Dec. 19 (UPI) — Discount retail chain Big Lots, which had been attempting to keep some of its stores open while closing others, announced on Thursday that it is now closing all of its stores.
The bankrupt retailer is planning to close all 900 of its stores and sell off its inventory, the company said.
A deal for Columbus, Ohio-based Big Lots to sell its assets to private equity firm Nexus Capital Management fell through, the company said. And while it continues to look for alternatives, it now plans to close all of its locations and is planning “going out of business” sales at all of them.
“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 close all stores.
Big Lots , often the anchor store in low-end strip malls, sells furniture, lawn and garden, apparel, health and beauty, and other consumer goods.