Retail News: Big Lot’s new owner doesn’t seem interested in Houston

This Big Lots, once saved from liquidation, is finally meeting its end.

The past few months have been a wild ride for anyone following along as Big Lots’ bankruptcy has dragged on. The first signs of major trouble came in 2023 when Big Lots began shutting down locations around Houston. By September of 2024, the company announced they were filing for Bankruptcy with plans to sell to Nexus Capital. While this was not a best-case scenario for the ailing discount retailer, it did seem like it would offer a potential lease on life for Big Lots. Over the following few months, stores would close, and three waves hit Houston. The sale to Nexus looked so promising that new marketing began, and a few locations were taken off closing lists, including one in Houston. However, by the end of December, the plan had unraveled, and Nexus Capital backed out of the deal. This left Big Lots scrambling to find a path to the future, and a few weeks later, it came forward. Big Lots announced earlier this month that it intends to split up the remains of the company between Gordon Brothers, who will liquidate some of the chain and pass the rest to Variety Wholesalers Inc. Variety Wholesalers, which operates a handful of discount operations, including Roses plans to retain between 200-400 locations, and as of now, it looks like none are in the Houston area. Of the 78 remaining stores in Texas, the leases of 72 are currently up for sale. The remaining six locations are Gainesville, Midland, Odessa, Orange, Temple, and Tyler. While Variety Wholesalers has yet to state which stores they plan to keep, these six are likely contenders for the Lone Star State. With such a small presence, there’s a possibility of a rebrand in the plans.

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