It’s been a wild ride for Big Lots in recent years. The retailer first announced “an accelerated number of closures” in late 2022, shuttering roughly 50 locations by the end of the following year. This past September, the company filed for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy and shared plans to enter into a sale agreement with Nexus Capital Management LP. Things were briefly looking up when just last week, Big Lots said that it would keep open 15 stores that were previously slated to close.
But now it looks like the Big Lots roller coaster has gone down another steep drop. In a Dec. 19 press release, the company shared that Nexus Capital’s asset purchase fell through, and it would, therefore, commence going-out-of-business sales at all of its roughly 900 remaining locations.
RELATED: Big Lots Is No Longer Closing 15 Stores—Here’s Why and Where.
Big Lots is “preparing to commence going-out-of-business sales at remaining stores.”
In the press release, the company said that “it does not anticipate completing its previously announced asset purchase agreement with Nexus Capital Management.”
Big Lots did not explain why the deal fell through, but according to Fast Company, “Bloombergreports that a valuation appraisal of Big Lots’s inventory came in below expectations, which made it economically unviable for Nexus Capital Management to proceed with the sale.”
Therefore, in the coming days, the discount retailer will commence going-out-of-business sales (GOB) at all remaining stores “to protect the value of its estate.”
On their website, Big Lots says, “% off sales in closing stores will vary by product and/or product category. Refer to in-store signing or ask a sales associate for pricing details.”
ABC affiliate WCPO Cincinnati recently shared that local Big Lots liquidation sales saw discounts of 10 or 20 percent. “It takes several weeks for prices to drop to deep discount levels, but by then most of the best items are gone,” they reported. At this time, you may see discounts between 30 and 50 percent.
Also, on its website, Big Lots states, “When a closing store will permanently close is based on available remaining inventory. We are unable to provide an exact date of a store’s closure.”
But Big Lots has a glimmer of hope.
However, Big Lots is remaining somewhat optimistic about its future. In fact, the company said it “continues to work toward completing an alternative going concern transaction with Nexus or another party,” which it hopes to complete by early January, according to the press release.
“We all have worked extremely hard and have taken every step to complete a going concern sale. 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,” said Big Lots president and CEO Bruce Thorn.
But there is much work to be done. As Fast Company notes, “As of yesterday’s [stock] market close, [Big Lots’] shares were trading at 8 cents per share, representing a year-to-date decline of nearly 99%.”
Best Life has reached out to Big Lots for comments on the announcement and will update this story with their response.