Big Lots Stores Are Making A Comeback After Filing For Bankruptcy In 2024

Big Lots is back, big time. After a costly dance that included with a 2024 bankruptcy filing, store closures, and liquidation, Big Lots (or Big Lots!) stores are making a big comeback in 2025. Under new ownership by Variety Wholesalers, the deep-discount Big Lots chain will be opening nine new stores in six states, starting in April, with a master plan to open a whopping 219 new Big Lots stores in 2025.

The first of the newly revived Big Lots locations will open in Mount Sterling, Kentucky, Metairie, Louisiana, Pearl, Mississippi. Asheboro, North Carolina, Gallatin, Tennessee, and Roanoke, Virginia. Per an April 2025 press release shared on BusinessWire, the store openings are part of four planned waves of re-opened physical retail locations for Big Lots, with additional openings set for the eastern U.S. market in the coming months. 55 new Big Lots stores are set to reopen in May 2025, and 155 more throughout June 2025, with an official Grand Opening celebration set for Fall 2025.

Big Lots stores have long been known for selling a grab-bag variety of closeout goods for deeply discounted prices. The chain has existed in one form or another since 1967, when founder Sol Shenk started what would become known as Consolidated Stores Corporation in Columbus, Ohio. What began as a surplus store with a focus on auto parts became a billion-dollar enterprise, encompassing a network of 700 discount stores nationwide.

Consolidated Stores was the parent company of chains including Big Lots, Odd Lots, and Kay-Bee Toys. Then, in 2001, Consolidated Stores spent $27 million to rebrand all of its stores as Big Lots. The new millennium meant more expansion for Big Lots, with increased advertising budgets, the addition of furniture departments, and a line of standalone discounted-furniture stores. While bigger marketing budgets and pricier items proved successful throughout the early aughts, Big Lots faced growing decline.

With increasingly underperforming sales since 2021, and the weight of hundreds of millions of dollars of debt, Big Lots was unable to compete with better-performing stores like Home Goods, Target, and Walmart. In 2024, Big Lots filed for bankruptcy and closed hundreds of stores while laying off over 500 corporate staffers, and desperately searching for a buyer. After a low-valuation offer from a private equity firm fell through, Big Lots announced going-out-of-business sales. However, a purchase made by Gordon Brothers Retail Partners (the same stalking horse bidder for bankrupt Joann Fabrics), facilitated a 219-store acquisition by Variety Wholesalers.

The treasure-hunt style experience of Big Lots has always been part of the store's appeal. Customers may not always know what they'll get when strolling the fluorescent-lit aisles, but historically, Big Lots has provided extreme deals on everything from automotive tools to cosmetics to toys to home goods to everything you might need for a well-stocked, money-saving pantry.

While Big Lots' top brass blamed inflation and slower consumer spending for their decline in recent years, a big part of the brand's struggle may have actually been getting too big for its britches in terms of its higher-priced offerings. With that in mind, Big Lots' new owners, Variety Wholesalers — which also own Roses Discount Stores, Roses Express, and Maxway — know a thing or two about discounts. In fact, Variety Wholesalers has decided to re-prioritize the brand's closeout deals, while simultaneously offering customers newly remodeled stores. Value Wholesalers President and CEO, Lisa Seigies, said in a statement, "Every time a customer visits Big Lots! We want them to find something new and exciting!" In addition to bringing closeouts back to the bulk of Big Lots' offerings, new Big Lots stores will also add apparel and electronics lines for bargain shoppers.