Big Lots plans to close about 300 locations nationwide
(Gray News) - The discount retailer Big Lots is closing up to 315 locations nationwide, it revealed in an updated Securities and Exchange Commission filing.
The stores currently targeted for closure are listed as closing on the company’s store finder. Each location that is closing has a 20% off banner on its respective store web page.
The closures include 75 of its 109 stores in California, Chain Store Age reported. Several of Florida’s 106 stores are also closing.
Big Lots is facing an existential crisis amid plunging sales.
Net sales decreased $114.5 million in the first quarter of 2024, or 10.2%, compared to the same time last year.
Big Lots said it “experienced decreased comps and net sales in all of our merchandise categories.”
The retailer also has an increasing long-term debt load, which jumped $72.2 million, from $501.6 million in the first quarter of 2023 to $573.8 million in the first quarter of 2024.
CEO Bruce Thorn, in comments about the first quarter 2024 results, blamed the company’s failure to meet its sales goals on “continued pullback in consumer spending by our core customers, particularly in high ticket discretionary items. We remain focused on managing through the current economic cycle by controlling the controllables.”
The Columbus, Ohio-based company operates more than 1,300 stores in 48 states, as well as an e-commerce store.
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