Big Lots, which filed for bankruptcy in September, has reached an agreement to keep hundreds of its stores open.
The retailer on Friday announced a deal with Boston-based divestiture firm Gordon Brothers Retail Partners, resulting in the transfer of 200 to 400 Big Lots stores to Variety Wholesalers, Inc.
Diversified Wholesalers of Hendersonville, North Carolina has more than 400 stores in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeast. Among the chains it operates are Roses, Roses Express, Maxway, Bill’s Dollar Stores and Bargain Town.
Variety Wholesalers plans to operate the stores acquired in the deal under the Big Lots brand, and may hire existing Big Lots employees at the stores and one or two Big Lots distribution centers it plans to acquire, according to Press release from companies.
The deal includes the transfer of Big Lots’ assets, including stores, distribution centers and intellectual property, the companies said. The agreement is subject to bankruptcy court approval.
“The strategic sale of Gordon Brothers and conversion to Variety Wholesalers is a positive and significant accomplishment for Big Lots, and reflects the hard work and collective effort of our team,” Big Lots CEO Bruce Thorne said in a statement. “This sale and transfer agreement represents the strongest opportunity to preserve jobs, maximize property value and ensure the continuity of the Big Lots brand. We are grateful to our partners across the country for their tenacity and flexibility throughout this process.”
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Big Lots recently announced plans to close all of its stores after a potential sale to Nexus Capital Management fell through.
Before that, Big Lots was closing some stores while going through the bankruptcy process, announcing plans to close more than 340 stores. Company It had more than 1,300 stores across the United States as of March 2024.
Big Lots’ struggles come amid a challenging retail environment that led to The Container Store filing for bankruptcy protection less than a week ago and Party City also going out of business and filing for bankruptcy.
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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Department store closures: Gordon Brothers deal keeps up to 400 stores open
The post Deal with Gordon Brothers keeps up to 400 open first appeared on Investorempires.com.