Discount-store chain in bankruptcy closes Boise-area store but says another will be saved
Big Lots, a well-known discount retailer struggling with weakening sales and mounting losses, has inked a deal that it says will save hundreds of its stores from going out of business, including one in Meridian.
The company said in a news release that it signed a sale agreement with Gordon Brothers Retail Partners, a Boston investment firm that helps businesses liquidate or restructure, to save some Big Lots stores. The deal will enable Variety Wholesalers to acquire between 200 and 400 stores and up to two distribution centers, Big Lots said.
Variety Wholesalers plans to continue operating the stores under the Big Lots brand.
Big Lots, which filed for bankruptcy protection in September, announced the deal in late December after a previous deal to sell itself in its entirety to Nexus Capital Management, a private equity firm, fell apart.
Big Lots had 1,392 stores at the end of its 2023 fiscal year, when it lost nearly half a billion dollars as yearly sales fell to $4.7 billion. The Columbus, Ohio, company was preparing shortly before Christmas to hold going-out-of-business sales and to close all remaining stores after the Nexus deal collapsed.
Variety Wholesalers is a North Carolina-based retailer that operates over 370 stores in the Southeast and Mid-Atlantic, according to Indeed.
Idaho was among a handful of states that were initially slated to see no store closures, USA Today reported in October. But court filings later showed that just one store in the state would close: the Big Lots at the southeast corner of State and Glenwood streets in Garden City.
That now-closed store, like other Big Lots stores, sold furniture, mattresses, home decor, groceries and other wares.
The Meridian store at 100 E. Fairview Ave. remains open, as do stores in Lewiston, Coeur d’Alene and Idaho Falls, according to the company’s store locator. Those stores will be taken over by Variety Wholesalers.
Big Lots said in the news release that Variety Wholesalers may employ its existing employees at the acquired stores and distribution centers, as well as some corporate workers.
“We are pleased to close this strategic transaction, which provides a framework to preserve thousands of jobs, maximize value and maintain the Big Lots brand,” Bruce Thorn, the president and CEO of Big Lots, said in the release. “We are working closely with the Gordon Brothers and Variety Wholesalers teams on this transition.”
This story was originally published January 9, 2025 at 4:00 AM.
