Big Lots is bucking a troubling trend in the American retail scene by reopening more than 100 locations it had previously closed.
The discount chain’s new owners announced it planned to reopen 132 locations that closed last year amid the company’s bankruptcy proceedings, ABC News reports.
The stores will reopen in 14 states, though most are concentrated in the U.S. South and Appalachia.
Lisa Seigies, the president and CEO of Variety Wholesalers — the company that now owns the Big Lots brand — said the stores will re-open in May.
“We’re excited to bring an additional 132 Big Lots locations back to life,” she said in an announcement.
Variety Wholesalers acquired more than 200 Big Lots stores earlier this year.
In September, Big Lots filed for bankruptcy and closed all of its locations — approximately 1,000 stores — before Gordon Brothers Retail Partners acquired the company.
“Gordon Brothers, the global asset experts, has completed the purchase of Big Lots Inc. and facilitated the U.S. closeout retailer’s going concern sale, preserving the brand, keeping hundreds of stores in operation and preventing thousands of layoffs,” the company wrote at the time.
It noted that as part of its purchase, it was transferring ownership of some of the Big Lots assets, including stores and distribution centers, to other retailers and companies, including Variety Wholesalers.
Since Gordon Brothers’ acquisition of the Big Lots assets, Variety Wholesalers has already reopened nine stores.
“The customer response to the newly expanded assortment of fresh inventory and great deals has been overwhelmingly positive,” Seigies said in a statement.
Big Lots locations will reopen in two phases, with the first openings happening on May 1 and the second group on May 15.
Here are all the locations where Big Lots is reopening stores:
• Alabama: Athens, Decatur, Dothan, Guntersville, Jasper, Mobile, Northport
• Florida: Crystal River, Jacksonville, Marianna, Ormond Beach, Panama City
• Georgia: Augusta Brunswick, Buford, Cornelia, Dallas, Fort Oglethorpe, Marietta, Smyrna, Valdosta, Vidalia, Waycross
• Indiana: Jasper
• Kentucky: Campbellsville, Danville, Elizabethtown, Glasgow, Hazard, London, Middlesboro, Richmond, Somerset
• Michigan: Burton, Flint, Port Huron, Shelby Township, Southgate
• Mississippi: Southaven
• North Carolina: Belmont, Burlington, Clemmons, Dunn, Elizabeth City, Elkin, Fayetteville, Gastonia, Greensboro, Greenville, Hickory, Kinston, Lexington, Lincolnton, Mocksville, Mooresville, Mount Airy, Newton, Roanoke Rapids, Rocky Mount, Selma, Shelby, Southport, Statesville, Wake Forest, Wilkesboro, Wilson
• Ohio: Alliance, Boardman, Bridgeport, Columbus, Elyria, Fremont, Grove City, Kettering, Lancaster, New Philadelphia, Reynoldsburg, Toledo, Warren, Wintersville
• Pennsylvania: Bloomsburg, Camp Hill, Cleona, Du Bois, Dunmore, East Stroudsburg, Erie, Eynon, Franklin, Lehighton, Lewisburg, Meadville, New Castle
• South Carolina: Easley, Greenwood, Lexington, Rock Hill, Seneca, Simpsonville, Spartanburg, West Columbia
• Tennessee: Alcoa, Cleveland, Greeneville, Jefferson City, Johnson City, Knoxville, Morristown, Murfreesboro, Rogersville, Sevierville
• Virginia: Chesapeake, Chester, Fredericksburg, Front Royal, Martinsville, North Chesterfield, North Prince George, Waynesboro, Winchester, Yorktown
• West Virginia: Beckley, Bridgeport, Charleston, Elkins, Fairmont, Martinsburg, Oak Hill, Princeton
