
Casper’s Big Lots store to reportedly close by end of February
CASPER, Wyo. — Wyoming’s last remaining Big Lots store is still slated to close even after the beleaguered discount retailer made a deal to sell its assets in hopes of saving some locations.
A store associate confirmed that Casper’s store at 2142 E. 12th St. will close by the end of February. The store’s lease has been listed for sale along with hundreds of other locations by Gordon Brothers, which earlier agreed to buy Big Lots’ assets in hopes of keeping between 200 and 400 stores open.
Numerous emails to Big Lots’ media contact for comment have gone unanswered.
According to business publication Fast Company, the Gordon Brothers deal would have transferred at least 200 stores to North Carolina–based Variety Wholesalers, which operates other discount brands such as Roses. Initially the plan was for the new owner to operate surviving stores under the Big Lots brand while potentially saving thousands of jobs.
However, the extensive list of lease sales leaves the future of Big Lots looking dim.
Big Lots initially filed for bankruptcy last September. At the time, it was operating some 1,300 stores across the country. Cheyenne’s store announced that it would close permanently last August as the retailer was struggling to cut costs.
In a news release last July, Big Lots pinned its struggles on inflation. However, analysts who talked with industry publication Modern Retail said the company’s strategies — such as focusing more on furniture when that segment suffered declines — likely played a larger part.
“Big Lots isn’t expensive per se, but when you look at a lot of the things it sells, you can actually get very similar products, if not better products, cheaper at places like Walmart and Target,” managing director of GlobalData Retail told Modern Retail. Other similar discount retailers such as HomeGoods saw recent sales increases, they said.
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