The large yellow “CLOSING” sign that hung at the entrance to the Big Lots store in the Statesboro Square Shopping Center came down more than a month ago after all stock was cleared out and the store went dark. But, last week, several new, smaller signs went up announcing the store would reopen on June 5.
While there has been no formal announcement the store would reopen, a bankruptcy filing in February indicated the lease for the store off Northside Drive was one of 219 Big Lots transferred to Variety Wholesalers.
In the February filing, the Big Lots next to Ocean Galley restaurant was among 13 Georgia stores listed to be transferred to Variety. Big Lots has been open in Statesboro Square for more than two decades.
And now, in fact, the store will hold a “Hiring Event” 8 a.m.-5 p.m. on Monday at the store to begin restaffing for the reopening in six weeks. A sign posted at the store said they are looking for people to work 20-40 hours per week in positions ranging from management to service associates to cashiers and stocking.
The discount chain filed for bankruptcy protection in September 2024 and announced just before Christmas it would hold “going-out-of-business” sales at its remaining stores. At that time, there were 869 Big Lots stores operating around the nation.
After that announcement, the Statesboro store took down its holiday season sale signs and a “CLOSING” sign was posted at the entrance, along with additional store closing and discount signs. The closing sign remained up until all inventory was sold or removed and the doors were locked, seemingly for good, in March.
Variety, which owns more than 400 discount stores in the U.S. Southeast and Mid-Atlantic regions, had acquired 219 Big Lots stores in January and announced they would reopen and operate them under the Big Lots brand. No timetable, however, was given for the reopenings, or which stores would reopen.
Nine Big Lots stores in six states reopened April 10 and another 55 are scheduled to reopen May 1. The Statesboro store will be part of a large wave of Big Lots to reopen June 5, with the rest to open at intervals over the summer.
Along with Statesboro, the Big Lots store lease in Vidalia was transferred to Variety, which also is expected to reopen June 5. The 219 stores on the transfer list are spread across 15 states, with the most, 46, in North Carolina, and one each in Louisiana and Indiana.
The leases on the other 687 Big Lots stores in 47 states were listed for sale. So far, the Ollie’s Bargain Outlet chain has purchased 63 of the stores and has announced plans to rebrand those stores as Ollie’s. Ollie’s operates a store in the College Plaza shopping center in Statesboro.
When Ohio-based Big Lots it filed for bankruptcy in September, it said inflation and high interest rates caused consumers to pull back on their purchases of home and seasonal products, two categories the chain had depended on for a significant part of its revenue.
