Big Lots Files for Bankruptcy: Will Stores Close? [Video]

Major discount chain Big Lots has announced it is filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

In a statement shared with PEOPLE, on Monday, Sept. 9, the retailer confirmed it has entered into an agreement with Nexus Capital Management in which the private equity firm “has agreed to acquire substantially all” of Big Lots’ “assets and ongoing business operations.” 

Big Lots said that the current economy coupled with customers’ changing spending habits were the driving force of its bankruptcy filing: “Like many other retail businesses, the Company has been adversely affected by recent macroeconomic factors such as high inflation and interest rates [to combat inflation] that are beyond its control.”

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“The prevailing economic trends have been particularly challenging to Big Lots, as its core customers curbed their …