Variety Wholesalers is looking to open a handful of Big Lots locations on Thursday in the first of “four waves of openings” it has planned for the discount retailer’s stores it bought.
The company detailed the plan late last week, saying the “first wave” will include nine stores across Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia.
Customers can expect “remodeled stores, a large selection of closeout deals and new merchandise categories” when those Big Lots locations restart operations Thursday, according to Variety Wholesalers.
Variety Wholesalers’ announcement about the upcoming reopenings comes three months after bankrupt Big Lots said its “sale agreement” with Gordon Brothers Retail Partners had closed.
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Big Lots, which entered bankruptcy in the fall, said in early January that its agreement with Gordon Brothers would allow Variety Wholesalers to “acquire between 200 and 400 Big Lots stores, which it plans to operate under the Big Lots brand, and up to two distribution centers.”
Variety Wholesalers wound up buying a total of 219 of the discount retailer’s locations, it said.
The company has three other waves of Big Lots launches in the pipeline, according to its release.
Roughly 55 stores are poised to open their doors in the next wave scheduled for May 1. The others that it bought will make their comeback “through early June” and ahead of a “grand opening celebration” in the fall, Variety Wholesalers said.
Variety Wholesalers CEO Lisa Seigies said in a statement the company was “thrilled to bring the Big Lots! Brand back to life by offering more deals than ever, lots of famous brands and a new apparel department for the entire family.”
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“We’re opening stores quickly so we can serve the community,” she said. “We know the stores won’t be perfect to start, but each week we’ll add more new products as we build toward the grand opening celebration in the fall.”
North Carolina, Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Ohio, Michigan, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, West Virginia and other states are set to see Big Lots stores open during Variety Wholesalers’ subsequent rounds of openings, according to the company.
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Big Lots, which has been around since the ‘60s, entered Chapter 11 bankruptcy in September to undergo a restructuring and facilitate a sale.
It said at that time it had been “adversely affected by recent macroeconomic factors such as high inflation and interest rates that are beyond its control” like other retailers, leading it to see a pullback in discretionary spending on home and seasonal products among its “core customers.”
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