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Big Lots

Big Lots Stores, Inc. (stylized as Big Lots!) is an American discount retail chain, specializing in the sale of closeout and overstock merchandise. Founded in 1967 as Consolidated Stores, the chain is headquartered in Columbus, Ohio, and includes over 200 locations across the United States.[6]

Big Lots filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in October 2024, and later in December, the chain announced that it would cease operations, liquidate, and close all remaining stores. Liquidation sales began in December 2024[6] and all stores were expected to close in 2025.[7] On December 28, 2024, Big Lots reached an agreement with Gordon Brothers Retail Partners to transfer 200–400 stores and one or two distribution centers to Variety Wholesalers, with the remaining stores to be permanently closed.[8]

History

Early years

The first closeout store, Odd Lots, opened in 1982 in Columbus. Due to a naming conflict with Revco’s Odd Lot Trading Co., the company rebranded its stores outside of Ohio as Big & Small Lots, later consolidating all stores under the Big Lots name.[9][10][11][12]

Consolidated Stores was also an investor in the DeLorean Motor Company and took possession of unsold vehicles after the automaker’s 1982 bankruptcy.[13][14] The company went public in 1985 on the American Stock Exchange and switched to the New York Stock Exchange in 1986 under the symbol CNS.[15]

During the 1990s, Consolidated acquired Toy Liquidators (1994) and KB Toys (1996), which it later sold to Bain Capital in 2000.[16][17][18] In 1998, it purchased MacFrugals (Pic ‘N’ Save) for $995 million in stock.[19][11] The company was renamed Big Lots, Inc. in 2001, changing its ticker symbol to BLI, and later to BIG in 2006.[20][21][22] In 2005, it closed 170 stores, including all standalone furniture locations.[23]

Big Lots Wholesale

Big Lots operated a wholesale division for over 34 years through Big Lots Wholesale, Consolidated International, and Wisconsin Toy. The division, which sold merchandise in bulk, was closed at the end of fiscal year 2013.[24]

Big Lots Canada

In July 2011, Big Lots acquired Canadian closeout retailer Liquidation World Inc. for $20 million, marking its first expansion outside the United States. The first Canadian store opened in April 2013, with additional locations in Ontario. The company exited Canada in 2014 due to poor sales.[25]

Bankruptcy

Big Lots, formerly the largest close-out retailer in the United States, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in September 2024. The filing followed several years of declining sales, increasing debt, and unsuccessful efforts to revive the business. The case is cited as an example of how economic pressures, changes in consumer behavior, COVID-induced supply chain shortages, and strategic missteps can contribute to the collapse of a long-standing retail chain.[26][27][28]

Big Lots attributed its bankruptcy to persistent inflation and high interest rates, which it said had reduced spending by its core lower-income customers. However, court documents indicated that the company’s financial problems stemmed from a heavily leveraged balance sheet, including sale-leaseback agreements, rising logistics costs, and nine consecutive quarters of same-store sales declines.[26][27][28] The Chapter 11 filing enabled the company to secure $707.5 million in debtor-in-possession (DIP) financing and propose a stalking-horse sale to Nexus Capital.[26][27][29] After the deal fell through in December 2024, liquidation sales began at all 963 stores.[30][31][32]

One of the key factors contributing to Big Lots’ financial decline was a sustained drop in revenue. The company’s annual revenue fell from $6.19 billion in 2020 to $4.51 billion on a trailing twelve-month basis in 2024, a decline of 27.1%.[33] Comparable store sales decreased by 9.9% in the first quarter of 2024 and 8.6% in the fourth quarter of 2023, extending a streak of nine consecutive quarters of negative same-store sales.[34][35]

On January 1, 2025, a U.S. bankruptcy court approved a sale agreement allowing Gordon Brothers Retail Partners to sell between 200 and 400 Big Lots stores, as well as distribution centers and intellectual property, to Variety Wholesalers Inc. The decision, approved by Judge Kate Stickles, faced objections from several vendors. Companies such as Tempur Sealy and Serta Simmons argued that the deal prioritized repayment to lenders while leaving trade creditors with substantial losses. They also alleged that Big Lots accrued approximately $250 million in vendor debt after becoming aware it would be unable to fully repay its obligations.

