Leases for 255 Big Lots stores are now on the block, with the troubled retailer's planned closings rising to over 500 locations.
Melville, New York-based A&G Real Estate Partners on Wednesday said it is accepting bids for the latest auction of Big Lots leases as part of the retailer's Chapter 11 restructuring and sale process. Those include 51 new-to-market leases, in addition to 204 previously marketed leases. A&G said it's offering leases in two groups, pending determination by the bankruptcy court of final bid deadlines in November and December.
Big Lots — a Columbus, Ohio-based home goods and furnishings off-price retailer — has been slashing its store fleet in advance of it potentially being purchased by private equity firm Nexus Capital Management as part of its Chapter 11 filing last month. The number of stores that Big Lots is shuttering is now up to 555 locations, according to Bill Read, an executive vice president at Retail Specialists. He has been tracking the store closings by monitoring Big Lots' court filings.
Big Lots didn't immediately respond to an email from CoStars New seeking comment
The company is part of steady stream of beleaguered retailers this year that have filed for bankruptcy, closed stores or done both as they reel from the aftermath of the pandemic and drops in consumer spending. In its initial bankruptcy documents, Big Lots said it then had 1,300 stores after some closings and planned to shutter hundreds more. The number keeps rising in subsequent filings.
Fleet optimization
As part of the court-supervised sale process, Big Lots had warned it would continue to review its brick-and-mortar footprint so it will be an attractive acquisition for stalking-horse buyer Nexus, based in Los Angeles. And A&G said the same Wednesday.
“As the company proceeds to facilitate the sale transaction, it will continue to assess its real estate portfolio, closing additional stores as needed to achieve its goals,” A&G co-president Andy Graiser said in a statement. “This process of portfolio-optimization is creating strong opportunities for retailers and landlords across the country. The availability of additional leases may be announced at a later date upon court approval.”
Nexus has secured $765 million in committed financing to support its proposed purchase of Big Lots out of bankruptcy, with the court designating it as the lead bidder late last week.
The 255 Big Lots leases now being auctioned are for spaces ranging in size from 16,321 to 54,610 square feet and span 41 states.
“Because of their larger formats, many of these desirable, strategically positioned locations are a strong fit for today’s expanding operators, including sports-entertainment tenants and larger food-and-beverage concepts that emphasize gaming areas and hangout spaces,” A&G co-president Emilio Amendola said in a statement.
Ollie's lands leases
A&G has already conducted several waves of Big Lots' lease auctions. In the second round, Burlington Stores and Ollie’s Bargain Outlet were the most active and successful bidders, according to Read.
Harrisburg, Pennsylvania-based Ollie's on Tuesday announced it was the winning bidder for eight former Big Lots store leases in the most recently completed auction, which are in addition to seven leases it successfully bid on prior to that. So the retailer has acquired a total of 15 former Big Lots store leases to date.
"These stores line up very well with Ollie's in terms of size of the stores, lease terms, customer demographics, and are located in communities in our existing trade areas," the chain's president, Eric van der Valk, said in a statement. "With the ongoing nature of the Big Lots store closure process, we will maintain a fluid store-opening program that optimizes productivity and pre-opening expenses between the recently acquired Big Lots locations and our existing real estate pipeline."
This year Ollie's is "on track to open 50 new stores, less two planned closures" and is "evaluating the impact of the acquired Big Lots leases on our future store openings and cadence for the first half of fiscal 2025," he said.
Available leases
The states where Big Lots leases are now on the block are:
- Alabama, four.
- Arizona, six.
- Arkansas, three.
- California, 21.
- Colorado, two.
- Connecticut, two.
- Delaware, one.
- Florida, 12.
- Georgia, eight.
- Idaho, three.
- Illinois, six.
- Indiana, 11.
- Iowa, three.
- Kansas, two.
- Kentucky, two.
- Louisiana, five.
- Maine, one.
- Maryland, six.
- Massachusetts, four.
- Michigan, seven.
- Mississippi, one.
- Missouri, six.
- Nebraska, two.
- Nevada, 10.
- New Hampshire, two.
- New Jersey, 12.
- New Mexico, three.
- New York, 10.
- North Carolina, four.
- Ohio, 12.
- Oklahoma, six.
- Oregon, two.
- Pennsylvania, seven.
- South Carolina, two.
- Tennessee, six.
- Texas, 46.
- Utah, two.
- Virginia, five.
- Washington, four.
- West Virginia, one.
- Wisconsin, three.