Beleaguered discount furniture and home decor retailer Big Lots is going out of business.
The Columbus, Ohio-based chain plans to shutter its more than 900 locations on an unknown timeline after a court-supervised sale to private equity firm Nexus Capital Management fell through. Big Lots will still pursue a transaction with Nexus or another buyer, the company noted in a statement sent out Thursday, in hopes of securing a deal by early January.
“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 (going out of business) process,” Big Lots CEO Bruce Thorn said.
Going-concern is an accounting term for a business that has the resources to meet its financial obligations.
Big Lots filed for bankruptcy protection in September in conjunction with the ill-fated sale agreement. The self-styled “extreme bargain” retailer also warned of additional store closures, on top of a round in July that took down almost 300 stores, including the one in Moon.
At the time, Big Lots blamed some of its woes on rising interest rates and, in particular, high inflation, which caused its core customers to curb their “discretionary spending on home and seasonal product categories that represent a big portion of the company’s revenue.”
Big Lots brought in about $4.7 billion in revenue last fiscal year, its lowest haul in more than a decade.
Now, all of the more than 20 Big Lots stores in Southwestern Pennsylvania appear to be doomed.
The company has stores in Allegheny Township, Harrison, Hempfield, Monroeville, Penn Hills, Ross Township, Unity, North Versailles and West Mifflin, to name a few. Some are tucked in older, often withering shopping plazas, while others exist as standalone buildings.
The Big Lots website is advertising a sale of up to 50% at all locations.