Big Lots May Close Up to 315 Stores

Discount retail chain Big Lots may close up to 315 stores under new credit and loan terms, according to an 8-K filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Friday. In a public SEC filing in June, the Ohio-based retailer, which has locations in 48 states, said it planned to close 35 to 40 stores amid falling sales and speculations that it may declare bankruptcy. The new planned closing number is more than 10 times that amount.

While Big Lots didn't release a full list of closing stores, the locations that are going out of business are displaying a “Closing This Location” banner at the top of their websites, and promotions for 20 percent off sales. The planned closures come as the total number of stores owned by the retailer has trended down in recent months, from 1,427 locations during the first quarter of last year to 1,392 outposts as of the same period this year.

Total Retail's Take: Why is Big Lots struggling? Like many other retailers, Big Lots has seen a drop in sales due to inflation, higher prices, and consumers cutting back on spending. Last month, the retailer reported that it lost $205 million for the first quarter of this year, according to an earnings release. “While we made substantial progress on improving our business operations in Q1, we missed our sales goals due largely to a continued pullback in consumer spending by our core customers, particularly in high ticket discretionary items,” Bruce Thorn, CEO and president of Big Lots, said at the time.

Big Lots also expected that its sales would continue to drop during the second quarter of this year relative to the same period last year, according to the SEC filing. “In 2024, the U.S. economy has continued to face macroeconomic challenges, including elevated inflation, which has adversely impacted the buying power of our customers,” the filing said.