Big Discount Store To Close More Illinois Locations Than Planned

Wow. Things can change pretty quickly in a little over a month, and for a struggling discount retailer, they're not changing for the better.

According to an SEC filing from last month, Big Lots, which was founded in Columbus, Ohio 50 years ago, said that they expected to be closing somewhere between 35 and 40 stores across the nation this year.

They also said at the time that they planned to open 3 new ones, but with their latest announcement, those 3 stores might have been put on indefinite hold.

The problems that Big Lots is having are pretty much the same problems we're hearing about when other retailers and restaurants make announcements about possible closures and bankruptcies: high inflation, lower purchasing power, and an overall decline in spending by their customer base.

And, those problems have gotten worse lately.

Big Lots Has Almost 1,400 (1,398) Stores Spread Across The Country, With 29 Of Them Being Here In Illinois, And 12 In Wisconsin...But Than Number Is About To Go Down

In a new filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) yesterday, Big Lots shared some of the new terms for loans that have lowered Big Lots' credit limit and raised the interest rates that Big Lots will pay on that loan.

Keep in mind that the original announcement said that Big Lots would be shuttering 35-40 stores nationwide by the end of this year, and around 150 stores overall. That seems to have changed, and the number has gone up.

Wednesday's announcement says that now Big Lots may be closing up to 315 stores throughout the country.

USAToday.com:

The Columbus Dispatch — a part of the USA TODAY Network — reported that the Columbus based retailer had listed 293 locations as "closing soon" as of Friday.

So, What Does The New Announcement Of More Closures Mean For Big Lots Stores In Illinois?

When Big Lots made their announcement last month, they said that of Illinois' 29 locations in 28 cities and towns, the locations in Crest Hill, Lockport, and Niles would be closing.

Now, with the updated plans, more Illinois locations have been added to the closing list.

According to WGNTV.com, we're looking at 6 more locations being targeted for closure: "Burbank, Calumet City, Elgin and Oakbrook Terrace are Chicago-area stores on the chopping block. Centralia and Fairview Heights are two other Illinois locations set to close."

Will there be more? Here's a list of Big Lots' 29 Illinois locations, with a line drawn through those locations that are facing permanent closure:

• Alton
• Bourbonnais
• Burbank
• Calumet City
• Centralia
• Champaign
• Country Club Hills
• Crest Hill
• Danville
• Decatur
• East Peoria
• Elgin
• Fairview Heights
• Franklin Park
• Galesburg
• Lockport
• Machesney Park
• Mattoon
• Moline
• Mount Vernon
• Niles
• Oakbrook Terrace
• Peoria
• Peru
• Quincy
• Round Lake Beach
• Springfield (2 locations)
• Wood Dale