Big Lots CEO David Campis address staff during the Big Lots Store Opening,on Friday, Oct. 17, 2014 in North Bergen, N.J. The company had wanted to sell itself to private equity firm Nexus Capital Management, but that deal is no longer expected to proceed, according to Big Lots.
Although the company continues to negotiate with Nexus as well as explore other strategic alternatives, it now plans to shutter all of its locations and is planning to host “going out of business” sales at all stores. Big Lots, based in Columbus, Ohio, operates more than 900 locations across the U.S. In our area, it has a store and distribution center in Montgomery, plus stores in Andalusia and Auburn.
“We all have worked extremely hard and have taken every step to complete a going concern sale,” Big Lots CEO Bruce Thorn said in a statement. “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 process.”
Big Lots filed for bankruptcy protection in September, saying it intended to sell its business to Nexus. In August, Big Lots announced its intention close up to 315 stores, and in October disclosed plans to shut down another 56 locations in 27 states.