Attention, Big Lots shoppers: Retailer reopens 70 more stores. Here’s where in KY
Big Lots stores across the country are continuing to reopen, including one in Kentucky.
The retailer’s Bowling Green location on Scottsville Road is the only store opening its doors in Kentucky Thursday.
A total of 78 locations in nine states, including Kentucky, Ohio and Tennessee, will resume operations June 5 as part of the retailer’s fourth round of reopening its stores following a recent filing for bankruptcy and coming under new ownership.
Last month, the retailer reopened Kentucky locations in Campbellsville, Hazard, London, Middlesboro and Somerset.
Also last month during its second wave of bringing stores back online, the retailer resumed operations at store locations in Danville, Elizabethtown, Glasgow and Richmond. In April, it reopened a store in Mount Sterling.
Big Lots filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy last fall, giving the company in financial distress the chance to find new owners or other avenues for stability.
At the time, the retailer said it filed for bankruptcy because it had been severely impacted by customers comparing prices and cutting their spending, especially on items the retailer specializes in, such as home and seasonal goods.
In 2023, the company said it had generated about $4.7 billion in operating revenue. But it began 2024 seeing its net sales fall by more than 10% to $1 billion, down $1.1 billion compared to the previous year, according to Retail Dive.
In December, the retail chain began closing some of its stores, including in Lexington, and planned closeout sales at others. That same month, it signed a deal allowing Variety Wholesalers to purchase somewhere between 200 and 400 Big Lots stores and some distribution centers.
“The connection with the communities we serve, and the positive customer feedback has been more than we could have imagined,” said Variety Wholesalers President and CEO Lisa Seigies in a news release announcing Thursday’s wave of store reopenings.
“This enthusiastic response reinforces our belief that taking Big Lots! back to the roots of what made it a huge success resonates with our customers. Providing great value will always be our mission.”
The 78 stores reopening Thursday brings the total number of reopened locations to 219.
A news release from the chain’s new owners says the success of multiple rounds of opening stores across the country has “spurred Variety Wholesalers to explore options for acquiring additional Big Lots! locations.”
.JPG)