Discount retail chain Big Lots is hosting a massive "GOB" — going out of business — sale, in anticipation of a possible company-wide closure.

The Columbus, Ohio-based chain has not come out and said it is going out of business — but instead that is holding the going-out-of-business sales to protect the value of the company.

"We all have worked extremely hard and have taken every step to complete a going concern sale," Big Lots president and CEO Bruce Thorn said in a statement. "While we remain hopeful that we can close an alternative going concern transaction, in order to protect the value of the Big Lots estate, we have made the difficult decision to begin the GOB process."

The sell-off comes after a stalled sale of Big Lots to Nexus Capital Management, which was in motion after Big Lots initiated bankruptcy proceedings under Chapter 11 in September.

At that time, they executed a first round of closings — a total of 344 stores that included four in Houston. They followed that with another round of closures in October that took five more Houston-area stores.

On December 19, Big Lots determined that the sale would not be moving forward.

According to Fast Company, Big Lots did not explain why it was unable to complete a sale to Nexus, other than reports that an appraisal of Big Lots' inventory came in below expectations, which would make it unviable for Nexus Capital Management to buy the company.

While they continue to look for alternatives, the plan now is to do the GOB sale in anticipation of a company shutdown.

Fans will miss Big Lots for their good-quality furniture, household goods, seasonal items, and gourmet foodstuffs, as well as basics like cleaning products and cereal.

There are currently nine stores remaining in the greater Houston area:

• Conroe, 1404 N Loop 336 W
• Houston, 919 N Shepherd Dr
• Houston, 9795 Westheimer Rd
• Houston, 5807 E Sam Houston Pkwy N
• Humble, 9669 Fm 1960 Bypass Rd W #500
• Pasadena, 6804 Spencer Hwy
• Porter, 23741 Hwy 59
• Sugar Land, 3410 Highway 6
• Webster, 1201 W Nasa Pkwy