The Big Lots retailer is preparing to shut down all its stores after filing for bankruptcy and closing over 400 stores this year.
Officials with the company said Thursday that a sale to a private equity firm failed, and as a result the stores will hold “going out of business” sales, WNEP reported.
“In a press release, the company said a previously announced sale of its assets to Nexus Capital Management had failed, but that they still hoped to either revive the deal with Nexus or have another buyer by early January,” the report noted.
Big Lots filed for bankruptcy in September, joining several other companies across the United States, per Breitbart News.
The WNEP report continued:
“We all have worked extremely hard and have taken every step to complete a going concern sale,” said Bruce Thorn, Big Lots’ President and Chief Executive Officer, in a statement. “While we remain hopeful that we can close an alternative going concern transaction, in order to protect the value of the Big Lots estate, we have made the difficult decision to begin the (going out of business) process.”
Big Lots, which mostly sells furniture, home decor and some other items, previously said high inflation and interest rates have hurt its business as consumers have pulled back on their home and seasonal product purchases, two categories the chain depends on for a significant part of its revenue.
The Big Lots website features a page that reads “When will my store close permanently?”
“When a closing store will permanently close is based on available remaining inventory. We are unable to provide an exact date of a stores [sic] closure,” the site stated.
In July, Big Lots told financial regulators the company’s major losses over the past two years raised “substantial doubt about the company’s ability to continue,” according to Breitbart News.
“Big Lots’ floundering comes as other well-known discount stores suffer financial hardship, including Dollar Tree, Family Dollar, and 99 Cents Only stores — the latter of which announced the closure of all 371 locations in April,” the report said.
