Big Lots chain files for bankruptcy; closing 40 percent of stores

After putting “closing soon” banners on about 300 of its 1,389 stores this summer, retailer Big Lots has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.

The Ohio-based company said in a news release on Monday that it has focused on improving sales and profitability since the COVID-19 pandemic. The company said it has been hit by circumstances “beyond its control," like inflation and high interest rates, and have made it difficult for the company to carry on business as usual.

That prompted speculation that Big Lots would file for bankruptcy, especially when the company postponed its second-quarter earnings call from September 6 to this Thursday.

On Monday, Big Lots announced plans to sell assets and business operations to the private equity firm Nexus Capital Management.

Big Lots also laid out plans to close 250 additional stores by mid-January on top of the original 300 stores already on track to close. These stores have had banners across their web pages since early August that read “closing this location.” No additional stores have had such banners added to their sites as of Monday morning. 

The only stores in Kentucky announced in July and August as closing so far are in Henderson, Lexington and Louisville. In Tennessee, the Union City store is on the current closure list.

Closing roughly 550 stores would be a 40 percent reduction of Big Lots' retail locations.