‘One of my favorites,’ cry shoppers as Big Lots set to close 40 branches – customers say issue made stores ‘ghost town’

A MAJOR home goods retailer has announced that dozens of stores will close later this year.

Big Lots , a retail chain with over 1400 stores nationwide, will close around 40 stores in 2024.

Getty

Getty

The company reported a net loss of over $205 million last year, Fox affiliate WFXT reported.

Big Lots CEO Bruce Thorn blamed the loss on “a continued pullback in consumer spending by our core customers, particularly in high-ticket, discretional items.”

These significant losses led the company to announce the expected closings of 35-40 stores.

“In 2024, we currently expect to open three stores and close 35 to 40,” Big Lots wrote in a Securities and Exchange Commission filing.

Although many customers seemed upset by the news, some weren’t surprised.

“The Dennis one is like a ghost town,” one shopper wrote under a Facebook post of the announcement.

“Not due to people but due to lack of inventory.”

Others noted the general cleanliness of the Big Lots near them.

“Maybe if they cleaned once in a while,” another customer noted.

Many also blamed the store’s closings on bigger businesses like Amazon, Walmart , and Target.

“People buy more online,” one shopper commented.

“Brick and mortar stores will be a thing of the past. That’s why Amazon is so powerful.”

“I live on a quiet dead-end street in New Hampshire, and that Amazon truck is delivering all day, every day, and UPS and FedEx, too.”

Some shoppers feared that these closures were just a part of a bigger problem.

“Sears, Kmart, Christmas tree, Bed and Bath, Bob’s stores, and now Big Lots,” one Facebook user posted.

“Jobs that are gone forever.”

Big Lots rise to popularity

The company was founded in 1967 and now has over 1400 stores nationwide.

Sol Shenk founded the home goods retailer in 1967, and began operating the company as Consolidated International in 1970, according to the Big Lots website.

Consolidated launched the Odd Lots/Big Lots chain in 1982 and gradually began doing business as Big Lots, Odd Lots, Mac Frugal’s Bargains Closeouts, and Pic ‘N’ Save.

In 2001, all of the brand names consolidated into one: Big Lots.

Today, the chain operates hundreds of stores nationwide.

“From our closeout store roots to our entrance into discount retailing, our core purpose of helping people save money on all kinds of products has stayed the same,” the store wrote on its website.

The mass closure of retail stores has been dubbed the ‘retail apocalypse.’

In 2024, over 3000 retail stores are expected to close.

Last year, over 4000 retailers closed stores, a number almost double the amount from the previous year, the National Retail Federation reported.

Major retailers such as Bed, Bath and Beyond have filed for bankruptcy within the past year.

Stores known for discounted prices, like Dollar Tree, are raising prices to keep up with growing inflation costs.

“This year, across 3,000 stores, we expect to expand our multi-price assortment by over 300 items at price points ranging from $1.50 to $7,” the company’s CEO, Rick Dreiling, said during an earnings call .

The last time the discount chain announced a price hike was in 2021 when prices on select items went from $1 to $1.25.