Business & Tech
Big Lots Closing Dozens Of Stores; VA Could Lose Locations
Discount retailer Big Lots is shuttering some stores and is indicating it might go out of business. Here's what to know in Virginia.
VIRGINIA — Discount retailer Big Lots plan to close as many as 40 of its 1,392 stores nationwide and warned in a regulatory filing that it has "substantial doubts" it can continue as a functioning business.
In a Tuesday filing with the federal Securities and Exchange Commission, the Ohio-based company also stated that there is a "significant likelihood" that it will not be able to meet the terms of a credit agreement. Big Lots during last month reported a net loss of $205 million for the first quarter of fiscal 2024.
In the filing, Big Lots did not identify the stores to be closed or when they will be shuttered. The chain has 42 Virginia locations.
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"We missed our sales goals due largely to a continued pullback in consumer spending by our core customers, particularly in high ticket discretionary items,” Big Lots President and CEO Bruce Thorn said in a statement at the time.
Founded in 1967, the company operated in its infancy as Consolidated International and operated closeout and discount stores under a variety of names. In 2001, the various store names and company were converted to the single national Big Lots brand.
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Big Lots employs 35,000 staff members, according to its website.
In Virginia, the retailer has locations in:
- Charlottesville
- Chesapeake
- Chester
- Christiansburg
- Culpeper
- Danville
- Fredericksburg
- Front Royal
- Galax
- Gloucester
- Hampton
- Harrisonburg
- Henrico
- Lynchburg
- Madison Heights
- Manassas
- Martinsville
- Newport News
- Norfolk
- North Chesterfield
- North Prince George
- Richlands
- Richmond
- Roanoke
- Salem
- Sterling
- Suffolk
- Vinton
- Virginia Beach
- Waynesboro
- Williamsburg
- Winchester
- Wise
- Woodbridge
- Yorktown
If Big Lots files for bankruptcy, it will be the latest national restaurant and retail chain to have done so since the pandemic, including Red Lobster, Rite Aid, Bed Bath & Beyond and Christmas Tree Shop, USA Today reported.
Other retailers have announced rounds of location closures to cut "underperforming" locations. Hooters, Walgreens, Sears, Kmart, J.C. Penny and Disney Stores are among those that have closed stores across the nation since 2020.
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