Earlier this month, retailer Big Lots announced their plans to close dozens of stores on an effort to combat financial woes. The Folsom location has now been named as one of the forthcoming closures.
On Friday, many customers of the store, located at 9500 Greenback Lane in Folsom announced a storewide clearance sale and plans to close.
Late Friday, Folsom Times confirmed with the company that the local store is amongst those closing down. The Folsom location expects to be closed in approximately a month once the location has been liquidated.
In its announcement in early July, Big Lots cited its plans to downsize were due in part of a retreat in spending by its bargain-hunting base. For the first time in several years, the company will close far more locations than open new sites across the the nation in the year ahead.
“We currently expect to open three stores and close 35 to 40,” the Columbus, Ohio-based retailer stated in its filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The company also said it expects further operating losses and cited “substantial doubt” about its ability to continue as a going concern.
The retailer’s demise also comes amid a time in which inflation-weary Americans are spending less due to higher costs in many areas, including utilities, gas, groceries and more.
According to the nationwide announcement of the closures, Big Lots has reported a net loss of $205 million in first the quarter. Company president and CEO Bruce Thorn explained that the company’s sales had taken a hit “due largely to a continued pullback in consumer spending by our core customers, particularly in high ticket discretionary items.”
“While we made substantial progress on improving our business operations in Q1, we missed our sales goals due largely to a continued pullback in consumer spending by our core customers, particularly in high ticket discretionary items,” Thorn said.
The retailer’s sales fell 10% to $1 billion in its first quarter, according to Big Lots, which operates more than 1,300 stores in 48 states.
At this time, plans are unknown as to what will become of the retail space the company occupies in Folsom.
