Discount chain Bargain Hunt is slated to liquidate and close all its 92 stores by the end of the month as it becomes the latest U.S. retailer to file for Chapter 11 protection this year.
Bargain Hunt, based in the Nashville, Tennessee, area, has brick-and-mortar locations in Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Indiana, Kentucky, Mississippi, North Carolina, Ohio, South Carolina and Tennessee. It has kicked off going-out-of-business sales, being managed by Hilco Consumer–Retail in a joint venture with Gordon Brothers, at all its stores across the 10 states.
The retailer, after seeking bankruptcy protection earlier this month, is now on the expanding list of companies that have either filed for Chapter 11 in 2025 or are closing stores this year. That group includes Liberated Brands, Joann, Party City and Macy's. Like other troubled retailers, in court filings Bargain Hunt in part blamed its financial troubles on heightened competition and economic headwinds such as high interest rates. But Bargain Hunt had another woe to contend with: the termination of a deal it had with Amazon.
Bargain Hunt described itself as an "extreme value retail chain" where customers could buy name-brand merchandise 30% to 90% below normal retail prices — goods that the company obtained though closeouts, buyouts and overstocks and returns. The company's other "more profitable business" was "reverse logistics wholesale," Chief Restructuring Officer Rob Hubbard said in an affidavit.
"Amazon.com was the company’s largest supplier, providing customer returns for the company for its wholesale business," he said. But the e-commerce behemoth ended that "relationship, functionally terminating" Bargain Hunt's wholesale business, according to Hubbard.
The company hasn't been profitable in recent years, he said. For the fiscal year ended Jan. 28, 2023, the company posted a net loss of about $25.4 million. The next fiscal year, ended Feb. 4, 2024, brought a net loss of $21.8 million. For the 10 months ended Nov. 30, Bargain Hunt had a net loss of roughly $19 million, according to Hubbard.
In similar Chapter 11 filings and liquidations, store leases have been auctioned off as part of the bankruptcy process.
As for the going-out-of-business sales, in a statement Ian Fredericks, CEO of Hilco Consumer–Retail, said, "Stores are stocked, and new merchandise continues to arrive at deeply discounted prices."
The available items include apparel and shoes for men and women, toys, lawn and garden equipment, automotive goods, pet merchandise, and home decor.