Discount retailer Big Lots has substantially expanded the list of stores it may close, doubling it to just over 300 locations as it continues to slash its fleet to cut costs.
The struggling Columbus, Ohio-based company in a recent regulatory filing said it had amended one of its credit facilities to permit it to close as many as 315 stores, up from 150.
Big Lots had a chain of just under 1,400 locations, but it's unclear how many are open now after the company began shutting stores in June. That month, the retailer reported in a securities filing that it planned to shut 35 to 40 stores this year. Big Lots, a chain with nearly 1,400 stores, in that filing also warned that it was in danger of being forced to cease operations due to mounting losses and declining sales.
By July, the Big Lots website identified about 140 stores that it planned to close. With last Friday's regulatory filing, that number has jumped up.
“All this reflects that Big Lots is working hard to close underperforming stores," Bill Read, executive vice president at Retail Specialists, told CoStar News in an email on Tuesday. "Filing Chapter 11 is still on the table, but these store closings are a first step to stop the bleeding. Big Lots can’t save themselves by merely closing stores, but it does help in the short term to focus on the stores that are not losing money."
Big Lots didn't respond to an email from CoStar News seeking comment. But Read has compiled a list of the locations of 291 Big Lots slated to be shut.
Retail landlord Brixmor Property Group last week said it was quickly finding new tenants to fill vacant or closing Big Lots stores.
"We signed leases with the likes of Aldi and Sprouts and Ross [Dress for Less] here on recently recaptured Big Lots spaces," Brixmor President Brian Finnegan said on a second-quarter earnings call. "We did have four stores that were on the initial closure list. Two of those are already leased, one with a great fitness use and one with a great off-price operator."
Big Lots acquires and sells at bargain prices closeout items such as furniture, beverages and groceries, specialty foods, candy, snacks, health, beauty and cosmetics, apparel, bedding, small appliances, electronics, home decor, lawn and garden supplies, and seasonal goods.