Two major retail chains with locations in Augusta are preparing to shut down permanently amid financial troubles.
In July, discount retailer Big Lots had filed an 8-K form with the SEC outlining plans to close more than 300 stores, one of the terms of an amended credit agreement with six lenders to lower the amount the company owed from $900 million to $800 million.
In September, the Columbus, Ohio-based company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, while also entering asset purchase agreement with an affiliate of Los Angeles investment firm Nexus Capital Management, in which Nexus would be the stalking horse bidder.
A stalking horse bid is the first bid on a bankrupt company’s assets, made by a buyer selected by the company.
Big Lots secured more than $700 million in financing to help maintain liquidity amid its court-supervised auction, in which Nexus ultimately proved to be the highest bidder.
On Thursday, Big Lots announced that it did not anticipate that it would be able to complete its purchase agreement with Nexus, opting instead to attempt a going concern transaction—in which a vender sells a business alongside everything required for operations—with Nexus or another buyer.
In the meantime, Big Lots will also launch going out of business sales for all of its remaining locations.
The North Augusta Big Lots has already started its closing sale. The company’s website does not yet indicate that the Augusta and Evans stores are closing yet, but the sites in Aiken, Waynesboro and Thomson closed in the fall.
Party City, the party supply chain headquartered in New Jersey, had filed for bankruptcy in January 2023. In September of that year, a judge in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas approved a reorganization plan by the company that effectively eliminated its over $1 billion debt.
By October 2023, Party City had exited bankruptcy, having successfully implemented its reorganization, and went into 2024 with more than $500 million in asset-based credit, $75 million in new investment funds and 800 stores still open.
The party store company struggled amid $800 million in remaining debt, and competition from stores like Spirit Halloween and big box mainstays such as Amazon. On Friday, CNN reported that its CEO, Barry Litwin, told corporate staff in a conference call that operations would end immediately, while employees received letters stating that all stores would be closed by Feb. 28.
The Augusta Party City store is, for now, located in the Augusta Exchange at 249 Robert C. Daniel Jr. Pkwy. The Augusta Big Lots is at 2708 Peach Orchard Rd., while its Evans store is at 526 N. Belair Road.
Skyler Andrews is a reporter covering business for The Augusta Press. Reach him at skyler@theaugustapress.com.
