Major Discount Retailer Announces Massive 'Going Out Of Business' Sale
This year has been a remarkably tough period for a decades-old bargain retailer. Shortly after declaring bankruptcy and closing a significant portion of its stores, the company is launching massive closeout sales and preparing to potentially go out of business.
Big Lots—a discount retailer that sells groceries, furniture, toys, and other household essentials—just announced "going out of business" (GOB) sales at all of its remaining stores. The development comes a couple of months after Big Lots filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, blaming high inflation, interest rates, and a pullback in consumer spending for its financial challenges.
It shuttered hundreds of locations and entered an agreement to sell its remaining assets to the investment firm Nexus Capital Management. But in a Dec. 19 update, Big Lots announced that its deal with Nexus had fallen through.
The company is trying to work out an alternative purchase agreement with Nexus or another company and aims to complete a sale by early January. In the meantime, Big Lots is kicking off GOB sales "to protect the value of its estate," according to a press release.
"We all have worked extremely hard and have taken every step to complete a going concern sale," CEO Bruce Thorn said in a statement. (In a going concern sale, the buyer is able to continue operating the business.)
He added: "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 GOB process."
The Big Lots sales are taking place both in person and online, with the website advertising discounts of up to 50% across the entire store. The company does not believe these sales will prevent it from finding a buyer, according to the press release.
Big Lots isn't the only major retailer whose financial situation became extremely precarious in 2024. Earlier this year, the regional discount chain 99 Cents Only Stores announced that it was closing all 371 of its stores across Arizona, California, Texas, and Nevada. It attributed the decision to persistent financial challenges like inflation and shifting customer demand.
"This was an extremely difficult decision and is not the outcome we expected or hoped to achieve," then-interim CEO Mike Simoncic said in a statement at the time. "We deeply appreciate the dedicated employees, customers, partners, and communities who have collectively supported 99 Cents Only Stores for decades."
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