MORRISVILLE – Big Lots announced last weekend it will be closing 293 stores.
In Vermont, the Morrisville and Essex Junction stores are slated to remain open while the Berlin and Rutland stores are expected to close.
New England is home to 18 of the stores to be closed in this latest announcement, but only the Berlin and Rutland stores are on the list of Vermont stores to be closed at an unspecified date.
A sale with discounts up to 20% off has been announced for the locations to be closed.
Big Lots joins a growing list of retailers at risk of bankruptcy. The Ohio-based retail chain said in a Securities and Exchange Commission filing that it may not be able to continue as a company in the wake of substantial losses and debt. A filing made by the company this summer showed sales had dropped 10.2% between the first quarter of 2023 and the same quarter this year, resulting in a roughly $114.5 million loss.
Big Lots has not declared bankruptcy, and will still have over 1,000 open locations after the planned closings.
Paul Fixx is editor of The Hardwick Gazette and lives in Hardwick.
