholder meeting is scheduled for May 17 at the company’s headquarters in Columbus.