In October, we reported that the Big Lots at 20926 Frederick Rd in the Milestone Shopping Center, Germantown, would be permanently closing. It now appears that the Montgomery Village Center location, along with the chain’s remaining 900+ stores, will also close.
On Thursday, Big Lots announced it is unlikely to complete its asset purchase agreement with Nexus Capital Management but is pursuing an alternative going concern sale by early January. The company said it plans to begin going-out-of-business sales at all locations to preserve its estate’s value, while continuing to serve customers and explore potential transactions.
Per Big Lots: “Big Lots, Inc. (the “Company”) today announced that it does not anticipate completing its previously announced asset purchase agreement with Nexus Capital Management, though it continues to work toward completing an alternative going concern transaction with Nexus or another party. The Company’s goal would be to complete a sale by early January.
In parallel with these efforts, the Company is preparing to commence going out of business (“GOB”) sales at all remaining Big Lots store locations in the coming days to protect the value of its estate. The Company believes that the GOB sales will not preclude it from effectuating a going concern transaction.
Bruce Thorn, Big Lots’ President and Chief Executive Officer, said, “We all have worked extremely hard and have taken every step to complete a going concern sale. 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 GOB process.”
The Company is continuing to serve customers in-store and online, and will provide updates as available.
Court filings and other information related to the proceedings, including how to file a proof of claim, are available on a separate website administrated by the Company’s claims agent, Kroll Restructuring Administration LLC, at https://cases.ra.kroll.com/biglots, by calling toll-free at (844) 217-1398 (or +1 (646) 809-2073 for calls originating outside of the U.S. or Canada), or by sending an email to [email protected].”