California is losing most of its stores
of ConsumerAffairs
Discount chain Big Lots has added more stores to the list of those it plans to close. After previously announcing 40 stores would close their doors, the number is now up to nearly 300.
The closings will reduce the companys national footprint by 21%. California will lose 75 of its 109 Big Lots stores.
On the other hand, Texas is losing none of its 116 stores. North Dakota, West Virginia, Rhode Island, Nebraska, New Mexico, Mississippi, Iowa and Idaho are the other states where no Big Lots stores will close, at least not in this round of cuts.
In a June filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Big Lots showed a loss of $205 million for the 13 weeks that ended May 4. The company also said it expects there will be even more operating losses and it cited "substantial doubt" about its ability to continue as a going concern.
Company CEO Bruce Thorn has said Big Lots has struggled with maintaining sales "due largely to a continued pullback in consumer spending by our core customers, particularly in high ticket discretionary items."
Substantial doubt about the future
The future may not be especially promising for Big Lots. The company has said that because of its worsening financial conditions, there is now Between net losses, use of cash in operating activities, cash and liquidity projections raise substantial doubt about the companys ability to continue.
Dollar stores, which share many of the same customers with Big Lots, have also struggled in recent months. Earlier this year Dollar Tree, the parent company of Family Dollar, announced it is closing 970 unprofitable stores.
In mid-March, Dollar General reported that in its fiscal fourth quarter, net sales decreased 3.4% to $9.9 billion. The fourth quarter operating profit plunged 37.9% to $579.7 million.
Photo Credit: Consumer Affairs News Department Images
Posted: 2024-08-05 12:42:21
