State College Big Lots will close after company files for bankruptcy. Here’s what we know
State College’s Big Lots store is expected to close as the company prepares hundreds of locations across the country to enter final phases of operation.
In a statement Thursday, Big Lots announced a planned sale to the private equity firm Nexus Capital Management fell through. The company plans to continue pursuing a sale and other alternative options but will move forward with “going out of business” sales at all stores.
“We all have worked extremely hard and have taken every step to complete a going concern sale,” Big Lots president and CEO Bruce Thorn wrote in a company statement. “While we remain hopeful that we can close an alternative going concern transaction, in order to protect the value of the Big Lots estate, we have made the difficult decision to begin the [going-out-of-business] process.”
For now, it remains unclear when exactly State College’s Big Lots store will start its liquidation sales or officially close its doors. A store manager declined to answer questions Friday morning regarding the store’s planned closure, including when it would shut its doors and how many employees could lose jobs.
Big Lots, headquartered in Columbus, Ohio, operates at least 960 stores throughout the U.S. Its State College location at 503 Benner Pike is one of 64 Big Lots stores in Pennsylvania. Other stores in the Centre County area are located in Altoona, Burnham and Clearfield.
In August, Big Lots announced its intention to close more than 300 stores and followed up in October with plans to close 56 more. The company filed for bankruptcy protection in September and blamed inflation, high interest rates and other economic factors for changing customer purchasing behaviors.
The discount retail chain can trace its history back to 1967, when it first began offering closeout deals on auto parts and vehicles. Growth and mergers in the 1970s and early 1980s produced the company that resembles the Big Lots of today, which offers discount pricing on furniture and a wide range of consumer goods.
State College’s Big Lots store is open from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Wednesday, from 9 am. to 9 p.m. Thursday through Saturday and from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. on Sundays, according to its automated phone line. The location’s website says it is open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Christmas Eve and closed entirely on Christmas Day.
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