UPDATE
Dec 28, 2024 1:30 PM CST
Big Lots doesn't expect all of its stores to close after all. The retailer said Friday that it has struck an agreement with Gordon Brothers Retail Partners to keep 200 to 400 of its stores open, saving thousands of jobs, the Wall Street Journal reports. Under the terms, the chain would transfer assets to other retailers and companies. Variety Wholesalers also would end up with up to two distribution centers, and the company said some Big Lots employees at stores, distribution centers, and corporate could keep their jobs, per CNN. Variety plans to use the Big Lots brand. The deal requires the approval of a bankruptcy judge, per Yahoo Finance.
Dec 20, 2024 12:09 PM CST
More than 300 Big Lots stores closed this year, and the discount retailer is preparing to close the remaining 963. The company says it is preparing to hold "going out of business" sale at its surviving locations after a deal to sell its assets to private equity firm Nexus Capital Management didn't work out, CNN reports. The chain, which sells furniture and home decor and employed around 30,000 people before the first wave of closures, announced the Nexus deal when it filed for bankruptcy in September. Big Lots blamed factors including inflation and high interest rates for the bankruptcy.
The chain said it is still hopeful that it can reach an alternative deal with Nexus or another company in the weeks ahead, Fox Business reports. "We all have worked extremely hard and have taken every step to complete a going concern sale," Big Lots CEO Bruce Thorn said in a statement. He said that while the company believes it still "can close an alternative going concern transaction," they have "made the difficult decision" to begin the going out of business process "in order to protect the value of the Big Lots estate." (More Big Lots stories.)
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