CHICAGO (Reuters) - Retailer Big Lots Inc (BIG.N: Quote, Profile, Research), which specializes in the sale of excess inventory, raised its quarterly sales forecast on Tuesday, helped by large close-out deals with a major furniture manufacturer and a drugstore chain.

The company said it now expects sales at stores open at least a year to be up in the "low- to mid- 3 percent range" in the fiscal first quarter ending May 3. It had previously forecast a r