About 35 to 40 Big Lots store locations will be closed soon. This is due to the underperformance of these stores and the debt the company has gotten into since 2023.
Big Lots has 1,392 stores in 48 States in the US but according to the company, 244 stores are underperforming. It is suspected that the 35 to 40 stores to be closed will be from the company’s 244 stores which are tagged as “underperforming stores.”
Big Lots Stores
Big Lots is an American discount retail chain with its headquarters at Columbus, Ohio, United States. Big Lots was formerly known as Odd Lots and was formed in Ohio by Sol Shenk. The company has stores all over the US. Currently, Big Lots has 1,392 stores in 48 States. The State and territory with the highest number of Big Lots locations in the US is Texas with 116 stores. This is about 8% of all the Big Lots stores in the US.
Big Lots Store is a one-stop place for all; household essentials, groceries, sports and outdoor items, garden and patio accessories, beauty and personal care products, pet treats and food, kids and baby’s accessories
Although the company is facing issues with weak sales and debts, the retail stores are actively open for business at the moment, according to the CEO.
Why is Big Lots closing?
The CEO of Big Lots, Bruce Thorn blamed the company for its failure to meet its sales goals. In a comment, he said “continued pullback in consumer spending by our core customers, particularly in high ticket discretionary items. We remain focused on managing through the current economic cycle by controlling the controllables.”
The signs of Big Lots stores’ closure appeared clear as the company was flirting with bankruptcy in 2023. This led to the closure of 50 stores. The reason for this year’s closure is due to further debts and drops in sales.
Closure of Big Lots stores
While Big Lots has announced its plans to close 35 to 40 stores this year, the stores to be closed are yet to be disclosed by the company and all requests for more information have been declined.
In 2023, CreditRiskMonitor reported that Big Lots was nearing a potential Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing and the company closed a total of 50 stores the same year.
This year the challenge just got more fierce as Big Lots has been experiencing sales decrease in 2024. The net sales dropped by 10.2%, that is, $114.5 million compared to the same time last year. There has also been an increasing long-term debt loan from $501.6 million in the first quarter of 2023 to $573.8 million in the first quarter of 2024.
Big Lots storefronts are spread across Texas, California, Florida, Ohio, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, New York, Georgia, Tennessee, and Michigan.
