Big Lots' Big Reopening Means One Thing For Shoppers

Big Lots is back in a big way, and the chain is celebrating with some serious discounts. In October 2025, Big Lots shoppers will see 10% off pricing for everything except prepaid gift cards. In the revamped stores, shoppers can get affordable deals on apparel, home décor, seasonal items, and health and beauty products. And of course, the closeout sale items and products from odd lots that made Big Lots popular in the first place will also be available.

The journey to this point has been rocky. In September 2024, Big Lots became one of the store chains on the hook for 2025 bankruptcy as Big Lots, Inc. began voluntary Chapter 11 proceedings. As part of this process, the company obtained financing commitments for $707.5 million to keep the chain operational as the discount retailer closed plenty of stores. After Nexus Capital Management backed out from purchasing the chain, Gordon Brothers Retail Partners, LLC bought Big Lots in January 2025 in a transaction that then allowed Variety Wholesalers to obtain 219 stores to continue to operate under the Big Lots brand name. In April 2025, Variety Wholesalers began to reopen stores, with the first wave including nine locations in Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia. Big Lots planned to continue opening dozens of stores the following month. Evidently, this process has been going well enough for the chain: It has over 200 stores back in action in time for its grand reopening celebrations.

Variety Wholesalers is focusing on Big Lots' comeback after filing for bankruptcy. In an interview with Modern Retail, the president and CEO of Variety Wholesalers, Lisa Seigies, shared that Big Lots stores will sell fewer pieces of furniture although it will continue to sell lamps, rugs, and other home accessories. Fewer won't mean none, though. If the chain can get a good deal on a larger piece of furniture, for example, it's still willing to purchase it and pass along discounts to shoppers. Big Lots will also add "brands for less," which will serve as the chain's mantra going forward. This means that shoppers may find brand name merchandise at competitive prices alongside other off-price items. 

Seigies also plans to return Big Lots to its roots in an important way by responding to a common piece of customer feedback. People would reminisce, she explained, about when they could go to Big Lots and find surprises in the merchandise for sale in different locations. Siegies compared this search to a "treasure hunt," and believes that's the kind of shopping the chain should embrace in this new era.