On November 10, 2025, the former company, now doing business as Former BL Stores, Inc., converted their Chapter 11 case to a Chapter 7 bankruptcy liquidation.[36]

See also

External links

References

  1. Mike Abboud. Retail News: Big Lots closing Willowbrook store Houston Historic Retail, December 8, 2023, retrieved 10 November 2024^
  2. Leadership Biglots.com^
  3. All Big Lots Locations Big Lots^
  4. Big Lots Fortune, retrieved 2019-01-07^
  5. Annual Reports BigLots.com^
  6. Eric Schwartzberg. Store closing sales begin at all Big Lots Dayton Daily News, 2024-12-23^
  7. Nathan Bomey, Kelly Tyko. Big Lots store closings 2025: Retailer plans to close all stores Axios, 2024-12-20^
  8. Mike Snider. Not all Big Lots stores will close: Deal with Gordon Brothers keeps up to 400 open USA TODAY, 28 December 2024, retrieved 29 December 2024^
  9. REVCO BUILDING "CLOSE-OUT" MERCHANDISING BUSINESS WITH ODD LOT ACQUISITION FOR $113 MIL.; PURCHASE INCLUDES $78 MIL. WHSLE. BUSINESS The Pink Sheet, April 30, 1984, retrieved July 9, 2024^
  10. Leased thru June 30, 2027 Retail Investment Group, retrieved July 9, 2024^
  11. Trevor Jensen. Bigger Budget Backs Big Lots Rebranding Moves www.adweek.com, 2001-07-02, retrieved 2024-07-09^
  12. Big Lots: History Big Lots, retrieved 25 October 2014^
  13. John Holusha. Sol A. Shenk, 83, Merchandiser Who Built a 700-Store Empire The New York Times, 1994-09-01, retrieved 2024-07-09^
  14. Big Lots - Retail 2006-10-16, retrieved 2018-07-18^
  15. Securities Act Registrations SEC News Digest, May 24, 1985, retrieved July 9, 2024^
  16. Melville in Accord to Sell Toy Chain to Consolidated The New York Times, 1996-03-26, retrieved 2024-07-09^
  17. COMPANY NEWS; BAIN CAPITAL BUYS TOYS UNIT OF CONSOLIDATED STORES The New York Times, 2000-12-09, retrieved 2024-07-09^
  18. Nicole Maestri. Consolidated Stores sells KB Toys MarketWatch, December 8, 2000, retrieved July 9, 2024^
  19. de Vore Martin L. MacFrugal's get a new name Chron, July 2, 2002, retrieved July 9, 2024^
  20. COMPANY NEWS; CONSOLIDATED STORES CHANGES ITS NAME TO BIG LOTS The New York Times, 2001-05-17, retrieved 2024-07-09^
  21. L. A. Times Archives. Consolidated Stores to Be Called Big Lots Los Angeles Times, 2001-05-17, retrieved 2024-07-09^
  22. SEC 10k Filing 2006 Annual Report, 31 May 2007, retrieved 25 October 2014^
  23. Big Lots closing up to 170 stores Milwaukee Business Journal, October 7, 2005, retrieved 19 June 2017^
  24. Tim Feran. Big Lots to shut down wholesale division The Columbus Dispatch, 11 November 2013, retrieved 24 October 2014^
  25. Doug Buchanan. Big Lots getting back out of Canada Columbus Business First, 5 December 2013, retrieved 25 October 2014^
  26. Jordan Valinsky. Big Lots files for bankruptcy CNN, 2024-09-09, retrieved 2025-07-23^
  27. Big Lots files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, plans to sell assets to Nexus Capital AP News, 2024-09-09, retrieved 2025-07-23^
  28. Big Lots files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy www.retaildive.com, retrieved 2025-07-23^
  29. Big Lots chapter 11 filing, $707.5 million DIP financing and stalking horse APA www.davispolk.com, 2024-09-13, retrieved 2025-07-23^
  30. Jordan Valinsky. Big Lots will soon start 'going out of business' sales at its remaining locations CNN, 2024-12-20, retrieved 2025-07-23^
  31. Nathan Bomey, Kelly Tyko. Big Lots store closings 2025: Retailer plans to close all stores Axios, 2024-12-20, retrieved 2025-07-23^
  32. Big Lots to start going-out-of-business sales www.retaildive.com, retrieved 2025-07-23^
  33. Big Lots (BIG) - Revenue companiesmarketcap.com, retrieved 2025-07-23^
  34. Big Lots Reports Q1 Results www.nasdaq.com, 2024-06-06^
  35. Big Lots Reports Q4 and Full Year 2023 Results www.prnewswire.com, retrieved 2025-07-23^
  36. Former BL Stores, Inc. Case No. 24-11967 Kroll, September 9, 2024, retrieved November 29, 2025^