Big Lots store closures update: Gordon Brothers releases a new list of doomed locations with leases for sale

The employees of bankrupt retailer Big Lots have had to live with a lot of uncertainty ever since the company announced in mid-December that it was going out of business and closing all its stores.

Just over a week later, Big Lots announced that it had struck a deal with Gordon Brothers Retail Partners to transfer some Big Lots assets to Variety Wholesalers and other retailers. According to the announcement, that meant some Big Lots locations, between 200 and 400 stores, would stay open and operating, potentially saving thousands of jobs.

Unfortunately, there’s yet no word on which Big Lots locations will continue to operate, leaving many Big Lots workers uncertain about their future employment.

In mid-January, Gordon Brothers published a list of Big Lots leases that it was putting up for sale, suggesting that the stores on that list wouldn’t be among those saved. Now, Gordon Brothers has updated that list to include more stores, giving a little more insight into which locations are closed or going to close for good.

Phase 2 of Big Lots lease sales

A few weeks ago, Gordon Brothers published a list titled “New Market Locations Phase 1.” That list included hundreds of Big Lots locations with leases for sale. When a store’s lease is sold, the owner is looking for a buyer to move into the store’s location, freeing it from its rental obligations.

The list included locations in 47 states, with Florida, New York, and Texas among the states with the most leases for sale.

Now Gordon Brothers has released an updated list, titled “New Market Locations Phase 2.” The Phase 2 list includes many of the stores from the Phase 1 list but adds nearly 150 new locations, suggesting that these locations, too, will not be among the locations saved via the deal with Variety Wholesalers and other retailers.

Among the states with the most additional stores marked for sale of their leases include Kentucky, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Tennessee.

When will the saved Big Lots stores be revealed?

While the Phase 1 and Phase 2 lists give us a good indication that the stores on them will not be among those that are saved, many Big Lots employees and customers are anxiously awaiting information on which stores will pull through.

Unfortunately, we may not have a definitive list for some time yet. As Fast Company previously reported, in a January bankruptcy court filing, Big Lots revealed that all parties were “working expeditiously to determine which [locations] can drive additional value to the estates or comprise the group of continuing Big Lots stores. However, the parties understandably require additional time to complete this analysis.”

Big Lots asked the court to give it until April 7 to develop a list of stores that will continue to operate.